[ExI] Natasha's brand new doctorate

[natasha at natasha.cc]

LOL ... i love you all.

Quoting spike <spike66 at att.net>:

>>
> From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
> [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Stefano Vaj

>
>>> Natasha flew to England to defend her dissertation last week.
>
>> I love such anglo-saxon archaisms, in Italy we merely *present* them, but
> this sounds much more, well, doctoral. :-) -- Stefano Vaj
>
> I disagree so much Stefano.  The more active verb "defend" is the right
> word, for it is much more wonderfully descriptive of the exhausting and
> rigorous process of getting the highly esteemed doctoral degree.  There is
> nothing passive about that course of study.  Over the years, requirement
> inflation has caused students to take longer and longer to achieve that
> level.
>
> Stanford for one of many such examples, has created a de facto coalition
> with the defense industry for voluntary slave labor reseachers from among
> the talented graduate students, in an arrangement that is clearly beneficial
> to Stanford and the biz, and arguably the student.  Arrangements are made
> for a pittance of a stipend, sufficient for survival but not for living in
> luxury.  Plenty of graduate students find they rather enjoy the intellectual
> stimulation and (ahem) *scenery* of campus life, and cheerfully accept the
> lifestyle restrictions, sometimes taking nearly a decade to finish the
> doctoral degree, displaying no great urgency to graduate.
>
> Still, when that time eventually arrives to defend that dissertation, the
> battle can be understandably fierce.  The number of PhDs awarded is
> necessarily kept low, and only the good ones will do.
>
>
>
> spike
>
>