Re: IQ AND RACE. The taboo subject.

David Waters (mbanet@netcom.com)
Sat, 18 Feb 1995 20:53:03 GMT

Stephen Lajoie (lajoie@eskimo.com) wrote:
: The current political thought is that all the problems blacks have are
: due to the racism of whites. It is an absurd assumption.

Who's political thought is this? Has anyone ever suggested that you
might be A LITTLE GUILTY of over-generalizing??? :->

Previously, David Waters wrote:
: >BTW, look at how the 3rd, 4th, and 5th generations are doing. It seems
: >that the "American independence" attitudes are erroding the tough Asian
: >work ethic!!!

: Data?

Compare the test scores of later generations to earlier generations.
Consider the SEGA/NINTENDO influence and the greater influence that
American culture, in general, plays in their lives. BTW, I have an Asian
godson and, of course, many friends and (former) coworkers are Asian. I
don't require that they take tests, but I do see a big difference from
generation to generation!!! You should conduct more (better) field
experiments of your own.

Besides, hasn't it ever occured to you that only the best and brightest
(most desired) Asians are allowed to enter the US legally? Was it the
wealthy and educated who fled Viet Nam or do you think that they stayed
and waited for the Communists to "forgive" them? Does the US give an
equal amount of criminal visas as it does student visas?

Stephen Lajoie (lajoie@eskimo.com) wrote:
: It's in the Book, TBC. Do you have other data?

You're a "dry-labber"!!! :-)

Stephen Lajoie (lajoie@eskimo.com) wrote:
: The data indicates taht minorities are not as meritorious. If you have
: better data, present it. If you can not accept the data, then why do you
: accuse ME of being incapable of open thought? You wouldn't even entertain
: the possibility.

1. First, I speak for myself at the risk of boring everyone else with some
of my responsibilities pertaining to Space Shuttle flight support.
[next 4 paragraphs]

2. Secondly, I tell a story about an African American who designed a
laser-guided docking system (two space vehicles).
[following 5 paragraphs]

A small part of my career (4 paragraphs)

I have 14.75 YEARS of (far) better than average performance reviews
(copies on file)!!! I was refused a "voluntary layoff" to start my
business less than two years before I left. At 18, I worked in the
Flight Systems Design and Performance department (Navigation and Flight
Control subsystems) programming a Hewlett Packard 9845 desk-top
workstation in 1979 and beyond (also as system administrator).

I was a key member of Rockwell's Space Shuttle Flight Support Team by
writing original programs to digitize weather balloon data (delivered as
FAXed plots - primitive file Xfers in 1981) collected at the launch site,
interpolate it (cubic spline), and upload it to an IBM mainframe where
our major math model program (M50) was hosted [actually the comm program,
for the actual upload, was by HP but I had to modify some of the source
for our specific requirements].

Since the turn-around for plots from the mainframe in those days was 24
HOURS, I also wrote original graphics programs to take the tabulated
numeric results of the M50 program, make the necessary computations, and
plot the data using the HP9845. In short, we were able to predict flight
trajectories, vehicle stress and stability, using our own math model and
actual atmospheric data as late as 15 minutes prior to launch. All this
in 1981 (STS-2 through STS-24) when I was only 21 (started earlier).

Note: After awhile, the procedure was standardized and I went on to
other tasks, like math modeling an area about the (proposed)
Vandenburg Launch facility - gaseous oxygen (GOX) vent cap for
possible over-pressurization from the Solid Rocket Boosters. New
folks ran the programs that *I* wrote (solo) from end-to-end,
including the friendly user-interface. Anyway, not that it would
have predicted the tragedy, but for some reason they didn't bother
doing (this) flight support for STS-51L (STS-25) when the
Challenger was lost!

[ It would be inapproriate for me to release the name of the other
individual in this TRUE STORY!!! ]

Let me set the background (3 paragraphs)

One of the last (latest) projects that I worked on was Shuttle-Station
docking. I worked in the (on)Orbit Guidance, Navigation, and Control
group for the Space Shuttle S/W Verification team. Our responsibility,
before budget cuts, was anything that the shuttle did while on-orbit.
This includes precise maneuvering to get to a certain location, the
attitude of the vehicle WRT other vehicles/stellar objects, and
especially operations in proximity (PROX OPS) to other vehicles.

