It cost about $51,000 to put your child through Lehigh last year. If you're lucky, your son or daughter has avoided Assistant Professor Aurelie Thiele from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. There's little question she looks down her nose at Lehigh Valley people. In a rambling blog, she laments that "[i]t takes some thick skin to live in this area when you make a decent living for yourself." Did I mention she has a PhD from MIT?
"I might have too much integrity for the Lehigh Valley. I really liked it for the first 2 1/2 years but that was before I knew what kind of people lived here."
Maybe she met Ron Angle.
"I'm not going to pretend life is fun in the Valley for people who happen to take pride in being intellectuals. ... With my PhD from MIT, I'm so completely out-of-place it'd be hilarious if it weren't so sad."
I know how she feels. I'm a genius myself.
"I'm really keen on my title of snobby intellectual. It's a matter of pride for me not to be liked by people who don't share my values."
Another miserable bastard!
"The real issue is, if people at the top of the power scale care so much about looking good and people at the bottom are so bitter, maybe I'd be better off elsewhere, because here I'm well aware that I'm on my own. That's life."
Is she related to Marie Antoinette?
"I understand now why many young professors at Lehigh live in Lansdale (much closer to Philly) or off Route 78 in New Jersey. Several people have told me 'we need more people like you here,' but there's a big difference between need and want. The Lehigh Valley doesn't want people like me. I can't blame them - we're a disruption to the existing power order, especially those of us who look like students and turn out to be professors with too much idealism for their own sake."
Is she trying to tell us she's one hot mama? I could probably pass for a young college hunk myself. Just yesterday, someone was calling me juvenile.
"At some level, I'm not even sure the Lehigh Valley wants Lehigh University. The students are just a constant reminder that some people are well on their way toward a successful life away from here."
Like the one who knocked over a bank two years ago.
Here's a question for Lehigh. Do you really expect LV parents to pay you $51,000 to be insulted by some elitist snob?
91 comments:
LMAO. Send this one to a Norco Council meeting. Her head will explode.
I hear she doesn't need a toilet in her house!
Speechless after reading her full piece.
Just a little scary.
It is easy to see why she has built the allegiances she has.
She puts the "I" in elitist. although perhaps I am missing something as I got my Masters at a state school and I don't have a PhD.d.
Someone pass me a corn dog.
I have an idea: Why don't we all hijack her blog? Oh, sorry, you guys already did.
THe LV does have its intellectual people, but they communicate with each other through a system of secret tunnels and handshakes below the three cities, along with the gays and the Jews. Anyone who grew up here can find this Undersground Railroad easily but she's so arrogant she probably will never be invited into a tunnel entrance and shall continue wandering South Bethlehem looking for understanding, the Wandering Intellectual.
BO,
I can TELL this is going to be an interesting blog day. Again, I think LV residents have a right to be angry over what she has blogged; to say it was "over the top" is an understatement, but, please be aware that she is not the ONLY one who feels this way. I think we need to reach out to her and others, who have an opinion like this, and SHOW them that the LV is not a backwards hick town. I think it may be comparable to reaching out and educating the urban communities and showing residents there IS another side of life. Perhaps we can reach out to Ms. T. and show her there is ANOTHER side to the LV?
Alfonso Todd
www.lehighvalleyflavor.piczo.com
I've heard that she can walk on water, make a buffalo shit from a nickel, and her shit smells like cotton candy.
Those who feel compelled to flash credentials either don't have them, or are insecure because they don't feel worthy of them.
I have to go. I must clean my guns before going to church today.
Wow. We moved to this area about 5 years ago and found the typical mix of those who accepted us and those who didn’t. Many rural areas all over the country seem to have this problem. In parts of New England if your family doesn’t go back at least 3 generations, you’re an outsider. I’ve seen the same thing on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia.
I’ve never met the lady, but if she acts and talks like her blog I can understand some of her problems. I read the whole piece so I am not speaking from just having read the excepts. Yes, Lehigh Valley is not the culture capital of the world. She should have known that before she moved here. Given her attitude, I suggest she move to France and become a waiter. They seem to look down on everybody.
