College Faculties A Most Liberal Lot, Study Finds - Washington Post

[1_pointer]

I'd like to know how many of those denouncing a Liberal Arts background, have one? I do and feel it's served me quite well. IMO, money spent on education is never wasted as you are learning.

I'll never be rich doing what I do, but I have a job I love and get to spend quite a bit of time outside in some great country. It's all about priorities. I knew what I wanted and took the steps to get there.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Jose Queerbutt,

My wife works with a number of young to mid 30's post docs who are all broke.

Maybe you want to send your kids off to college to listen to his rants. I wouldn't. It's your money, spend how you please.

Is that how you measure success, by dollars in the bank??? I don't, but if I did, I am sure we would all be able to say I am more successful than you. hump Who knows, you keep swinging that framing hammer, and some day you can buy yourself one of them gay yellow corvettes.

I am actually glad there are people who have Masters in Social Work and will take next to nothing in salary to work with people like you and the other residents in Anaconda in order to help them be "comfortable". I am glad there are school teachers in my kid's grade school with Masters Degrees in education teaching my kids the 3 R's. We as a society don't value these people in monetary methods, but I can tell you they are worth more to our society than somebody with a Skill 77 in their hand and a pencil behind their ear.

Yes, I will spend $$$$ and send my kids off to college, as I can't think of a more important time in their lives. They will LEARN how to learn, a skill that will serve them their entire lives. And to be honest, I think I will likely point them toward a Liberal Arts school as I think that makes for a more well educated person. They can specialize once they get to their Masters programs.

I can assure you, when I look at a pile of resume's, and if half of them have degrees and the other half have "real world" experience, I can promise you the half without degrees are in the trash can. Why would I want to hire somebody that doesn't have the ambition and intellectual curiousity to obtain a degree? It makes a real easy, quick criteria for me to trash them. You may not like it, and I may skip over good candidates, but my time is too valuable to waste on people who didn't "waste" their time getting a degree.


Hey Bambistew,
On the topic of Liberal Arts degree vs. "technical" degree, are you able to find work in desirable locales? Some "technical" degrees have limited opportunities, geographically speaking. Would you be able to live somewhere closer to God's country with a different degree?

Greenhorn,
The best Elk hunter I know (not you!!!) has an MBA and a BS in Ag. Travels the world for a seed company bringing hybrid seed corns to places that don't have them. See him in November, and you would never know he is educated, looks just like any other elk hunter with Schee's, a can of Cope', Coors Light, and Filson pants. The only thing that gives him away are the Swarvoskis around his neck. Talk about someone with "focus" and determination. He will glass an "empty" mountain for hours until an elk "magically" appears. The rest of us are long ready to move on, and he keeps glassing.

Buzz,
I don't even know if my undergrad cost $9k. My tuition was $512 per semester at the end of my senior year. I think my Freshman year was $350 a semester. 8 semesters at $500 bucks a whack is only $4k. I know Top Ramen was 8/$1, Raineer was $5/12 pack of 16oz bottles, and the local Burger and Brew had a happy hour for $0.75 schooners and free popcorn. Take the lid of the Grey Poupon and dip the popcorn and you had a full meal, while drinking $1.50 worth of beers. It didn't even take much more than minimum wage to be able to work my way thru college, and the time spent was certainly "character building". My guess is Montana is like Idaho, and anybody who wants a degree can get one.

 

[leftylock]

Jose, With all due respect, Your posts in this thread are the biggest load of BS I've heard in a while!
But then What do I know? I only have a masters in education. I should have gone on for a Phd and then I would have enough smarts to become a flaming liberal like some of my profs who couldn't find their ass with both hands!

 

[noharleyyet]

Gunner, we must've went to college about the same time. I remember the budget meals and minimum wage days along with the bargain tuition. "Learning how to learn" sums it up well.

 

[JoseCuervo]

1234567890

 

[JoseCuervo]

0987654321.

