Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!mailrus!cwjcc!pjd.ces.cwru.edu!pjd
From: pjd@pjd.ces.cwru.edu (dr. funk)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: About advanced degrees
Message-ID: <372@cwjcc.CWRU.Edu>
Date: 10 Jan 89 17:26:50 GMT
Sender: news@cwjcc.CWRU.Edu
Reply-To: pjd@pjd.ces.cwru.edu (dr. funk)
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Organization: digital systems research group/CWRU
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There are really two issues here: credentials and education.

Credentials. Some positions, like a tenure track faculty job (an extreme
example :-), typically require a credential. Like it or not, American society
depends on credentials. If you want a job where the credential is mandatory,
then get the advanced degree.

Beware of the class system, however. Not all credentials are created equal
and of course, we are speaking of "big name" versus "unknown" schools. (There
is a class system in industry, too, just to be fair to the academics.) If
academic research is your game, then you need the "big name." Believe me,
it is an uphill struggle to gain the acceptance of reviewers without the
contacts and the "big name."

Education. Sometimes, credential and education actually correlate. Universities
teach from a particular point of view, often theoretical. (Theory isn't always
bad :-) It's good to periodically renew and keep from getting stale.

One thing that's good about going back to school (especially as a full-time
student) is TIME TO THINK. Students really are a "privledged class" -- just
feed your head. (I know it's poverty, too....) Faculty members do not have
as much time as students to freely explore and without the demands of making
money for the dean, etc.

If I get flamed about anything here, this is it. As a people, we just don't
take enough time to think and to introspect. Sure there's a lot of pressure
(economic and otherwise) to be "productive." The really long term gains are
obtained when people can step out of the game and invent. Students are about
the only people in our society who can do that.
paul j. drongowski               usenet: {decvax,sun,att}!cwjcc!pjd!pjd
case western reserve university  csnet:  pjd@alpha.ces.cwru.edu