We all know what this nutty professor really needs - A BOYFRIEND. Is it any wonder the guys of the Lehigh Valley are running in the opposite direction of this self important Ph.D from MIT?
Alfonso, you seem to have taken a liking to her...maybe you could take her out for dinner and dancing! She could use a few smooth moves, it appears. Good luck, though - I suspect the dinner conversation might be a little BORING! It all depends on how long you think you can hear her repeat, "I HAVE A PHD FROM MIT."
Oh well, she must be HORRIFIED to have wandered into this Valley's blogosphere, but what did she expect writing such horrible accounts of her life here? Was no one supposed to take offense to that? I'm not even a true-blue local, and I'm offended!
Those of us who would call ourselves Lehigh Valleyites have always taken pride of the diversity of this area. We are surrounded by institutions of higher learning, excellent hospitals, and the close proximity of New York, Phila. and the Poconos. If one cannot find meaning or satisfaction in life within this area, that someone needs to move to Washington DC and perhaps work in a think tank or perhaps a visit to a shrink.
Those of us who would call ourselves Lehigh Valleyites have always taken pride of the diversity of this area. We are surrounded by institutions of higher learning, excellent hospitals, and the close proximity of New York, Phila. and the Poconos. If one cannot find meaning or satisfaction in life within this area, that someone needs to move to Washington DC and perhaps work in a think tank or perhaps a visit to a shrink.
Being "intellectual" is all fine and dandy, but in order to become that... one must have their car repaired, colleges & homes built, lawn mowed, appliances serviced/installed, etc. I refuse to find class distinction in those who find honest hard work building and maintaining the golden castles of the elite and raising a family on hard work. These are not lesser then those. She obviously did not enjoy the movie 'Titanic" having to empathize with those travelers in steerage.
I define an "intellectual" as someone who analyses, plans and discusses what should be done, while a non-intellectual just goes out and does it!
I'm trying to be open minded when I say... perhaps she will clarify. I can't truly believe she meant to say what she appears to have stated.
Where is this nut job from originally? We in the Lehigh Valley accept intellectuals who are humble enough not to be arrogant and condescending. She should pack her bags and head for Berkeley where SHE will be the moron.
She decries what H.L. Mencken called, "boobus Americanus." It's an old charge that may well be true. Our country is one where doers have always been preferred over thinkers.
Lehigh, home of the country's "best party school," and minter of local bank robbers and murderers (yes, I remember the pride of Lehigh, Josoph Henry, raping and killing Jean Cleary) is seen more realistically by those who've had years to observe.
Perhaps her problem is her shimmering personality. Whenever I hear that familiar screech, I mourn for the guy (or girl) whose life-long soundtrack she might be or become.
Hey M. Mom's,
LOL! Thanks for believing I have smooth moves. In reality, though, it's not an internet romance I am seeking, I just want to let everyone know that I have met many who feel as she does and even I had the "college educated and metropolitan-experienced superiority complex" when I first moved to Behthlehem, PA. But 7 years later, I am still in the LV and consider myself fortunate to be here. I also realized that whether you have a doctorate, degree, diploma, certification, or are just a graduate from "the school of hard knocks", we all have to put our pants on one leg at a time.
Honestly, I am just trying to be a peacemaker because with the debt of the city, community organizations losing funding, a mayoral race, and GM tanking, I believe we all should be trying to come together rather than tearing each other apart. That's just my humble opinion though...
Alfonso Todd
www.lehighvalleyflavor.piczo.com
I'm sure Ms. Thiele worked very hard to achieve the status she has obtained today but it would do her a bit of good to recognize that while hard work is a prerequisite, it is only one of many factors in determining success.
People like this never want to admit the role plane old good luck played in determining their position. Family, economic background, geographic positioning to opportunities, etc.
That being said, I'm sure this woman has had, and will have, trouble forming relationships wherever she travels. The mentality of the locals is just a convenient excuse for her while she is here.
Allentown Intellectual
Not all Lehigh professors are as completely arrogant as this woman.
Like the students, some of the faculty isolate themselves in the Lehigh bubble and never bother to get involved in the community. Many faculty and students never go to any local business on the south side.