 

[noharleyyet]

Four years and no summer school for me too. Construction work in the evenings, weekends, and summertime with money left over after tuition, books, room & board. Was glad to graduate but in retrospect should've gone on to grad school.

 

[JoseCuervo]

What do I know? I only have a masters in education!

Lefty,

I stand corrected, based upon your post it is likely that teachers in Florida with a Masters are overpaid. You were lucky you didn't work under a Merit Pay system, weren't you..... Out here, I don't think we pay our public school teachers a rate that rewards them for their efforts. Luckily most of them teach for the love of teaching. Obviously that wasn't your motive.

 

[JoseCuervo]

Gunner, we must've went to college about the same time. I remember the budget meals and minimum wage days along with the bargain tuition. "Learning how to learn" sums it up well.

Noharley,
The rush to get thru school and get to making "real money" seemed like a reason to get it done in 4 years. In hindsight, that was a mistake, as I should have taken some additional undergrad classes, and I would have been better off to go spend a semester in Spain, getting my Spanish better while seeing Europe.

But those years of eating Ramen, Yogurt, and drinking domestic beer were "character building" and I wouldn't trade them for all the yellow corvettes in the world....

 

[BuzzH]

Gunner,

I may not have spent 9k, but it was pretty close to that. I think when I started, counting books, etc. I was right near 600 a quarter. My last semester was about $1400 counting books, etc. So, I had about 4k in the first couple years and with increases and such probably another 5k when I graduated. I cant remember the exact amounts, but I had no trouble working 5-6 months a year for the FS and then going to school the rest of the year.

Plus, I had a buddy (a college grad from Carrol College in Helena MT) who was making a fat salary working as the regional distributer for a NW beer company...he did his part to help us through college providing Heidlberg for us at $22/16 gallon keg...

I tell you what, college was a great time and people that dont go are really missing out. This thread really has brought back some great memories. Life is just plain too short to not get a degree and go to college.

Another thing college is good for is learning how to be resourceful enough to live on small amounts of income...thats worth quite a bit right there.

Thats why the college grads on this board are hunting 2-5 states a year while the gay-yellow corvette dudes are hunting one state.....HAHA.

 

[Nut]

I don't drive a vette.

 

[The Hedgehog]

The good ol' days..

College was great. Never hunted in those days except over Thanksgiving. Made up for it with a lot of beer and 2-legged does. I was 26 and making over 50K a year when I first killed an elk. During school, I was in the ARMY Nat'l Guard and worked 2-3 jobs while taking full credit load in school, some of those jobs paid about $5/hr.

Liberal Arts?? WTF? A technical degree along with some common sense and people skills will open way more doors than any liberal arts degree. That's the message my kids will get anyway.

 

[cjcj]

"ALL" education is of great value...I would hire a person with work related skills over one that has a degree that is not related to the job... whats the point? you should hire the most qualified individual that you can. Gunner you say you throw away any applicant without a degree? That sounds damn foolish if you ask me... If everything is even THEN use the degree to separate the applicants... I will take 10 years [job related] experiance over any degree in most cases[ depending on the field] unless you are willing to take a chance and train someone.

 

[Moosie]

I think I can go toe to toe with jsut about anyone on wage on this board and I don't have a degree......

 

[JoseCuervo]

CJ,
If you have 200 resumes, and you can eliminate 100 of them within a quick 5 minute scan, you do it. If I see University of Phoenix or some other online "school", they go in the trash can.

Like NoHarley said, it is all about "learning to learn", and somebody with 10 years experience and no degree may not be able to learn. Many fields are changing so fast, that 10 year ago experience is as relevant as driving a covered wagon. May have been valuable 150 years ago, but now is worthless. I may be foolish, but that is my problem if I eliminate good candidates, so far it has never been a problem....

 

[The Hedgehog]

Jose.. I'd throw out those liberal arts degrees too.

Where's tenbeers? education=money=hunting :evilgrin:

 

[BigHornRam]

Lefty, LMAO

Greenhorn,

"Liberal Arts?? WTF? A technical degree along with some common sense and people skills will open way more doors than any liberal arts degree. That's the message my kids will get anyway."

