The problem for the computing industry is that it can absorb all the graduates universities can produce and then some

The problem for the computing industry is that it can absorb all the graduates universities can produce, and then some. Research carried out for Microsoft, the software giant, points to 1.6 million job vacancies in IT by the year 2002, unless the industry and universities take steps to increase recruitment and training.The computing industry is the first to admit that it has an image problem, and that this hampers recruitment both at graduate level, and to computing degrees. Even when they can fill their programmes, IT course leaders concede that they are not always able to pick the cream of applicants. Degrees such as law, English and media studies continue to attract the brightest students, even though the job market is not nearly as favourable for them.Multi-media, digital TV and the Internet mean that computers are becoming more glamorous, but this has yet to affect the image of IT careers. Mark East, education group manager at Microsoft UK, says: "The view is that most techies are nerds with beards who program all day."East believes that the common perception of the IT industry is out of date but is concerned it may be being reinforced rather than countered by the universities.University IT courses, and computer science degrees in particular, are scientific and often very theoretical.

Applications for all numerate degrees have fallen over the last few years, with subjects such as physics and chemistry the worst hit. Students associate computing degrees with science and maths, and the curriculum content at many universities justifies their caution. The IT industry has changed massively in the last 10 years, and it now employs graphic artists, writers, designers, sound recordists, marketing experts and sales professionals, as well as programmers and software engineers.Some universities, particularly former polytechnics such as Wolverhampton, Middlesex and Brighton, have introduced new courses aimed at the new breed of multi-media specialists. In others, more traditional courses continue to emphasise programming skills, sometimes in dated languages, and the theory of computer or software engineering rather than modern applications and concepts such as web authoring or network design.Sixth-formers with an interest in computers, but have arts A-levels, are particularly deterred by traditional, maths-oriented computing degrees. From an industry point of view, such degrees are not strictly necessary.The IT industry readily agrees that there will always be a demand for traditional computer scientists, especially in research roles, but the business world needs many more graduates who can work with IT, but who may not need the pure theory computer scientists learn.

Research carried out by NOP for Microsoft found 20 per cent of people entering the IT industry did so without formal IT skills.Graduates with computer science degrees may not even make the best IT managers. Computing companies point out that IT graduates often lack transferable or "people" skills, especially communication, and a knowledge of how business works. They can find it hard to adapt from the pure techniques and methods they learned at university to the realities of working in the computing business.Dr Neil Barrett, senior fellow at Bull, the IT group, and a former university lecturer, says: "From an industry point of view, we are often better placed to take people with good generalist degrees and turn them into engineers." Computer scientists will have learned to use elegant, compact languages, and pure programming techniques, but they can stumble when it comes to creating real applications in a real workplace, Dr Barrett says. "They are people who understand the finer details of software programming but cannot program. We have to start again and teach them the methods and tricks we work with."Universities are aware of industry criticism, but academics say the role of universities is to educate and promote learning, not to operate as training centres. Fashions change, and today's hot computing application or in-vogue language may be tomorrow's dated skills. A good university course prepares graduates who know how to learn, and will, therefore, be able to adapt to new techniques as they develop.Dr Mike Joy, who is course leader in computing at Warwick University, says: "You cannot put large numbers of modules for current pieces of software into a three-year degree.

Software changes so rapidly that we would have to be continually reinventing the course."Universities such as Warwick are responding by running broader degrees which balance the theory of computer science with more applied subjects, such as business. These courses are extremely popular and they may be one way to produce graduates with a real understanding of computing and the wider skills they need in a modern IT company.Warwick runs a computing and business studies degree and computing and management studies The courses average more than 10 applicants per place. Brighton University is working with Microsoft to ensure its degrees contain up-to-date material, and it offers a range of degrees, such as computing and information systems, which are broader than traditional computer science courses.. IN THE last of his 63 years, the famed and abrasive American sportswriter Jimmy Cannon made a statement about this trade that I have earnestly endeavoured to follow. Crippled by a stroke but still hard and brave, Cannon said: "Sportswriting has survived because of the guys who don't cheer." What Cannon had in mind was the worthy principle that for sportswriting and broadcasting to have any relevance at all it must conform to the golden rule of objectivity. Defining the present is a tricky business but the perspective of some who occupy the press and commentary boxes today seems closer than ever before to that of supporters, leaving them just as vulnerable to the effect of winning or losing.This was particularly evident last week in a crass remark delivered by the ITV football commentator Clive Tyldesley after Manchester United's quite sensational victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Barcelona.When television cut to a shot of Bayern's veteran captain Lothar Matthaus - to my mind the most desolate of many sporting images - Tyldesley posed the rhetorical question of what was going through the German's mind Then he offered a perfunctory, insensitive dismissal Tyldesley crowed: "Who cares?"I cared Anyone who has a feel for sport should have cared. There was one of the great players of his generation facing up, at 38, to the probability that his career would pass without winning the European Cup A player who had given everything. If Tyldesley takes pleasure in the remark, he should be ashamed of himself.As much sympathy was felt here for Matthaus as was felt for England's footballers when they were put out of the 1970 World Cup finals by West Germany.

As much as for Muhammad Ali when, with nothing left but pride, he was stopped by Larry Holmes in an ill-advised attempt to become the four-times heavyweight champion. As much as for Greg Norman when he let a six-shot lead slip to Nick Faldo and it cost him the Masters.You can go on and on like this. The tears shed by Charlie Cooke when England lost narrowly to Brazil in 1970 "Being Scottish doesn't come into it," Cooke said. "It's knowing what those guys gave that makes you weep for them." Who, with any proper sense of sporting endeavour, could fail to sympathise with the Netherlands when they lost to Argentina in the 1978 World Cup final? With England when they were put out of last summer's finals by Argentina in a penalty shoot-out after holding out with 10 men for more than an hour?The medium is the message. And now the message that filters through the media is all too clear.