Then there are people like this woman, who I must admit, I wanted to agree with. Having been highly educated myself, I sometimes find myself troubled by the area. I do realize however, since I do not live in a bubble, that there are many many highly educated people who are very successful living here. And no, they don't live in Reading (that is hysterical) or purposefully pay higher property taxes to live in New Jersey.
This professor IS an elitist which is sad because it paints all educated people with the same brush.
I happen to shop at the Promenade but I don't see it as some exclusive shopping mall. That's funny that this person thinks it epitomizes high culture. Obviously, she is some rube with a taste of success who really has no idea what success really is.
She's young and naive. Dissertations do not supply wisdom. It will come.
"Not all Lehigh professors are as completely arrogant as this woman." -
I agree. I know several and never felt, for a moment, that they look down their noses at the LV. Some are quite involved in the community, trying to make it a better place. Still, I would hesitate before coughing up $51,000 to send my children there. Given her predisposition against LV residents, I have to question whether LV-native students suffer in her classes. Also, is this blog a good way for LU to foster good relations with the community?
"She is now an academic advisor for the engineering freshmen at Lehigh University and a mentor in Lehigh's mentoring program for minorities. She is committed to encouraging more students, in particular girls, to pursue engineering and science careers, and serves as a judge for the Lehigh Valley Science and Engineering Fair and Lehigh University's CHOICES day, an engineering program directed at girls in middle school."
Someone with Dr. Thiele's misconceptions about the local community should not be set loose on our children.
In fairness to her, the LV is hardly the most intellectually stimulating area of the country. Also, the general populace is more likely to deride than praise a Ph.D. I can appreciate why someone in her position may feel out of place.
The problem is that there are only a handful of places in this country where intellectuals feel comfortable and are looked up to. NYC, San Fran, Seattle, Boston are examples.
The LV does have a lot to offer, but sometimes it's difficult to find.
I just took a job as a cashier at the local GIANT. Would like the opportunity to check her out (NO, not that way .. you silly) , give her my genuine smile and wish her a nice day.
I would hope - in some small way - to change the color of her opinion of the less credentialed amongst us. Her vox populi belies reality; there are far more souls in this world who will never know and cannot identify with her life experiences and accomplishments.
As an educated person, shouldn't she know this?
I agree and disagree.
The LV is surrounded by many great schools, including Lehigh, Lafayette, DeSales, Moravian, Muhlenberg and Cedar Crest.
That does not happen in a community that derides higher education.
I'd agree we do deride professors from time to time. Michael Donovan, who teaches locally, is teased quite a bit for his professorial approach to issues. But underneath that, there is respect.
We can always do better. But I do not want us to be a carbon copy of NYC or Seattle. I want us to be us.
WhetherVain,
Somebody is allowing you around money?? I was rejected by GIANT, not bc I'b be around money, but because I'd be around food.
Bernie,
Is this true? Did this woman really say this stuff?
Yes, she did.
she's smart, she's relatively easy on the eyes, her name belies her Teutonic ancestry, and she's arrogant.
Big surprise there.
"My father’s family is from Dresden, Germany,"
My father spent 6 months in Dresden as a POW, nearly starved to death there and had his sholder dislocated by a German who felt he was not working fast enough in pulling the charred bodies out of the homes of the people we firebombed. But he was not a LV native.
A truly intelligent person knows that determining a person's worth is harder than examining their IQ. Too bad she's got her head too far up her own ass to notice
How truly unfortunate for this attractive young woman to have accomplished so much intellectually but to have become so shallow. Perhaps, she could find solace in one of the many churches in the area. Has she not heard of the famous Bach Choir, the Allentown Band, the State Theatre, our area is blessed with institutions of academia, the arts and music. Carol
If she has a problem with the people over in Bethlehem, she should move to Allentown.
Come election time, she wouldn't believe the idiots that keep getting voted back into office.
Stereotyping is an indicator of low intelligence and weak reasoning. She's quite a perfect fit for the community she loathes. Her remarks are not far from those expressed routinely on the local paper's on line forum.
I've met many overachievers with impressive credentials for compiled education, who possess little intelligence. Just take a look at whom Lehigh is awarding degrees to these days. It's not the school it used to be. And it's staff rather reflects this.
