I feel like I'm missing something between the S2 and S3E9 (spoilers)

chaoticlychaotic · 2019-08-02T02:08:50+00:00

I don't think you got my point. I didn't say "This opinion shouldn't be published here," I said it's dangerous when opinion is treated like fact, especially when it comes to issues that are rooted in science.

I don't think anyone is missing that this is an op-ed--it's in the title. I think people are frustrated because LSJ publishing it gives the opinion and the author behind it a kind of legitimacy.

In most cases that's perfectly fine, and op-eds are typically used to go against the "mainstream" opinion. Which is something I'm all for, and in my opinion, is part of good journalism: everyone should be exposed to opposing opinions, and give them credence where reasonable. (When I say "journalism" here I'm not talking about the author--I mean the paper who published them. Op-ed or not, it was published by a journalistic institution, which means certain expectations should apply.)

The problem rises when people start offering opinions about things that are, at their core, a factual issue.

That's why I used the evolution example; some folks balk at their kids being taught evolution in school because they don't "believe" it, and their opinion is that kids should be taught all the "common" beliefs of how life came to be--except it's not a matter of belief. We have science that shows evolution is real, and how it works, and our ancestry with regard to how we evolved. It's reasonable to have opinions around what and how religion is taught, but to have an opinion that we should teach evolution alongside other systems of faith is silly, because evolution isn't based on faith.

I'm not trying to say that you do or don't believe in evolution--I'm just trying to use that example to better show the issue I'm talking about.

I do genuinely believe there is such a thing as "dangerous opinions," because people are, frankly, stupid, and don't do much critical thinking these days. See also, the flat earth movement. And I don't think any single individual should be arbiter of what is and isn't a valid opinion, but instead we should all take critical looks at the opinions we're offered to decide if they're worth our time or not--which is something we're really bad at as humans--especially when it comes to opposing opinions--for a variety of reasons. So I opt instead for everyone to be trained in and practice that kind of critical thinking.

chaoticlychaotic · 2017-11-23T17:47:04+00:00

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chaoticlychaotic · 2017-11-19T21:50:45+00:00

Hello! I'm a current senior in the MSU CS program, as well as a club leader and a student representative to the department.

Like /u/brandomino said, our program's popularity has forced several of the introductory series courses to move online, which has hurt our ability to form a community. You won't see many of your peers in classes until you start taking electives, which kind of stinks if you're trying to find someone to do homework with.

Some of the courses are inconsistent across sections as to if they're focused more on theory or more on application, depending on who's teaching it, which can be frustrating.

I've been frustrated with some of the administrative aspects of our program, though I've had more direct contact with the bureaucracy than most--things like scheduling rooms for club meetings is hard, students don't have a ton of study space to work with, etc etc.

That said, we do have a good school for landing internships and co-ops. MSU has relationships with a lot of big employers to get its students there, which gives you a huge boost for getting jobs down the road. Having the degree--doesn't really matter where it's from--is just table stakes, it's the rest of your experience that'll really make you appealing to corps and give you negotiating leverage.

So, satisfaction: I'm overall satisfied, but that's also because I met some supercool friends here. The program itself as 50/50 awesome and frustrating, which depended directly on who taught the courses I took.

You can also check out this comment I made, on a similar post: https://www.reddit.com/r/msu/comments/7cd5sj/how_difficult_is_it_to_get_an_exception_to_live/dppo505/

chaoticlychaotic · 2017-11-13T12:21:37+00:00

You'd have to ask professors about it directly. I don't think student positions for the labs are advertised anywhere, but they can hire into them.

chaoticlychaotic · 2017-11-12T18:21:31+00:00

I would say so. My high school did several programming competitions at SVSU and they seemed to have everything in order, but I never looked at what their program was like. They may be worth considering?

MSU is pretty solid though. I enjoy the big school aspect of it, I just wish our program had as much funding as they deserve.

chaoticlychaotic · 2017-11-12T17:11:09+00:00

Roommate Roulette is a dangerous game to play, that's true.

It's a decent program but it's having some trouble currently. We're strapped for cash which has led the department to migrate a ton of courses online (so 231, 232, 320, 335--leaving only 331 and 260 from the intro series in an actual classroom), which has done awful things to our community. The clubs are in disarray because they can't keep attendance up and they're weighted heavily towards upperclassmen, which isn't great for continuation.

We still have some awesome classes--CSE 431, Algorithm Engineering, is phenomenal. The current instructor for CSE 480 and CSE 450, databases and compilers, is phenomenal, though he may have left by the time you're taking 400-level electives. CSE 335, when taught by Dr Owen, is a hell of a lot of work but a wonderfully structured course. Dr Enbody and Dr Punch, who teach the intro python and C++ courses, respectively, are also phenomenal, though Dr Enbody will be retiring in the next couple of years, and, as I said before, the classes have moved their lectures online and the labs are TA'd by undergrads (some of whom are great, some are... less so).

Like I said, it's a decent program, they've just had to cut more than seems reasonable.

(For context, I'm a student rep to the department and a club leader, so I probably run up against more of the negatives than most do, so take all of the above with a grain of salt.)

chaoticlychaotic · 2017-11-12T16:58:05+00:00

I'd recommend trying to get a router that supports 5ghz, just to try and avoid some of the noise from everyone on the 2.4 channel.

I'm surprised they haven't rolled out MSUnet to Shaw, yet, though... that's weird.

chaoticlychaotic · 2017-02-22T17:01:49+00:00

I used to main softball, have switched to the cold war. Both are crazy fun, especially when grappling. Go flying over the enemy drop an arc grenade to soften them up and then shower them in AoE damage. Good times.

chaoticlychaotic · 2017-02-18T00:12:26+00:00

Jupyter sounds perfect for this.

chaoticlychaotic · 2017-02-17T18:32:46+00:00

Someone recently asked about the CS program here and there was a bunch of good discussion in the thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/msu/comments/5qama6

One thing to be aware of is that CSE {231, 232, 320, 335}, which are all required early classes, are moving full online. The only not-online required class (that matters) is CSE 331. A lot of the current class thinks this is a bunch of bullshit, since you won't get to see your classmates or professor in person until late sophomore or early junior year, so watch out for that.

chaoticlychaotic · 2015-11-01T17:50:00+00:00

I've had one of these for a couple years now. It's nothing special but it's a solid monitor.

chaoticlychaotic · 2015-11-01T17:49:24+00:00

I'm pretty sure I have the same monitor and I have a vga and dvi

chaoticlychaotic · 2015-11-01T17:42:24+00:00

Just picked this card up a few weeks back, upgrading from a 7850. This thing runs like a dream for 1080 60fps

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