Ecolog:
Time was, there was more to "getting" a Ph.D. than making a convincingly
esoteric sales job, and that "tradition," thankfully, survives. I've had
some great experiences in academia, but they were relatively few, but
granted, mine is too small a "sample" to be generalized into any kind of
conclusion. Hence, my participation here--I really want to find out whether
or not my ancient history still holds true, has gotten better, or gotten
worse. In talking with professor friends and relatives, I fear the latter,
but that also is too small a sample.
But one scarcely needs a statistically valid study to observe the facts on
the surface, to wit: The requirement of a Ph.D. and nothing else. IF, in
FACT, there are significant numbers of "nitwits and frauds" carrying
credentials, then there might be cause for concern, if not
alarm--particularly among the PhD's whose reputations are thus tarnished,
their credentials degraded.
If you will forgive, for a moment, the expediency of dichotomy, there seems
to be two kinds of Ph.D., those who rely primarily upon their credentials
and those who rely primarily upon their abilities. The former "went through"
the academic hoops to "get" the degree; the latter used the academic system
to quickly learn skills and acquire knowledge that might have taken them
years longer as autodidacts. There are two kinds of autodidacts too:
dilettantes and those who just couldn't get along in the academic setting
for a number of reasons (e.g., avoiding paradigm paralysis).
When it comes to "hiring," the "credentialists" end up being hired by those
institutions which, for (as declared) expediency's sake, to cut down on the
sheer daunting numbers of "applicants," theoretically to weed out the
dilettantes (but the exceptional autodidacts are swept out of the running by
this net too). So be it. That's the system. Love it or leave it. Certainly
at universities. There is little incentive for institutional change. Think
about it--resistance to change at academic institutions! It's the CULTURE.
If you don't want the culture, but you are interested in change, you're
going to have to find a way to work on change within a system that abhors
change. Makes you kinda wonder . . .
A young friend of ours, a dedicated, hard-working and bright young woman,
was forced by a major university to repeat her Masters from another
credentialed institution, than ran her through ceremonial hell (seemed to me
because of academic jealousy from female professor) and finally had to
transfer to a top foreign university (more respected in the academic world
than the big-name university that put her through hell) that welcomed all of
her university credits. She finally got her Ph.D., but is now middle-aged
with a mountain of debt that will take her years to pay off. Another friend
acquired such terrible colitis from the pressure that he had to wear a bag
in which to collect his excrement. These are "mere" anecdotes, of course. It
matters not that future students are frightened away from such institutions;
there are too many applicants anyway. What will this ultimately do to the
lower-income subset of the population? What has it already done?
Perhaps the Lake Baikal saviors can be forgiven, but the very fact that they
must ignore those with "lesser" degrees despite superior knowledge is
indicative of the generic and universal nature of the issue at hand. That is
that the university system does not need to be improved; there is no need to
rock the boat. Time was, universities were THE place where the boat was most
likely to be rocked. Now, the one-time protestors are the new sclerotics,
churning out MBA's faster than you can say "gimmie my pigskin."
Good luck rising according to your talents within the system, Warren. But
looking "up," who would want to?
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin Meiss" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 5:08 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Petition to protect Lake Baikal
I assume it is a case of viewing an academic degree as the easiest way of
assessing knowledge and status. Of course, there are many flaws with this
system: successful academicians can be nitwits and frauds, and people
without certain diplomas make contributions to society that far outshine
those of many people with degrees. In a hiring situation, where the
sponsors might be reviewing a dozen to a hundred candidates, looking
deeper
into a person's background is feasible, but imagine trying to do so for
the
many thousands of signers a petition drive typically seeks. When you hear
someone utter the phrase "...the ol' sheepskin," it is a usually in the
context of an acknowledgement of this truth. I expect that this
contributes
greatly toward the survival of degree-granting institutions: people will
pay
to earn a degree just so they can say they have a degree. Don't expect
much
support from academia in trying to earn recognition for achievements
outside
of their walls.
The denigrators of the Lake Baikal (or any other petition) would
love to be able to toss it off as a bunch of kooks, and the sponsors want
to
be able to say that all signers meet the highest qualifications. It's a
public relations battle, where issues will be decided based on phrases
that
can fit on bumper stickers. Warren, please don't take it personally, and
keep up the good work.
Martin M. Meiss
2010/3/25 Warren W. Aney <[email protected]>
It's interesting how this petition process only wants signatures from PhD
scientists with institutional affiliation. That leaves me out, since I
have
only an MA in ecological statistics, ESA Senior Ecologist certification,
The
Wildlife Society's certification as a Wildlife Biologist, several decades
of
practical field experience including aquatic habitat management, and some
knowledge of Siberian environmental management.
Warren W. Aney
Senior Wildlife Ecologist
9403 SW 74th Ave
Tigard, OR 97223
(503) 539-1009
(503) 246-2605 fax
-----Original Message-----
From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dennis Lavrov
Sent: Thursday, 25 March, 2010 15:29
To: [email protected]
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Petition to protect Lake Baikal
Dear colleagues,
It's not publicized much in the news, but there has been a
very unfortunate turn of events for Lake Baikal, the largest and the
most ancient lake on the planet and one of the UNESCO World Nature
Heritage Sites. On January 13, the Russian government made several
changes in the list of activities prohibited in the area of Lake
Baikal that allowed the re-opening of the Baikalsk pulp and paper
mill, the main air and water polluter in the region. This decision is
very unpopular in Russia, but the opposition is being suppressed
(e.g., http://www.www.greengrants.org/breakingnews.php?news_id=271).
Furthermore, the government is propagating the myth that there is no
scientific evidence for the negative effect of the mill on Lake
Baikal. I am trying to gather support from the scientific community in
order to convince Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to revert the
changes in the regulation. I posted an open letter at
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/baikal/ and ask you to sign it.
You can find more information at
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/03/biologist-petitions-russia
-to-sa.html<http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/03/biologist-petitions-russia%0A-to-sa.html>
.
Thank you very much in advance and sorry for a potential double posting,
Dennis
Dennis V. Lavrov, Assistant Professor
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology,
Iowa State University,
343A Bessey Hall, Ames, IA 50011
phone: (515) 294-9091; fax: (515) 294-1337
http://www.eeob.iastate.edu/faculty/LavrovD/
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