The really sad thing about this woman’s influence is that Lehigh Valley businesses spend time, money and energy trying to keep the "brain drain" of young, educated individuals from leaving for greener pastures. With this woman at the helm of a youth-oriented career-goal program as outlined in your blog, Bernie, this plan’s effectiveness seems slim.
After reading her blog yesterday, it was clear to me that she has not been exposed to the things that make this Valley special, in this case, Bethlehem. There are people she could feel at home with; there are cultural institutions that she could enjoy; there are community events and causes that she could be involved in - all of which could change her mind.
So, very much like Alfonso, I thought she should be reached out to, so that she could experience these things. BUT after a few moments, I realized that although I could be that very person to introduce her to those things, I thought "What am I thinking? Why would I seek out a woman who thinks and talks this way? I wouldn't be able to stand a few minutes with her. Screw it."
If she really wanted to enjoy living in the Valley - she could. She clearly enjoys living in her isolated, I'm better than they are world.
Logue
Gotta' delete the comment at 10:55, which goes a tad too far.
If I had to do it all over again, I would still pursue my graduate degree at lehigh. the professors I had were some of the most engaging and interested people I've met. I've noticed that in general, every college has a few profs that don't like where they are and they blame it on the local culture or people. they could be in nyc, dc or philly and still contend their just isn't enough culture or that the locals are backwards. some people are happy being miserable. let them be that way.
I'm going to take exception to calling college students children or kids. they are adults (well most are). They are responsible for their actions, education and role in their community. Some do a better job of it than others, but to contend that a professor is being turned loose on kids is helping to perpetuate the notion that college students really aren't responsible for their lives. we need to be teaching students that they are adults, not kids.
And I'll count myself as a LV native with a master's degree from Lehigh who is still happy to call this region home. Paraphrasing the great disney movie Lilo and Stitch, it may be broken, but it is my family and it is good. No region or community is perfect, but the pride in the eyes and faces of those who call it home is all that is needed to understand why we call it home. I'm proud to be from the Lehigh Valley.
Geoff
Imagine writing about one's own employer within such text. This woman does Lehigh a disservice. She downplays the school's influence on excellence and they pay her to do so.
It was more than a tad. But it expressed the feelings of many in clear and concise language.
"... then they came for the intellectuals ..."
Oh, please, would somebody finally come for the intellectuals?
Permission to change subject:
Bernie,
That sleeping incident at Southern Lehigh made today's
Drudge Report. Who says we're not sophisticated!
I agree. I know several and never felt, for a moment, that they look down their noses at the LV. Some are quite involved in the community, trying to make it a better place. Still, I would hesitate before coughing up $51,000 to send my children there. Given her predisposition against LV residents, I have to question whether LV-native students suffer in her classes. Also, is this blog a good way for LU to foster good relations with the community?
Someone with Dr. Thiele's misconceptions about the local community should not be set loose on our children.
This is a bit hysterical. It sounds like this woman, snob though she may be, is actively engaging in some pretty honorable activities in the academic community to which she belongs. Much as the lives of Lehigh Valley residents don't revolve around Lehigh University, the lives of Lehigh University students and faculty don't revolve around the Lehigh Valley. I think its going too far to question the professional capabilities and professionalism of this woman simply because she shared her nasty opinion of *some* LV residents on her blog.
"I'm going to take exception to calling college students children or kids."
Geoff,
I think the "children" comment was in reference to Bernie's note in one of his comments:
"She...serves as a judge for the Lehigh Valley Science and Engineering Fair and Lehigh University's CHOICES day, an engineering program directed at girls in middle school."
I tend to think of middle schoolers as children, though some 8th graders are well on their way to becoming--and being treated as--young adults.
I work with (and live near) many people who have earned Ph.Ds from MIT, UC Berkeley, Lehigh, and many other outstanding schools. Some of them are LV natives, others are transplants. I also know many very bright people who only have a bachelor's degree or never completed or attended college. In my opinion, a degree is not an indicator of intelligence.
Bernie,
It's usually the intellectuals that are clueless. Don't get too upset over this.
