NASA reforms will never, ever succeed

I may be a skeptic - having been expelled from UT Austin's Aerospace
Engineering a semester short of my Ph.D for having found a faster,
safer, more efficient Earth to Mars trajectory - but I doubt very
seriously that any reforms at NASA will last even into the next
administration.

They have already established a rigid constraint against success.
After all the middle managers have their psych evaluations, and a
chance to change; some new people will be brought in, and others
relocated. The office environment they will be faced with will be
quite hostile (people despise psych tests to begin with, and abhor
anybody who replaces a supervisor who is outsoured by one), and the
bright, creative, resourceful new managers will be crushed to a pulp
in no time. Resistence is futile. Conformity is the evil beast in
the closet of every worker, everywhere - especially with jobs being
sent overseas by the boatload, competition for the few that remain
escalating. There's no way in hell you can isolate anybody anywhere
from those pressures...

Be that as it may, the only possible way NASA will succeed in creating
the kind of corporate culture they are mandated to create is to
institutionalize the reforms - all managers, until the end of time (or
NASA, whichever comes first) must pass these psych reforms. Those who
implement the psych reforms must themselves be policed, and thus be
beyond politics.

Which brings up another problem: psychiatry is synonomous with
politics. Consider that ten years ago there was a popular self help
technique promoted by psychiatry called orgasmic reconditioning. This
is a way for gays to re-orient their sexuality. In recent editions of
the same textbooks, this technique is not even mentioned.
Psychiatrists now consider it too stressful - or, reading between the
lines, they've been lobbied by gay groups to excise it from the
medical lexicon because it implies that gays are mentally ill. The
consequences of this has been that the rest of the population has been
denied the use of this important practice: adulterers wanting to
re-orient their cravings from prostitutes to lawful spouses; clerics
wanting to get turned on my Jesus instead of small boys; even good
christians wanting to try and get an erection from porn instead of
viagra.

So NASA is going to have to isolate the shrinks from the politicians,
as well as from the pharmaceutical companies. Good luck.

A formitable problem is that the NASA culture extends far, far beyond
the 18,000 official employees - to perhaps five times that many
contractors, academics, consultants, and aerospace firms. All of
these institutions are much worse than NASA when it comes to freedoms
of speech and willingness to speak out, and to do the job right the
whole damn aerospace universe has to be gutted of all the prejudice,
fear, and loathing not only for psychiatrists but for bright,
courageous, outspoken people period. Moreover, given the blurring of
boundaries with our international friends because of the International
Space Station, the reforms must be practically global. Every space
agency in the world will have to implement the same reforms, and the
same long term stragety. We're talking Star Fleet Command as an
adjunct to the United Nations here, not some minor NASA pencil
sharpening ~ and it will have to be so high profile that the only
feasible office building is the replacement towers for the 9/11
attacks in New York City.

Like I said, it will never happen. I predict the next major space
disaster will happen within five years, NASA will be shut down, and
the American space effort will die an ignominous death. We might as
well save the space program the expense and gut NASA of all its non
commercial contracts, delegate the pieces that are left to the
military space commands, and accept as inevitable the status quo of
scientific conformity that's been in place since the Dark Ages.

Given the horror I experienced at UT Austin, I admit that I won't
myself shed a tear when that happens. I certainly won't turn over a
finger to try and help it happen otherwise.

Bill Clark

Go haunt some other newsgroup where folks don't know what a fake you are,
Bill.

"Bill Clark" wrote in message
m...
I may be a skeptic - having been expelled from UT Austin's Aerospace
Engineering a semester short of my Ph.D for having found a faster,
safer, more efficient Earth to Mars trajectory - but I doubt very
seriously that any reforms at NASA will last even into the next
administration.

but I doubt very
seriously that any reforms at NASA will last even into the next
administration.


Well they are talk the talk but it remains to be seen if the walk the walk.

Its hard to change humanm nature, and this challenge is changing every
employee

We will know if it was a success if there are no more disasters, and if there
are they were random not preventible.

I personally am concered the unknown ISS noise, where a follow up space walk is
now delayed till july is another example of not being concered enough....

The biggest risk is the interface of russia and america onboard the station. A
good example of systemic failure...

Russia didnt share immediately the fact the cosmonauts suit was malfunctioning
on the last space walk. Things like this can get someone illed in the future.

What if BOTH suits were somehow impaired and neither side knew they both had
troubles?

Columbia isnt the end of the problems its the begining
:
:
:
My opinion is right

I have submitted the attached statement to my Texas state Senator and
Representative, the Chancellor, President and Board of Regents at UT
Austin, and I thought you might be interested in reviewing the case.