Originally, we were required to assess the shuttle's capability to
successfully dock with the US/European Space Station until it was obvious
that we'd dock with the Russian Mir (space station) long before any US
Space Station was ready. Funny thing...our group didn't even have its
own (shuttle) simulation program to incorporate any Mir math models
with. Too bad that NASA (nor our own management) was aware of that
fact...and which minority would you blame *that* on???

Anyway, the lead engineer had some of us start on the development of an
integrated Shuttle/Station docking program while he sought people who
could provide math models that we lacked. I was in charge of integrating
our developing space shuttle simulation program with a space station
simulation program to be delivered. I also defined the requirements for
the host workstation (which was approved and acquired despite the
difficulty that RI has giving engineers computers - each secretary and
manager has their own computer while engineers must share with a minimun
of 4 to as many as 20 or more).

This is where it gets interesting!!! (2 paragraphs)

We needed an automated docking system since it would (obviously) be too
dangerous for a pilot to manually dock a shuttle with a space station.
The NASA provided a source for an off-the-shelf laser-guided docking
system that McDonnel-Douglas (orig. prime space station contractors) was
supposed to be using as a model. We needed specific info. that they
(McD-D) couldn't provide so my lead asked them to make the original
designer available to us. Guess what??? The original designer of the
system is an African American (a friend of mine) who still works for
ROCKWELL (he's an MTS-7)!!!

It turns out that he, the AfAm engineer/scientist, ended-up doing the R&D
on the system with R&D money from NASA. Rockwell was too stupid to stand
by his work but they did get a cut of his R&D contract. So, guess what
happened to the system? It was what NASA gave to McD-D to use as the US
Space Station docking system design. My lead engineer looked for such a
system for months inside Rockwell only to find it at another company and
to also find that it originated at Rockwell by an African American!!!
Ironic, isn't it?

Now I'm sure that you have lots of off-the-shelf explanations as to why
Rockwell wouldn't stand by his work while NASA took it and gave it to
their prime contractor...let's hear one for laughs!

BTW, I went to high school with the designer's younger sister (I believe
there's at least an 18-year age difference between them) and his parents
live just two doors down from my mother's house (small world). I hadn't
seen the guy for years until I heard his voice in the next office as he
was speaking to the lead engineer. We talked after work and he told me
of many examples of how Rockwell (his management) has downplayed his work
or actually given the credit to someone else.

He's an intersting gentleman...not afraid to speak his mind at all (but
you might call this bitching and moaning). He would've played pro
football with Cincinati (I believe) if he hadn't sustained knee injuries
while in the Navy (drafted by NFL then by the US Navy).

We also talked about how we (he more than I) would get pulled-over by
the Seal Beach police in the Rockwell parking lot for "not fitting the
company profile"...prior to that I thought that it was just me because I
was relatively young (I also played semi-pro football).

I was also told about how, when he first moved to Downey, CA, that his
neighbors called the police...he was the first and still probably only
African American on his block. The Downey cops, suspecting that this
large but distinguished looking AfAm was a burgular (?), arrested him
*after* handcuffing him face-down in the wet gutter in front of his own
home!

So, one of Rockwell's (and the nation's) top engineers/scientists was
waiting in jail for his wife to provide ID and their homeowner
documentation. The police only appologized by saying "...this might
happen again until the other officers get used to seeing you aroung
here!". And people like you probably think that this stuff only happens
to people like (non-law abiding) Rodney King!!!

Wake-up, Stephen, these stories are VERY TRUE but they're not going to
show-up on any of the statistics that you seem to live by. BTW, don't
even think that these are the only or best (worst) cases that I know of.
Remember that I worked at Rockwell from 03 Apr 1979 until 17 Dec 1993 (I
was born in August 1960) and there's not enough bandwidth to tell you
everything that's missing from your so-called statistical data.

-- 
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