I have to say, I'm enjoying the fact that this maroon has hooked her local wagon to the Villa Express. Now that's a match made in heaven.
"It cost about $51,000 to put your child through Lehigh last year."
Go back and re-read Alan. Unless there is a program that sends 8th graders to lehigh, I stand by my comments. This comment also came up in other areas of this conversation. I think it was clear that there was an equation of college students to being children.
Geoff
Many of the dumbest smart people I know have PhDs.
We all come with baggage. It is not the baggage we come with, it is how we deal with the baggage we got.
Girly girl her is ignoring hers.
What a charmer. What has the reaction been to this on campus?
Just found this blog recomended by a friend of it (Sharon Davis) I'll be back often
David, Wow! I', happy to hear that. Thanks to you and to Sharon.
Is that my arch-enemy and evil twin, A.J.C.? I thought those crows over at Allentown is Nice did away with you many months ago.
It's time to call in the re-enforcements! Charge!
~~A.J.
"This is a bit hysterical. It sounds like this woman, snob though she may be, is actively engaging in some pretty honorable activities in the academic community to which she belongs." -
In her disjointed essay, Thiele acknowledges having had several students she does not particulary like. She pats herself on the back for giving those students the grades they deserve while simultaneously claiming she could give the lower grade w/o anyone being any the wiser, "just because I could."
She has also failed to make full disclosure. She slams PJ McFadden for some innocuous remark about shoes but fails to tell the reader that McFadden is the judge who convicted her when she passed a school bus with flashing red lights and sign extended.
After that conviction, i recall reading several rambling blogs by her at LU's webpage accusing DA Morganelli and McFadden of ebing crooked and even criticizing the clothing worn by the woman who prosecuted her.
She has no business being near nay students, and especially students from the LV.
Geoff,
You read me correctly. I do consider college students children. My son is fully grrown and will pick up his PhD ssoon but is still my child. And I do not mean that in a derogatory sense. I use the word "children" as meaning people for whom we still have some obligation as parents. Yes, they are old enough to thumb their noses at us, but we should want to make sure that these children have the best opportunity they can possibly have to learn and to succeed.
The Lehigh Valley has always been a tad hostile to outsiders, heck we are hostile to people that come from one of the neighboring cities let alone someone from outside this area.
That being said, I don't know this woman, she could just be an elitist horrible snob.
Bernie,
Thanks. You little bit of incite puts things in a different perspective.
Keep on praying! ~~Alex
Bernie,
My parents haven't called me their kid/child since I graduated HS and my guess is that it is intentional. I am their son and that's what they call me (and my brother too). It sounds like your sentiments are similar to theirs, which is all I was seeking to clarify.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a craving for LV culinary excellence... YOCCO's!
Geoff
Would an intellectual flaunt safety and law in order to careen her automobile toward innocent school children?
The LV needs intellectuals, but can do without careless drivers who endanger children.
Is that what they teach at MIT these days?
In the summary case gainst Thiele, an off duty cop, bus driver and a third party saw her go thru flashing red lights and extended sign. She was convicted by a magistrate and lost again before PJ McFadden.
Perhaps this conviction explains why Thiele felt some need to snark McFadden in her post.
Wow. I think I know the type- "A mile wide, and an inch deep".
Bet she has to beat the guys off with a stick. How many dates with this one before you realize she's Ms. Wrong?
If the climate around here is so intellectually stifling, why stick around?
VOR
Silly professor, don't you know the Valley's finest intellectuals are all in Bangor?
Her undergradaute study explains so much. A little googling led me to find that she hold a "diplôme d'ingénieur from the Ecole des Mines de Paris in Paris, France 1999"
Apparently, Bethlehem is no Paris for her.
Ecole de mimes?
Does this mean she's one of those frickin' mimes?
What's wrong with France?
I smoke Gitanes cigarettes.
And watch your tone, Bernie. You eat their fries, dont cha?
~~Alex
"Does this mean she's one of those frickin' mimes?"
LMAO!!!!
The Banker
My dad, Richard Oeler, would be embarassed with this, ah, lady.
He got his undergraduate at MIT. Got a masters from Harvard.
