Comments on: Distinction http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:04:38 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Doug http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151736 Doug Fri, 14 Apr 2006 19:43:12 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151736 "no-one gets in anymore except on academic merit, quite narrowly understood as success in exam results." Yes, but I hope that there are not very many obituaries about people who recently entered. There are, presumably, many more from the era that I was making fun of. (Most days, British snobbery is cute and quaint, but occasionally it's fun to take a pot-shot at.) “no-one gets in anymore except on academic merit, quite narrowly understood as success in exam results.”

Yes, but I hope that there are not very many obituaries about people who recently entered. There are, presumably, many more from the era that I was making fun of. (Most days, British snobbery is cute and quaint, but occasionally it’s fun to take a pot-shot at.)

]]> By: Boîte noire » Archive du blog » Anciens contre Modernes sur France Culture http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151636 Boîte noire » Archive du blog » Anciens contre Modernes sur France Culture Fri, 14 Apr 2006 13:46:20 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151636 [...] Critique : en amont, il ne faut pas croire que La Distinction disparaît : les auteurs de Crooked Timber se retrouvent aussi sur Comment is Free (endogénéité), et des statistiques récentes indiquent que beaucoup d’entre eux sont passés par Oxbridge (reproduction sociale). On pourrait établir les biographies des auteurs de Lieu Commun établir un constat analogue : un fort capital éducatif de base décuplé par le capital social bâti en ligne. J’irais même jusqu’à désigner les plate-formes de publication comme un type de ségrégation supplémentaire : le skyblog est à lui seul le triptyque hip-hop × survêt’ × baskets du blog. Ceci dit, l’ascenseur social est indéniablement de meilleure qualité sur les modèles de publication Modernes que sur les Anciens. [...] [...] Critique : en amont, il ne faut pas croire que La Distinction disparaît : les auteurs de Crooked Timber se retrouvent aussi sur Comment is Free (endogénéité), et des statistiques récentes indiquent que beaucoup d’entre eux sont passés par Oxbridge (reproduction sociale). On pourrait établir les biographies des auteurs de Lieu Commun établir un constat analogue : un fort capital éducatif de base décuplé par le capital social bâti en ligne. J’irais même jusqu’à désigner les plate-formes de publication comme un type de ségrégation supplémentaire : le skyblog est à lui seul le triptyque hip-hop × survêt’ × baskets du blog. Ceci dit, l’ascenseur social est indéniablement de meilleure qualité sur les modèles de publication Modernes que sur les Anciens. [...]

]]> By: Eszter http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151615 Eszter Fri, 14 Apr 2006 12:21:06 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151615 I've told plenty of people that I went to college in Massachusetts, but this after lots of experiences with having to specify location after simply saying "Smith College". Of course, when I do say Massachusetts, most assume a Boston-area school even though there are quite a few schools to the west of that area in the state. As for Princeton (where I got my grad degree), there are times I say New Jersey especially in a context where it doesn't seem to matter what particular school and the conversation is more about geography. When talking to academics, I usually just say the school's name. I’ve told plenty of people that I went to college in Massachusetts, but this after lots of experiences with having to specify location after simply saying “Smith College”. Of course, when I do say Massachusetts, most assume a Boston-area school even though there are quite a few schools to the west of that area in the state.

As for Princeton (where I got my grad degree), there are times I say New Jersey especially in a context where it doesn’t seem to matter what particular school and the conversation is more about geography. When talking to academics, I usually just say the school’s name.

]]> By: Tom T. http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151560 Tom T. Thu, 13 Apr 2006 23:39:08 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151560 The Princeton grads just say "PU". The Princeton grads just say “PU”.

