tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28284097.post6275426794787429092..comments2024-01-22T05:55:55.374-07:00Comments on EcoRover: My College & Late Onset RealismEcoRoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07294159049375690786noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28284097.post-15685184074027455002007-03-02T11:57:00.000-07:002007-03-02T11:57:00.000-07:00Thank you, Eric E, for thoughtful comments from a ...Thank you, Eric E, for thoughtful comments from a broader world perspective and a few years distant from your home. <BR/><BR/>The old HSS dept did do a lot of good things 10 or 20 years ago, and I like to think the two new depts (Tech Comm & Liberal Studies) continue that good work today. It is, after all, what we as faculty live for. <BR/><BR/>The world (social and natural) does change. Species, individuals, and institutions change with it. As humans we strive to have some control over our destiny, but perhaps like long-suffering Odysseus our fate is in the hands of forces seen (at best) as through a glass darkly.EcoRoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07294159049375690786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28284097.post-68793845585923096092007-02-27T14:08:00.000-07:002007-02-27T14:08:00.000-07:00Here I go again. Whenever you write about Tech, I...Here I go again. Whenever you write about Tech, I can't help making the comparison to the other School of Mines. You're right, the homies hate comparisons, especially to CSM. But they'll never avoid it. CSM owes a lot of its success to a former president and fellow alum of yours from Rensaeler (I can never spell that). A lot of people hated him, becuase he was changing "their" school. Really, Tech should at least consider what its peer institutions like CSM did to thrive as the world changed around them. Even more instructive might be to consider what peer institutions did that destroyed core Mining- and Metallurgy-derived curricula like South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Michigan Tech, UNR.<BR/><BR/>I can't comment on your rebellion, since it happened after my time. Tommy was good guy, and it wasn't despite his Butte roots. But the Butte roots needed to be combined with outside influence, and that old HSS department was good at teaching humanities to engineering students. Thanks to Tommy, I know what the difference is between Jung, Skinner and Freud. And more importantly, I know "never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever hit a kid." That's a complex psychological concept, put in terms understandable on the corner of Platinum and Main.<BR/><BR/>Finally, thanks for reminiding me of the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals. I still have that, complete with the yellow "USED" sticker! Haven't opened it in over 10 years, but it sits on my shelf, and if someone ever mentions Kant in casual conversation (I'm still waiting for that!), I'll know what to do.<BR/><BR/>Enough rambling in you comment pages. Sorry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28284097.post-27571866628991621492007-02-16T12:52:00.000-07:002007-02-16T12:52:00.000-07:00Thanks for reading and commenting, BD. If you grad...Thanks for reading and commenting, BD. If you graduated in recent years, you might have met me--I facilitated some "Small Group Individual Diagnostic" sessions for a mech eng prof at his big lab near the COT. All good wishes, and may you find a job closer to home someday.EcoRoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07294159049375690786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28284097.post-7576937370276530022007-02-16T08:40:00.000-07:002007-02-16T08:40:00.000-07:00I graduated in Mechanical a few years ago and took...I graduated in Mechanical a few years ago and took a job away from home. You could see the differences in the faculty. Some had never grew up and got away from home. I'm near Seattle and home to get back home but hopefully I'll bring these new perspectives home with me. I never got into the crosscountry ski thing but spent a lot of time at Discovery. Sure miss it. Ifound your blog searching Butte on the web and like it. Never took your class but like what you write. - BDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28284097.post-3010984156515609492007-02-14T10:28:00.000-07:002007-02-14T10:28:00.000-07:00First of all, thank you Ed for your sympathy in th...First of all, thank you Ed for your sympathy in this situation. I do think it is true that "No man can be a prophet in his own land." He can, however, be a prophet somewhere else! I wish you all good luck in Idaho. <BR/><BR/>As for the Anonymous post, please forgive me if I offended you. That was not my intention.<BR/><BR/>My intention was to express my own self-delusion in not fitting in with my adopted institution. After 17 years, I am not likely to leave My College. And since I'm staying, I'm determined to adapt to the way things are rather than continue in my Cervanesian efforts to change the situation.EcoRoverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07294159049375690786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28284097.post-63133547492686835072007-02-14T09:26:00.000-07:002007-02-14T09:26:00.000-07:00Pat,What a great description of Butte and Montana ...Pat,<BR/>What a great description of Butte and Montana Tech. It is the "homeboy" attitude of "our college" that convinced this Butte boy to leave Tech AND Butte. Heaven forbid either place should look to the outside world for new ideas. Instead, it is always "This is the way we have always done it so it must be right." So, I moved to Idaho to a town with blue collar roots built on a single industry (kind of sounds like Butte, huh?). However, this town has looked around to see what others have done to be successful. Now, this city has a growing population, a major university, many different industries, and an unemployment rate of just 3%. I wish some of the Butte and Tech "homies" could come down here and see how a simple town can improve itself. Maybe they could see how to make Butte into the type of city it could, and should, be.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for writing this piece. The first respondent (obviously an open-minded Butte native) may not agree with me, but I think you did a great job of saying what needed said.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08187158246878583905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28284097.post-14683718227466851302007-02-13T11:46:00.000-07:002007-02-13T11:46:00.000-07:00yur gonna lose this one. best you give it up now. ...yur gonna lose this one. best you give it up now. butte people move back here for different reasons than you. our family and friends are here. it's our home.we don't move here to hunt, fish and play in the woods. we don't need outsiders telling us how to live or how to run Montana Tech. you should be fired. go awauy if you don' like it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com