Regards,

Bill Clark

- - - - -

Senator Barrientos,

I am 46 years old and have been a licensed Professional Engineer in
half a dozen different disciplines. I got my BS from UT Austin in
1978, and an MS from UT Austin in 2001.

I was a semester short of a Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering at UT Austin
- my project was a computer model of the Earth to Mars trajectory,
with applications for the missile defense targeting system - and I was
expelled for non-academic reasons a semester short of matriculating
with a Ph.D. I appealed the dismissal through the whole UT
bureaucracy for two solid years, to no avail.

A few weeks ago I submitted a statement to the Texas Board of
Professional Engineers giving evidence and documentation of several
serious offenses done by the ASE Department. They include slander,
retaliation, misrepresentation, and theft of services. The
documentation I submitted to the PE Board included letters from
esteemed professors admitting to all these offenses in their own
words.

I received a letter back from the PE Board yesterday stating that the
things I have described are "...beyond their jurisdiction because they
do not involve the practice of engineering."

As a lifelong engineer, a published author, and a third generation
engineer; I find this ruling by the Board to be offensive. What can
be more the practice of engineering than the teaching of it? When I
was a consulting engineer most of my day was devoted to training
subordinates, educating clients, and sharing my experience and
knowledge with anybody and everybody. To separate this from the
"practice of engineering" is to narrow the definition of engineering
to little more than the equivalent of a computer algorithm.

The most disturbing part to me is that the professors at the
University - all of whom are licensed PE's - know they are beyond the
law, and have no guilt for breaking every rule in the book. I think
the Texas Legislature should consider the particulars of my case, and
contemplate the idea of enforcing some kind of ethical, moral, and
humanistic standards upon those who teach engineering to furure P.E.'s
and, in their comportment in the classroom, set the standard of
behavior for all the impressionable students in their realm of
influence.

Regards,

Bill Clark

XC: P.E. Board
XC: Lee Smith, UT VP for Legal Affairs

I have submitted the attached statement to my Texas state Senator and
Representative, the Chancellor, President and Board of Regents at UT
Austin, and I thought you might be interested in reviewing the case.

Regards,

Bill Clark

- - - - -

Senator Barrientos,

I am 46 years old and have been a licensed Professional Engineer in
half a dozen different disciplines. I got my BS from UT Austin in
1978, and an MS from UT Austin in 2001.

I was a semester short of a Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering at UT Austin
- my project was a computer model of the Earth to Mars trajectory,
with applications for the missile defense targeting system - and I was
expelled for non-academic reasons a semester short of matriculating
with a Ph.D. I appealed the dismissal through the whole UT
bureaucracy for two solid years, to no avail.

A few weeks ago I submitted a statement to the Texas Board of
Professional Engineers giving evidence and documentation of several
serious offenses done by the ASE Department. They include slander,
retaliation, misrepresentation, and theft of services. The
documentation I submitted to the PE Board included letters from
esteemed professors admitting to all these offenses in their own
words.

I received a letter back from the PE Board yesterday stating that the
things I have described are "...beyond their jurisdiction because they
do not involve the practice of engineering."

As a lifelong engineer, a published author, and a third generation
engineer; I find this ruling by the Board to be offensive. What can
be more the practice of engineering than the teaching of it? When I
was a consulting engineer most of my day was devoted to training
subordinates, educating clients, and sharing my experience and
knowledge with anybody and everybody. To separate this from the
"practice of engineering" is to narrow the definition of engineering
to little more than the equivalent of a computer algorithm.

The most disturbing part to me is that the professors at the
University - all of whom are licensed PE's - know they are beyond the
law, and have no guilt for breaking every rule in the book. I think
the Texas Legislature should consider the particulars of my case, and
contemplate the idea of enforcing some kind of ethical, moral, and
humanistic standards upon those who teach engineering to furure P.E.'s
and, in their comportment in the classroom, set the standard of
behavior for all the impressionable students in their realm of
influence.

Regards,

Bill Clark

XC: P.E. Board
XC: Lee Smith, UT VP for Legal Affairs

We are the Daleks...Exterrrrminate, Exterrrminate!

