Dear Editor,

I just joined INTERTEL a month or two ago and just recently received my first Port Of Call newsletter. What a refreshing publication!!! I have carried it around for the last week reading and rereading EVERY article, factoid, and quote. Each time I read an article, I found myself pondering a different aspect on the central theme or particular point brought out. I think that the most thought provoking article was the "Technical Competence Gap."

You said more than is readily apparent when you said "The morally and ethically bankrupt high priesthood of corrupt politicians and false prophets who currently seek to regain control over our lives have always needed an uninformed and easily manipulated subject population to preserve their power."

I have read of no civilization in history that has fallen when it was supported by the twin pillars of (1) technology and (2) personal integrity of the citizenry. Each has fallen from the decay of integrity followed by the resultant loss of technological edge from moral corruption.

Technology in our country is used as a "feel good" commodity. Our public officials love to tout how wonderful technology is but balk when asked to make a stand on preserving it by requiring our educational system to set real and measurable standards for teaching our children.

I went to public schools from Guam to France and in several of our stateside systems. The US schools ranged in rating from #5 to #48. I noticed no real difference in teaching methods, only in money spent on new buildings and nicer athletic trinkets. The really lasting education comes from the parental involvement with the child's day to day life. If educators want to see a student's potential, an excellent yardstick is the parents' thirst for knowledge.

These "facts" I have presented stem from my own observations and studies. Since I can only speak of what has entered MY sphere of perception, I eagerly look forward to other views on this topic.

I also don't consider myself an "intellectual" by any stretch of the imagination, especially since I discovered what I thought was a thunderclap was simply a synapse firing!

Sincerely,
Mark Huesmann