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"Dr." and all that



Here's two cents worth on this topic from a retired chemistry professor.

American chemists usually don't use any alphabet soup (M.S., Ph.D., etc.)
behind their names on title pages of books, articles, etc., but do include
their degrees on business cards, where indicating an advanced degree
might help in getting a job or consulting gigs. In an ordinary collegiate
academic setting (outside of California, anyway) it is usual for students
to address their instructors as "Dr." or "Mr." or "Ms." When I was
teaching I always addressed my STUDENTS (especially the undergraduates)
as "Mr." or "Ms." unless I knew them really well. This degree of
formality helps to maintain a fitting respectful distance between
instructor and student, and helps to prevent outbreaks of boorishness on
the part of some undergraduates. (I taught at East Carolina in NC, an
institution whose undergraduates are notorious for their boorish behavior.)

The one place I think degrees and titles have almost no use is a discussion
list like this one, which is presumably a place where people are trying to
come together as equals to solve problems they encounter in teaching
physics. If I were a high school teacher, I might be reluctant to
disagree with a college prof with a lot of titles and alphabet soup after
his or her name, or even to ask for information from such an august
personage. So here's a modest suggestion from somebody with no axes
to grid: let's lose the impressive titles and degrees from our signatures,
folks!

Happy REAL new millenium and REAL 21st Century,



David Lunney, F.M.J.P.S.E.S.C.*, F.S.L.M.I.S.L.P.J.W.P.L.C.A.T.N.I**

* Founding Member of the John Phantom Society for the Exposure
of Scientific Claptrap

** Founder and Sole Living Member of the International Society
for Laughing Pretentious Jerks Who Put a Lot of Crap After Their
Names
off the Internet