:-)

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________
__________________________________


"Bill Clark" wrote in message
m...
| I may be a skeptic - having been expelled from UT Austin's Aerospace
| Engineering a semester short of my Ph.D for having found a faster,
| safer, more efficient Earth to Mars trajectory - but I doubt very
| seriously that any reforms at NASA will last even into the next
| administration.
|
| They have already established a rigid constraint against success.
| After all the middle managers have their psych evaluations, and a
| chance to change; some new people will be brought in, and others
| relocated. The office environment they will be faced with will be
| quite hostile (people despise psych tests to begin with, and abhor
| anybody who replaces a supervisor who is outsoured by one), and the
| bright, creative, resourceful new managers will be crushed to a pulp
| in no time. Resistence is futile. Conformity is the evil beast in
| the closet of every worker, everywhere - especially with jobs being
| sent overseas by the boatload, competition for the few that remain
| escalating. There's no way in hell you can isolate anybody anywhere
| from those pressures...
|
| Be that as it may, the only possible way NASA will succeed in creating
| the kind of corporate culture they are mandated to create is to
| institutionalize the reforms - all managers, until the end of time (or
| NASA, whichever comes first) must pass these psych reforms. Those who
| implement the psych reforms must themselves be policed, and thus be
| beyond politics.
|
| Which brings up another problem: psychiatry is synonomous with
| politics. Consider that ten years ago there was a popular self help
| technique promoted by psychiatry called orgasmic reconditioning. This
| is a way for gays to re-orient their sexuality. In recent editions of
| the same textbooks, this technique is not even mentioned.
| Psychiatrists now consider it too stressful - or, reading between the
| lines, they've been lobbied by gay groups to excise it from the
| medical lexicon because it implies that gays are mentally ill. The
| consequences of this has been that the rest of the population has been
| denied the use of this important practice: adulterers wanting to
| re-orient their cravings from prostitutes to lawful spouses; clerics
| wanting to get turned on my Jesus instead of small boys; even good
| christians wanting to try and get an erection from porn instead of
| viagra.
|
| So NASA is going to have to isolate the shrinks from the politicians,
| as well as from the pharmaceutical companies. Good luck.
|
| A formitable problem is that the NASA culture extends far, far beyond
| the 18,000 official employees - to perhaps five times that many
| contractors, academics, consultants, and aerospace firms. All of
| these institutions are much worse than NASA when it comes to freedoms
| of speech and willingness to speak out, and to do the job right the
| whole damn aerospace universe has to be gutted of all the prejudice,
| fear, and loathing not only for psychiatrists but for bright,
| courageous, outspoken people period. Moreover, given the blurring of
| boundaries with our international friends because of the International
| Space Station, the reforms must be practically global. Every space
| agency in the world will have to implement the same reforms, and the
| same long term stragety. We're talking Star Fleet Command as an
| adjunct to the United Nations here, not some minor NASA pencil
| sharpening ~ and it will have to be so high profile that the only
| feasible office building is the replacement towers for the 9/11
| attacks in New York City.
|
| Like I said, it will never happen. I predict the next major space
| disaster will happen within five years, NASA will be shut down, and
| the American space effort will die an ignominous death. We might as
| well save the space program the expense and gut NASA of all its non
| commercial contracts, delegate the pieces that are left to the
| military space commands, and accept as inevitable the status quo of
| scientific conformity that's been in place since the Dark Ages.
|
| Given the horror I experienced at UT Austin, I admit that I won't
| myself shed a tear when that happens. I certainly won't turn over a
| finger to try and help it happen otherwise.
|
| Bill Clark


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"Bill Clark" wrote in message
m...
I may be a skeptic - having been expelled from UT Austin's Aerospace
Engineering a semester short of my Ph.D for having found a faster,
safer, more efficient Earth to Mars trajectory - but I doubt very
seriously that any reforms at NASA will last even into the next
administration.

I suspect that the Chinese central bank will soon allow the value of the
yuan to fluctuate according to market forces, and that DVD players will
go up in price.

Given the horror I experienced at UT Austin, I admit that I won't
myself shed a tear when that happens. I certainly won't turn over a
finger to try and help it happen otherwise.

Bill Clark

Let me venture a wild guess. In order to obtain a Ph.D, the research
topic must be approved by a faculty advisor.

You submitted a project that violated conventional physics. Your advisor
told you that your project was unacceptable.

You insisted that your approach was valid, at which point the advisor
realized that he had a nut case on his hands and the rest is history.

Is this approximately what happened?

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 02:06:11 -0500, "Kent Betts"
wrote:

"Bill Clark" wrote in message
om...
I may be a skeptic - having been expelled from UT Austin's Aerospace
Engineering a semester short of my Ph.D for having found a faster,
safer, more efficient Earth to Mars trajectory - but I doubt very
seriously that any reforms at NASA will last even into the next
administration.

I suspect that the Chinese central bank will soon allow the value of the
yuan to fluctuate according to market forces, and that DVD players will
go up in price.

LOL- what in the hell does that have to do with anything???

Dale

I think I get your point

"Kent Betts" wrote:
Is this approximately what happened?

I believe that is a fair summary.

Roger
--
Roger Balettie
former Flight Dynamics Officer
Space Shuttle Mission Control
http://www.balettie.com/