Gary -
I went to a "Timber College" (Northern AZ) but the same holds for me...
they could barely muster a BS program for Physics and I had to
supplement my curiosity with graduate Math/Chemistry/Enginering courses
while pursuing the Physics on my own and under the tutelage of my
undergrad physics professors ( who all had PhD's themselves, some from
"named Universities") Had *I* gone to a "named University", maybe I'd
be smarter or more well informed or more capable... but after 30 years
at LANL i *rarely* found the fact of my educatational pedigree to get in
my way in any *practical* way. I learned SO MUCH more in the ensuing
work years it is hard to imagine how a more expensive, "better"
education might have made me more able... maybe sooner or in a more
specialized way.
I don't begrudge those who had the resources or privilege to go to ultra
expensive schools and in some cases, I think they got something really
special (more as a consequence of a significant advisor/professor than
the school itself). If I *DO* begrudge them anything, it is the
presumption (or sometimes outright declaration) that their education was
proportionally more valuable or high quality than mine based on how much
they spent. My measly $600/semester made it possible for me to GO to
college (I paid my own way, not grants, not loans, not parents... I
worked and saved and worked). I could have done my first two years a a
community college at $200/semester, and would have if I had to to make
it. Some folks I worked alongside at LANL (and colleagues in academia,
industry, and other labs) often were paying of $100,000 school loans for
their education. They felt that the money they had spent entitled them
to extremely high salaries and special treatment and extra credit on
their publications. Maybe it did, but I was glad I did what I did and
I *don't* think most of them were 2 or 10 times more able or insightful
or productive than I was as they sometimes indicated.
My daughter went my route (self-funded, no loans, no grants) but with
some tuition scholarships and a little more help from me than I got from
my parents, but far from a free ride. She is now 10 years into her
career as a Molecular Biologist and has bounced off a glass ceiling or
two and is JUST NOW starting to bounce off the academic pedigree
snobbery. She has friends from high school or undergrad who took the
high/low road of ultra expensive education (she was UCSC/UNM) and some
admit that their publications seem to fly through the review process
based on their pedigrees. She is a very critical reader of journal
articles and is *appalled* at how much "crap" makes it through peer
review. I doubt she would claim that researchers from big-name
pedigrees do *worse* work than those without, nor that there isn't some
bias *toward* more likely being better work, but it is far from clear
that her work is in any way inferior to that of those who seem to get a
bit of a "free pass" because of their pedigree.
I would amend your statement of "a high degree of correlation between
academic prowess of an institution and the expertise of it's alumni" to
say a "a measureably positive degree of correlation". If I had it all
to do over again and resources were not an issue, I would pick my
education based on one or two professors, no matter *what* institution
they were at.
- Steve
On 5/8/17 12:35 PM, Gary Schiltz wrote:
I didn't take part in the conversation Frank alludes to, nor do I want
details about it, but I just want to say that it pisses me off that it
has become politically correct to disparage folks who have done well
for themselves and gone to good schools. I myself went to a state
supported "cow college" (Kansas State University), so nobody can
accuse me of being part of the "elite". I don't begrudge people
getting the best education they can get, even if I had neither the
financial resources nor the grades to get into such schools. A degree
from a top-tier institution does not automatically confer "authority",
but it certainly doesn't weaken ones credentials either. I suspect
there is indeed a high degree of correlation between academic prowess
of an institution and the expertise of its alumni.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 12:43 PM, Frank Wimberly <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
As many of you are aware, during a discussion of the beverage tax
I mentioned that my wife studied at the Harvard Graduate School of
Education which stimulated a small discussion of argument by
authority. During an in-person discussion at coffee there was a
similar dynamic. I always wondered why my wife never told people
she went there. When I met her she said she went to college "in
Boston". Now I understand better. When I tell people that I went
to Berkeley the most common reaction is, "Were you there during
the Free Speech Movement?". Harvard seems to be different. When
my wife saw "The Social Network" the parts about the clubs and
going to Newport during the weekend made her feel ill. Friends,
lots of perfectly nice, normal people go to Harvard. Relax.
Frank Wimberly
Phone (505) 670-9918
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