Came to Allentown in 1970 to be a Vice-President at Air Products and stayed thirty-plus years at company. (Brought two young boys with him. Only our baby sister is actually native to Allentown.)
Mom would be utterly disgraced by this so-called intellectual woman.
Mom did her undergrad time at Wellesley College. Later got her PhD from Bryn Mawr and taught at Yale University.
-----------------------------------
Maybe this chick could hook up with Associate Professor Chris Borick of Muhlenberg College?
:)
My brother and I would be happy to sponsor a pair of tickets to an IronPigs game for these two intellectual professors who love the Lehigh Valley so much.
We'll be sitting by the phone waiting to hear back...
Perhaps Dr. Thiele needs to look out her window at Lehigh to see the stacks at Bethlehem Steel.
It's that very factory, steps from her ivory tower office, that produced the arms necessary to save her beloved France from Nazi rule.
It's those 'non intellectuals' who lived in those row homes around Lehigh University that gave their lives to save France from German rule.
Dr. Thiele is an embarrasment to Lehigh University.
She has a right to her opinion, as much as you do yours Bernie O'hate.
Please tell us what this woman did to deserve your wrath?
Oh, that is right, she defended Bill Villa.
As idiotic as Bill Violla is, that is her right.
Bernie, you preach tolerance, but out of your many other faces comes the truth.
You love to hate and belittle anyone who challenges you, the petty little man.
It's not just Bernie. Look how many other people posted here and own her blog.
"Please tell us what this woman did to deserve your wrath?" -
I think I answered that question. That was more or less the point of the blog. I think people spending $51k per year to send their kids to LU have a right to know what one of its professors thinks of them.
Villa really didn't enter into the equation. I kept him out of my post. I do think it's hilarious that an "intellectual" would select a deranged lunatic to support, but that's me. Carry on.
She dared offend O'Hater. The O'Hare--Angle --Stoffa alliance of crazy willnot tolerate dissent.
They will hunt down your name and attack you while praising your right to free speech.
I wasn't sure until I went over and looked at the Nutty Professor's blog. Anon 6:40 & 8:34 is Chris Casey, who denies he reads this blog or posts anonymously. He makes the same defense there and adds a few personal shots.
I like her. She sounds interesting!
"There's been a few times in my years of teaching where a student I didn't particularly like was just above the threshold for this or that grade ...Every single time, I took a deep breath and gave the student the higher grade... That's my problem: I think I might have too much integrity for the Lehigh Valley."
You took a deep breath and gave students the grade they deserved, instead of screwing them for no better reason than to satiate your gnawing hatred? (Dabs tear from eye) You're a princess, I say, (blows nose) a frigging princess! You walk among undeserving mental lepers! Truly you are cursed by having so very very much integrity. It's...it's...oh God I can hardly talk about it...it's TOO MUCH integrity (breaks down sobbing). That's your problem, an excess of virtue. (Sniff) You make Albert Schweitzer look like a douchebag.
Neil Owen
I think she's hot. And, I like it when beautiful women look down on me.
Does she own leather? If whe does is it either black or red, or maybe even both?
I've been a bad and dumb little LV boy teacher discipline me now!
She thinks she's hot? Check out those chompers!
Do you have the audio of the braying of this "asinus intellectuous"?
It amuses, as well as disturbs, me greatly to hear the 'learned' of America reduce themselves to complete asses, as in this case.
Mais elle est Français.
Bethlehem has been home to higher education (Lehigh since the Civil War era) and Moravian (one of five oldest institutions in USA) for a very long time. Although it is probably safe to say that not everyone who taught in this area admired or liked it, it is probably safe to say that not many of them ever expressed their opinions so loudly or so rudely. If you don't mind my saying so, she comes off as rude and obnoxious despite being a "woman of letters". She also seems bitter and petty.
Thanks to Bernie, we have an idea why. In her blog, she writes that she was OK with us for the first two years, until she found out about the people here. It would seem that her opinion took a reverse turn after she was turned in for illegally passing a school bus.
