Re: Door Slamming/Question (fwd) -Reply (fwd)

[Eric Crump <wleric@showme.missouri.edu>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 14:28:20 -0500
To: Multiple recipients of list WCENTR-L <WCENTR-L@MIZZOU1.MISSOURI.EDU>

    I agree with Bobbie Silk that certain "requirements" may be
questionable in value.  The label "Ph.D", "Ed.D", etc. can be used in
a rather arbitrary way, so that the human being involved is lost in
the semantic shuffle.  By analogy, it reminds me of some fellow Air
Force officers, who had a categorical imperative to know the "source"
of a commission: ROTC, AFR, ANG, West Point, etc.  What legitimate
purpose was served by this curiosity?

    Overall, labels can be a help, but they can also be a hindrance
to understanding.

Richard Swerdlin
(swerdlin@wp.unt.edu)

P.S.  The longer I live, the more I see the effects of attitudes, for
better or worse.  In considering applications for positions in a
department, attitudes are likely to be of greater significance than
academic labels.