]]> By: lalala http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151555 lalala Thu, 13 Apr 2006 22:38:30 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151555 Question being, why does it seem that there's no equivalent culture of Princeton students doing the geographic dodge? Is it because you can't say the town name without giving away the school (more or less)? So you have to say the state name and nobody wants to talk about living in New Jersey? (Actually, under certain circumstances I do say New Jersey, and I do get away with it - because I say it only to people who don't know much about the academic landscape and therefore would be unduly impressed by Princeton and it would be a big to-do [leading me to have to specify that many of the undergrads I've had in precepts were really dumb as nails] and then the person would ever after be on the lookout for me to tuck my shirt into my underwear on the assumption that people who go to Princeton must be so smart that they just can't function socially, which is a notion of intelligence that I just despise. Can't function socially? Not so smart, then, are you? But anyway, point being that under certain circumstances you can get away with saying New Jersey without people either assuming you mean Princeton [on account of how it's not a well-established fact that if you say New Jersey you mean Princeton in the same way that saying New Haven means Yale] or following up.) Question being, why does it seem that there’s no equivalent culture of Princeton students doing the geographic dodge? Is it because you can’t say the town name without giving away the school (more or less)? So you have to say the state name and nobody wants to talk about living in New Jersey?

(Actually, under certain circumstances I do say New Jersey, and I do get away with it – because I say it only to people who don’t know much about the academic landscape and therefore would be unduly impressed by Princeton and it would be a big to-do [leading me to have to specify that many of the undergrads I’ve had in precepts were really dumb as nails] and then the person would ever after be on the lookout for me to tuck my shirt into my underwear on the assumption that people who go to Princeton must be so smart that they just can’t function socially, which is a notion of intelligence that I just despise. Can’t function socially? Not so smart, then, are you? But anyway, point being that under certain circumstances you can get away with saying New Jersey without people either assuming you mean Princeton [on account of how it’s not a well-established fact that if you say New Jersey you mean Princeton in the same way that saying New Haven means Yale] or following up.)

]]> By: jacob http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151545 jacob Thu, 13 Apr 2006 21:56:10 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151545 @ 30: The University of New Haven, oddly, is in West Haven. Of course, the largest university in New Haven is Southern Connecticut State. @ 30: The University of New Haven, oddly, is in West Haven.

Of course, the largest university in New Haven is Southern Connecticut State.

]]> By: morinao http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151538 morinao Thu, 13 Apr 2006 21:20:30 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151538 I find myself telling people I went to college in Pasadena. But that's mainly because if I say I went to <a href="http://www.caltech.edu/" rel="nofollow">Caltech</a>, Californians always seem to follow up with, "Oh, which one, <a href="http://www.calpoly.edu/" rel="nofollow">San Luis Obispo</a> or <a href="http://www.csupomona.edu/" rel="nofollow">Pomona</a>?" I find myself telling people I went to college in Pasadena. But that’s mainly because if I say I went to Caltech, Californians always seem to follow up with, “Oh, which one, San Luis Obispo or Pomona?”

]]> By: soc anon http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151533 soc anon Thu, 13 Apr 2006 21:05:20 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151533 Locutor @ 21: Of course, UT-obsessed parents (and there are more than a few in Texas) can easily game the system by moving their marginally achieving kid into a worse school for his or her senior year. Better to be a big fish in a small pond. Some scholars who have analyzed the Texas data are convinced that the 10% rule has *decreased* minority student's chances to get into UT. See, e.g., work by Marta Tienda, at that university in Princeton, NJ. Locutor @ 21:

Of course, UT-obsessed parents (and there are more than a few in Texas) can easily game the system by moving their marginally achieving kid into a worse school for his or her senior year. Better to be a big fish in a small pond.

Some scholars who have analyzed the Texas data are convinced that the 10% rule has decreased minority student’s chances to get into UT. See, e.g., work by Marta Tienda, at that university in Princeton, NJ.

]]> By: Kieran Healy http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151528 Kieran Healy Thu, 13 Apr 2006 20:40:04 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151528 <i>Wait, you say there’s another university in new Haven??</i> Don't forget "Albertus Magnus!":http://www.albertus.edu/ Wait, you say there’s another university in new Haven??