Well said.

Jose,

The only thing you said that made sense was that in college you "learn to learn". I'm sure that all the down to earth well educated guys you all have mentioned are great people. The ones that bother me are the ones that constantly rub there sheep skin under everyones nose, as if it makes them better than everyone else.

FYI my tuition ran about $500 per semester and we bought what ever beer was cheapest. Old Mil, Western, Blatz, or Cold Springs Delight could usually be had for around $4.00 to $4.50 per case in returnables. College was great but if I had to do it all over again today, at todays college costs, I'd go the tech school or apprentice route.

 

[1_pointer]

I agree and disagree with the technical degree statements. It depends on what one wants to do. I know I'm biased due to my background, but if one wants to get a job straight out of undergrad the technical degree is probably the better route. However, if one wants to pursue graduate or post-grad professional degrees (id MD, JD, etc) I'd say the liberal arts background has a leg up.

 

[Bambistew]

Hey Bambistew,
On the topic of Liberal Arts degree vs. "technical" degree, are you able to find work in desirable locales? Some "technical" degrees have limited opportunities, geographically speaking. Would you be able to live somewhere closer to God's country with a different degree?

I do agree with you about technical degree's being limited by geography, but no more so than a lib arts degree IMO...

The one and only reason I live out here is for my wife, she has the drive and desire to climbing to the top of her company, and I along with her employer believe she has the talents to get it done.... Who am I to step in the way of a "free ride"

Our time here is limited to my wife finishing up her GASP masters and will be starting her PhD next fall figure 3 more years... She wants to become VP of her company and to do, it just so happens that every VP in her company has a PhD... But according to BHR she's going to be an idiot and up to her eyeballs in debt and not contribute anything to society... I guess making a pile of money, running a section of huge company, and having the company pick up the tab on her schooling is stupid, all while being paid a kings ransom and getting lots of "perks". In a few more years I can probably quit work and hunt full time anyway why would I care? BTW those stupid masters and PhD engineers that work for a huge defense contractor really don't contribute anything to society other and building instruments to keep BHR safe in his little padded world of MT...

Couple more years and I'll be in gods country. I actually have a BS in Mining Engineering, as I wanted to stay in gods country, but life happened and I've relocated here temporarily for my wife. Last time I switched jobs almost two years ago, this was in the midst of the "job shortage" mind you, sent out 6 resumes' and got 7 interview offers with in 2 days. Given a little bit of time, I could find a job in either my graduated field or in the civil world any place in this country, couple that with a few years of experience and the sky's the limit... Just add a P.E. on to the end of my name next fall and I can start my own engineering company ANY place I feel like it, all I need is a computer... stupid technical degree

The reason I mentioned about Lib arts majors was because most of the ones I know either couldn’t find a job in their field when they graduated or saw the light and decided they should go back to school and get a degree where they can find a job that would pay the bills that they wanted to rack up. Seemed like they would have been better off just getting that degree with an open job market in the first place. But to each his own. There are however plenty of lib arts majors that do very well and I don't think we could make this country work with out them...

 

[BigHornRam]

My best college memory was the night I killed the possum that was getting in the garbage with a railroad tie. Chased him into a window well and flattened him. Took him out to the sidewalk and tied some fishing line to his tail. It happened to be sororiety rush week and thousands of pretty girls in dresses were walking up and down the street. I sat on the porch drinking beer and giving the line a little tug at just the right moment. What a riot. My frat brothers about died. I lived in a ag frat. 40 or so country bumpkins turned loose on the big city was just plain ugly. The time I emptied the spittoon from the 3rd floor window and hit some chick on the head was also memorable.

But I never figured out how to include those experiences on my resume.

On a side note, a couple months later and a couple blocks away from the house where the possum incedent occured, a guy was arrested, fined, and given jail time for kicking a possum that ran in front of him. I'm lucky I'm still not locked away for what I did. U W Madison was a liberal la la land even back in the 80's.