Re[2]: State Laws?

["Walker, Arlen P" <Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- COM>]

>As someone else pointed out in a post, their exam would have to be so
>comprehensive as to cover railroad-train-drivers, civil engineers, etc.
etc.
>
>Seems kinda paranoid...

Let's clear up a few things. There's nothing in the NSPE's statement that
would apply to IBM giving the job of tech writer the internal title
"Knowledge Engineer," for example. What they're referring to is the
practice Novell, Microsoft, Digital, and others have of certifying a person
as "xx Engineer" and putting the resulting alphabet soup ending in "E" on
their business cards, etc. The NSPE apparently feels they have a legal
monopoly on the letter "E."

The state of New Jersey contemplated passing a law a while back which would
require all persons working as computer programmers be certified. It
failed, the failure no doubt assisted by the thought that if passed they
would have no hope of attracting such employers as IBM, Microsoft, etc., to
their state.

I'm not surprised NSPE is contemplating legal action. After all, they see
"engineer" as a term they gain a substantial amount of money power and
prestige from. It just wouldn't do to have every Tom Dick and Harry who can
pass the MS certification test (a test, BTW, most of NSPE couldn't pass) be
allowed to ride their coattails. Paranoid is one word; megalomanaical is
another. It's just another game of "Us vs Them." What *would* surprise me
is if they succeeded.

(Digression: A friend who is a martial arts instructor says this Western
desire for certificates and levels is very trying. Where he came from there
is no analog to the dozens of belt colors the westerners insist upon.)

All it takes to file a lawsuit is a willing lawyer; the rest will be up to
the courts. But if their effort is truly what has been described here, they
are attempting to do what nobody has successfully been able to do --
identify a generic word with a single entity's exam. ("Doctor," oops, PhD.
Attorney isn't generic; counselor is, but there are other kinds of
counselors.)

(And before we go for another ride on the "if you want to call yourself one
take the 'grueling' test" high horse let me say I *don't* call myself an
engineer, at least not in this life; I call myself a writer. I'm proud of
being one, and certainly don't feel the need to appropriate another word
for
it.)

I've known some good engineers who were PE's; I've known some equally good
ones who weren't. Not because they couldn't take the test, or were afraid
to. The NSPE just couldn't come up with a good enough reason for them to do
it. In their case the NSPE entered the marketplace and failed to make a
sale; will the NSPE now become like a common thug and resort to force? Let
us wait and see.

Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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