Don’t forget Albertus Magnus!

]]> By: Kip http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151507 Kip Thu, 13 Apr 2006 18:49:59 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151507 My favorite is "I went to college in DC" Could be Georgetown. Could be UDC. Could be the US Department of Agriculture Graduate School. I myself went to undergrad in Fort Worth. I don't enjoy having to explain each and everytime I talk about my college years that I didn't go to a Bible college. My favorite is “I went to college in DC”

Could be Georgetown. Could be UDC. Could be the US Department of Agriculture Graduate School.

I myself went to undergrad in Fort Worth. I don’t enjoy having to explain each and everytime I talk about my college years that I didn’t go to a Bible college.

]]> By: Locutor http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151506 Locutor Thu, 13 Apr 2006 18:48:04 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151506 "I don’t think any American university is as competitively meritocratic for its undergrad population as all top level UK universities." Over 70% of this year's freshman class at the University of Texas at Austin got in because they graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. It's a pretty meritocratic system, because it gives students from poorer schools districts a decent chance to compete with students from more affluent (and the affluent private) schools. “I don’t think any American university is as competitively meritocratic for its undergrad population as all top level UK universities.”

Over 70% of this year’s freshman class at the University of Texas at Austin got in because they graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. It’s a pretty meritocratic system, because it gives students from poorer schools districts a decent chance to compete with students from more affluent (and the affluent private) schools.

]]> By: Steve LaBonne http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151501 Steve LaBonne Thu, 13 Apr 2006 18:29:25 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151501 <blockquote>also at that unnamed school in New Haven</blockquote> Oh, I know- he must have meant the University of New Haven. Well known for its forensic science programs. Wait, you say there's another university in new Haven?? ;)
also at that unnamed school in New Haven

Oh, I know- he must have meant the University of New Haven. Well known for its forensic science programs.

Wait, you say there’s another university in new Haven?? ;)

]]> By: Mike Otsuka http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151499 Mike Otsuka Thu, 13 Apr 2006 18:20:27 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151499 PS: The "...." at the end of Dean's answer is an ellipsis. I cut out the rest of his answer. It's not as if Anderson Cooper cut him off after his reference to college in New Haven. PS: The “….” at the end of Dean’s answer is an ellipsis. I cut out the rest of his answer. It’s not as if Anderson Cooper cut him off after his reference to college in New Haven.

]]> By: Mike Otsuka http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151498 Mike Otsuka Thu, 13 Apr 2006 18:16:33 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151498 There's this from a Democratic candidates' debates in late 2003: ANDERSON COOPER: Changing the subject a little bit, Governor Dean, I know you took a year off after college, spent a little time skiing. Is that something you would recommend for college graduates? HOWARD DEAN: When I was 20 years old, I was a junior in a college in New Haven, Connecticut.... COOPER: Senator Lieberman. Then we'll move on. Go ahead. JOE LIEBERMAN: You know, when I was 20, I was in college -- also at that unnamed school in New Haven.... There’s this from a Democratic candidates’ debates in late 2003:

ANDERSON COOPER: Changing the subject a little bit, Governor Dean, I know you took a year off after college, spent a little time skiing. Is that something you would recommend for college graduates?

HOWARD DEAN: When I was 20 years old, I was a junior in a college in New Haven, Connecticut….

COOPER: Senator Lieberman. Then we’ll move on. Go ahead.

JOE LIEBERMAN: You know, when I was 20, I was in college—also at that unnamed school in New Haven….

]]> By: Sebastian Holsclaw http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/comment-page-1/#comment-151482 Sebastian Holsclaw Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:54:32 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2006/04/12/distinction/#comment-151482 "It’s even worse when Yale grads say they went to school “in New Haven.”" That really does seem to happen all the time. “It’s even worse when Yale grads say they went to school “in New Haven.””

That really does seem to happen all the time.

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