Think about this. She changed her mind about the whole area after she was made accountable for a profoundly selfish, if not stupid mistake. I would bet that there are uneducated drivers among us who would never pass a school bus, and would certainly not throw a tantrum blaming everyone from the police to the judge to all of the people in the entire area for the "misfortune".
I for one can be reached at any time to make myself available to help load the U-Haul when she decides to move away.
Call me "LV Peon"
Ouch! Sounds like Frau Professor scratched a sore spot!
Are all you folks so outraged 'cause she hit a little too close to home?
Just goes to show - "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much!"
Who's a hooftie, nah?
Homer Schneck = Trollvilla, who has obvious reasons for defending the Nutty Professor.
Tsk, tsk, Bernard. Just cuz I used the old Dutch/much expression, doesn't make me Bill Villa. Oopsie!
Seriously, I see the professor looking down her nose at Valleyites, who in response look down their noses at her - because she's being snooty! Ruffled Valleyites think they're better than her, because unlike her, they don't go around thinking they're better than others!
It's a Mobius strip of attitude-copping.
But seriously - Honest question: Isn't "Hmmph! Look at that idiot!" a very, very common attitude among the Dutch - toward pretty much everybody else? That's where the Dutch/much expression came from, after all!
I just want to add that no matter what anybody says about the Lehigh Valley, I will never, ever forget the awesomeness of Yocco's Hot Dogs (and pierogies) and a giant tuna sandwich from Jay's Subs. OMG. To die for.
(Bernie, your sitemeter will show my IP is from out of state - I'm not Villa.)
Excuse me but it is real easy for someone who lives in good old Allentown to route their browsing through a China based IP address.
Oh and here we go with the PA Ducth thing. Always has to be one AH who is lying in wait to express their biases.
It ain't the prejudices you got, it is how you express your awareness of them that is particularly telling.
At the least if one has a PhD they have proven they are obsessive compulsive enough to spend the majority of their twenties and probably early thirties in school.
Not all, I concur, but many. You need to realize what a commodity degrees are to Universities. It is their product.
Sadly for a segment of society it is the only way they will be able define themselves and have any self esteem. When all else fails they can look down on others because the feel they are certifiably smarter. The degree proves it.
Someday the secondary education industry will end up like the auto industry - bankrupt.
Wait until the student loan program starts to go under.
Dutch. Please. The LV is much different in 2009 than 1979. All the dutchies are falling by the wayside.
Her problem is that this is not Cambridge or Paris. Both great places but our little haven will never measure up to those places. I guess she shouldn't have accepted an Asst Professorship here.
Anon 8:25.
That is just ridiculous. Post graduate degrees require a lot of work and dedication. To get one means you put in a great deal of effort. Only someone without one would cast aspersions on the degree itself.
I commend this person for having a PhD from MIT. It's not easy feat. But then again, lots of faculty at Lehigh have equally impressive degrees and manage to love the area.
Is this woman for real? Thank God i am not wasting my money sending my kids to classes like hers.
Oh, my. How does she survive waking up every day, only to be greeted by so many uncultured hicks in the Lehigh Valley? I feel bad for her. Maybe there's a support group for suffering intellectuals such as herself. Maybe Arrogants Anonymous?
Anon 11:48
A lot more important things in life take as much if not more effort and result in a lot more productivity and good for our fellow man.
The hard work of a graduate degree, you refer to is often over stated.
I found getting through the arrogance of some of my fellow candidates more challenging than the work material itrself.
You should try it sometime. MIT to some people is a piece of cake. So what. Still I am not impressed. I do not think the nutty professors psycho pathology has anything to do with her graduate degree.
She simply is a supreme neurotic narcissist.
Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach or write on silly blogs.
I have to say that this weekend I attended a Civil War re-enactment and a free piano concert in Easton. I don't know from what hamlet hails this woman but after living in two major metropolitan cities and downtown yet doncha know, I have to complement the Lehigh Valley for its festivals, fairs, and musical concerets. The Kutztown Festival, Cement Fair, Allentown Fair, Musikfest, Heritage Day, Civil War Days, Allentown Band, it goes on and on...even an unemployed person does't have enough time to atted it all. Most intellectuals I know never leave campus so I don't know if she's aware of such goings on, but she should before she judges.
Post a Comment