Re: On Light: Surviving College

[John Cooper <jcooper@BUCKNELL.EDU>]

On Mon, 11 Jun 2001, Rick Tarara wrote:

> Speaking for 35 years ago, I don't remember being greatly inspired to
   A - MEN!
   And I had Feynman, Greenstein, Sharp and Pauling among others!

> work hard, but I did feel it was my 'job' at that point in my life to
> do the work required to do well in school.
   We didn't have time to be 'inspired', nor did we expect it.  We had
enough to do just to survive and keep our heads above water.

   To answer Ludwig, I think the difference between then and now is/was
NOT inspiration but expectations.  My faculty at Caltech (56-60) and
Berkeley (60-64) didn't inspire, nor did they seem to feel that was
expected of them; we motivated ourselves or dropped by the wayside, which
was littered with the latter by the way.
   Then we students expected to be seriously challenged, welcomed it and
either rose to the occasion or perished.  Now I gather students, deans,
and apparently parents expect us as faculty to provide motivational
inspiration into the bargain.  That is a significant difference in the job
description for both faculty and students.

 John N. Cooper, Chemistry
 Bucknell University
 Lewisburg PA 17837-2005
 jcooper@bucknell.edu
 http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/jcooper
 VOX 570-577-3673    FAX 570-577-1739