Yardsticks: Good and bad.

We use a lot of standards to compare things. Sometimes I think those standards are out of whack.

We see a guest appear on a TV news program and immediately the screen shows a sidebar listing the educational accomplishments of the guest. B.A. at such and such school in some year; M.S. at some other school in a later year; Ph.D., perhaps; then political offices held. Ho Hum!

I am reminded of the old joke about the country boy who went off to school and climbed the ladder of academia. Eventually he could write his name followed by BS, MS, PhD. Another country boy asked his pa what the letters stood for. The old man explained, "We know what BS is; MS means more of the same; Ph.D. means Piled Hip Deep".

Recently, when Barack Obama appointed Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, some commentator remarked that she had gone to "all the right schools." Really? By what or by whose standards were those schools "right"? Was it the price of the tuition? Was it the number of Senators and other famous politicians who graduated from the school? Was that because of a better education provided, or just because that was the school chosen by wealthy, influential parents? And what difference does that make to a student, anyway?

Years ago, when my youngest son was attending a Community College, he had a conversation with a lawyer who had graduated from one of the prestigious Ivy League schools. My son asked what difference it might make to attend such a school, compared to, say, a state university. The lawyer answered that, in a given course, both schools may use the same text book. But, at the Ivy League school, the professor may well be the guy who wrote the book.

Fair enough. But which student is better? The kid who listens to the lecture by the guy who wrote the book, then goes out to party and cruise around in the luxury car his parents bought for him... or the poor kid who leaves the state university classroom, goes back to his dorm room and reads and re-reads that textbook, absorbing all the information, truly learning what the author had written?

In preparing advertising for a certain trade school, I once asked the school administrator if her students really excelled after completing her course of study. She said that some students graduate, then fade into oblivion. Other students, once exposed to the information, exploded with confidence and enthusiasm, found ways to be better and accomplished significant things. In other words, the school introduces the student to knowledge but it is up to the student to do something with that introduction. You've heard the old riddle, "What do they call the guy who graduated last in his class in medical school? DOCTOR!"

Yes, there is a difference in schools. Some teach better than others. Some demand more of their students than do others. But the mere fact that a person attended a certain school means nothing to me. Why even list it? We need a better yardstick... how did that student perform in school? What did the student accomplish after graduation?

Years later my son was teaching at Cornell - high above Cayuga's waters. He spent most of his time in his office with students who were begging for a higher grade. He said a student would make 60% on a test, then argue endlessly for a better grade.

Maybe that sorry student is today holding some very important position in government, and proudly proclaims that he graduated from Cornell! He is still a 60% student.