Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
There was a time, in my youth, when MIT would have never been ranked 11th in the country on anything important. There was also a time where Doane College in Nebraska would not have been in the top 100, ever, of schools in this nation. Not because Doane was bad, but because so many others were so good. And I once lived in Nebraska, and I’ve never even heard of it.
I have to question these rankings, on what were they based?
There used to be an engineering college I was proud to attend. Can’t find it in the list, perhaps they’ve quit teaching there. This will be fodder the next time an alumni donation is asked for.
– Max
On the only slighlty similar vein of using taxpayer money for college education, and the concept that it should be directed towards a purpose that actually benefits both the taxpayer and the recipient vice mushy and meaningless “diversity” or hyphenated-American studies, how about restricting federal college grants and loans for civilians to degrees in engineering, medicine and the hard sciences? Besides hopefully kicking a leg out from the self-destroying victim industry which starts in many liberal arts campuses it could start to curb the engineer shortage we face. As a former engineer at a major defense contractor the skill set we used to achieve our current technological advantage over our foes is moving to China and India at a dizzying clip.
I didn’t know Jimmy Hendricks took the time to found and endow a university before he died.
#82 Hendrix College–damn I miss edit function, I unconsciously spelled it the way a coll. fraternity bro spells his own name.
Hmm, can’t find any references for USMA graduating/commissioning pregnant 2nd LTs either. Of course, as my retired O-6 Father used to tell me “son, the Army doesn’t care about YOUR personal needs, it doesn’t care about MY personal needs, the only thing that matters are the needs of the Army”. Which also helped to convince me that the Navy would be far more understanding and compassionate about things like sleeping arrangements and normal meals not out of a can.
Time for a study of diversity in the SEALS? Sometimes diversity is good and sometimes diversity is the ENEMY of good. Don’t even talk about great.
Putting anything ahead of striving for excellence is ALWAYS an enemy of good.
The politicos are apparently in charge of the Navy these days, as opposed to warriors with political skills. There is a difference. It was not always so.
Officers with a warrior heart are, by and large, weeded out early in favor of politicians. Picture Ernie King or even Halsey in today’s Navy.
I would put my USNA engineering degree head to head with anyone from any of the other schools on that list (and have, a few times) any day of the week. Academically, it is top notch and well up from #30. At least, in the subjects that matter.
Now, for the total package, I think Navy needs to re-cage the gyros and make some changes. While the “life here sucks” aspect of West Point was largely instigated by officer development, the same QOL concerns at Navy seemed to be promulgated by a Nanny-state mentality. Keep the Mids safe from themselves.
I’ve heard it’s getting better. It needs to.
Also, was the SAT range always that low for USNA? I remember it being higher, when I applied and we were the #2 Aerospace Eng program in the country. . .
OUCH! Must really hurt our host to raise this topic.
However, it would be good if those running this (current) waste of tax dollars took a hard look at their mission and their product.
Close the doors and shift the funding to NROTC scholarships if they cannot do better than they are these days.
Maybe that would add some “diversity” what with all those new Ensigns coming from different schools.
What I found interesting was looking at the overall incoming freshman class size. It took until around ranking 175 until you hit the really big schools with UT (Texas) coming in with its 6000+ freshman class. All the rest of the schools were your small colleges.
Forget that West Point beat out USNA. I won’t bother to tell my Dad the the USAF Academy beat them soundly as well. Blech.
Wow, the AF Academy scored much higher than I would have expected. And it’s free!
With everyone’s college funds in the toilet, this is outstanding PR. I’m working on brainwashing the children into wanting to apply to Westpoint or the AF Academy (sorry Lex) now. Course, they have several years and things could change during that time.
And they’re technically hispanic so I’ll have them working on their feigned ignorance of the English language which should impress the recruiters. I’ll keep them out in the sun before the interview, too. He, he, he.
Cream ALWAYS rises to the top
I’m not actually serious about them feigning ignorance of the english language. Tough audience.
Sometimes it’s hard to be a Hernandez. Creditors call you thinking you owe them money. People stop you thinking you’re the cleaning lady…
Just kidding (about the last, actually I do get about two calls a month from mistaken identity creditors thinking we’re someone that owes them money).
Last year my oldest son (fifth grade), tested so high in math he was in the top 99.5 percent of the population, and they recommended college math classes for him. Pretty sure he qualifies as cream, despite his less than creamy looking exterior.
Oh please. Combine a methodology that gives top billing to “student satisfaction” (as measured by what they post on RateMyProfessors? YGTBSM!) with the addage that a b****ing sailor is a happy sailor and it’s lucky the trade school broke into the top 100. Maybe the difference between #1 and #30 is a student body that thinks ciritically and a student body that thinks “hoo-ah” substitutes for reasoned dialog.
I’m puzzled as to why the Point and Zoomie U are free but Canoe U costs a grand.
Dave <— frmr enlisted submarine nuc born on a Zoomie base
Probably pays for the diversity training….
…and rightly so.
(..as should have been patently obvious to even the most casual of observers.)
I partly agree with JAFL on the methodology bit about this survey. Pan-American College, Edinberg, TX, (listed as Univ of Texas, Pan-Am–I guess they have somehow been absorbed into the UT system–used to be independent) is listed waaay above many, many, more academically stringent institutions. And although not a “diploma mill” by ANY means, no one who actually knows Pan-Am would rank it more highly than many of those it is currently located above on this list. Therefore I call BS on Forbes and it’s pin-headed geek-squad that compiled the list.
I just found one that IS a diploma mill and it’s ranked higher than schools like BU and Fordham. Interesting.
Here you go Lex. More involved in this crap at this time than I care to be….We can look until we find one that pleases. That time of year:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/liberal-arts-top-public
Humble- Hubris is unbecoming in a P-3 pilot OR a ring-knocker!
b2
What DO they have in common. Or were you being ironic in this
post on declining Naval Academy educational values?