[QUOTE=mvp;8304640]
But what neither of you said was that Betsee Parker’s degree is honorary. http://www.albany.edu/academics/honorary.degree.shtml
I don’t think anyone, other than Sheila Johnson, actually used the title. Johnson’s biography says she has two such degrees, one is also from SUNY Morrisville.
I think these have to do with financial giving.[/QUOTE]
HAAHAHAHAHA wtf is a doctor of humane letters?
[QUOTE=bauhaus;8305946]
HAAHAHAHAHA wtf is a doctor of humane letters?[/QUOTE]
Better than a doctorate for Inhumanity?
And SUNY Morrisville? Puh-leez.
Wow. So she allows herself to be identified as “Dr.” in the media, and all she has is an honorary degree from SUNY Morrisville?? Not even a Ph.D? That is pretty appalling. She should have stuck with Reverend. At least that is a legitimate title that she earned.
[QUOTE=vineyridge;8305722]
If the NYTimes would publish the same sort of story on this as they did on Humble’s death, the USEF would do something. But not likely without that.[/QUOTE]
It seems to me the USEF did do something, and there’s a rule change in the queue that appears to be directly related to their concerns about this particular incident.
Whether it’s enough, whether more changes are needed, etc, that’s all TBD.
[QUOTE=bauhaus;8305946]
HAAHAHAHAHA wtf is a doctor of humane letters?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=handwalk;8305952]Better than a doctorate for Inhumanity?
And SUNY Morrisville? Puh-leez.[/QUOTE]
I know this was all way OT, and I was so late to the party that I was posting about stuff way, way back in the PreCambrian of this thread.
But this kind of thing chaps my hide.
In academia, honorary degrees used to be conferred upon actual scholars near the end of their career when they had made major contributions to a field. And those dudes already had their own, earned PhDs. If you read letters in archives written by some of them, you can infer that these honors were a big deal to them, in their specialized world. (At least this was true for some of the turn-of-the-20th-century scientists I studied).
So makes me sad when someone uses a title he/she didn’t earn… especially when it took so much more to earn one of these honorary degrees. Also, the proper protocol for the “Doctor of Philosophy” degree as opposed to another kind of doctor (including a JD), is to never use the Dr. title outside of an academic context.
And how cheesy of a university to reward its donors with academic credentials. It seems to cheapen the one product they alone manufacture.
Back to your topic.
honorary degrees and donors, a la Bill Cosby and Temple University. I hate that crap, too.
The only person I’ve ever seen use an honorary academic title appropriately is Stephen Colbert. 
“Cheating Death With Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A.”
“I am not a medical doctor. I have an honorary doctorate in fine arts.”
“I can’t treat your rash, but I can compare it favorably to a Jackson Pollock.”
“I can’t write prescriptions, but I can interpretively dance to them.”
"We’re all seeking the key to longevity… I’ve been alive every day of my life. So, project that forward… I will never die. That’s math!
I didn’t realize it was an honorary degree. That’s just tacky. I never use my title outside of academia and I have an actual, earned Ph.D. It’s just…tacky!
I guess answering that personal ad paid off for Betsee Parker in millions and millions of ways. ;)
[QUOTE=foursocks;8306190]
I didn’t realize it was an honorary degree. That’s just tacky. I never use my title outside of academia and I have an actual, earned Ph.D. It’s just…tacky![/QUOTE]
Preach it, sistah!
It’s tacky for exactly the reason you suggest: There’s not a specific kind of work or skill or contribution to knowledge behind it that the degree indicates.
And PhDs, as I understand it, don’t get to ride around on their titles everywhere, 24/7 for the same reason. There’s usually little about the “philosophy” of some field that will help in medical or veterinary situations.
And by the way, if you had earned the title of Reverend, why would you choose the Dr. one instead? Don’t you think that, in the grand scheme of everything, a spiritual-leadership type of credential trumps and intellectual one? Were I ordained somehow, I think I’d call that the weightier accomplishment.
[QUOTE=findeight;8305842]
If it happened on a “bridle path on the way to WEF” there would not have been a steward, USEF has no jurisdiction off the property. It’s a hobby club, no subpoena power or any authority off the show grounds or even on them on a non show day.
Just sayin…[/QUOTE]
I understand that… But unless the groom was taking the horse for a drugged stroll they were on the way to the show where there is jurisdiction. And if the poster was so alarmed by what they saw they may have (should have?) reported to the steward.
[QUOTE=mvp;8306454]
And PhDs, as I understand it, don’t get to ride around on their titles everywhere, 24/7 for the same reason. There’s usually little about the “philosophy” of some field that will help in medical or veterinary situations.[/QUOTE]
There’s no regulation over the use of Dr. versus some other title (and of course originally, the term ‘doctor’ was not something medical doctors had a lock on - the medieval European system wasn’t organized like that). I only use mine professionally in an academic environment & would for sure be embarrassed to use something that was only an honorary degree, but I could be Dr. Albion in every day life if I so chose. Plenty of people with actual PhDs do for a variety of reasons.
[QUOTE=mvp;8306053]
And how cheesy of a university to reward its donors with academic credentials. It seems to cheapen the one product they alone manufacture.[/QUOTE]
Less than a minute on google shows that the honorary degree was presented to her for her time volunteering after September 11th at the World Trade Center working for the Medical Examiner’s Office. She was head chaplain for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City and lead the multifaith chaplaincy team at Ground Zero. This was before her husband died; before she inherited his money.
Another minute spent on a google search reveals this link that explains the Guidelines used to select recipients of honorary degrees: https://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=150
This part of the link should be emphasized: “Substantive service to the University or the particular campus is not sufficient justification for an honorary degree if the individual does not meet the other criteria for honorary degrees. Instead, a campus award is recommended.”
She’s also spent lots of time (and donations) helping the poor in Africa and Haiti. Not to mention all she’s done for the entire community of Middleburg (again, Google).
What have all of you done?
I get that people don’t like that a horse she owns tested positive for a banned substance (I certainly don’t), but it’s pretty disgusting to act as though she’s done nothing with her money but buy nice horses and ponies (and honorary degrees), and done nothing with her time but show up at horse shows for photo ops.
I’m not even going to weigh in on the whole “travesty” that is her referring to herself as “Dr”. What a waste of time.
Hmm. I thought I read in Parker’s biography that she made a $1M or $2M donation to Suny Morrisville.
I admitted all of it is off-topic from the outset so no need to wade into that backwater just to get pissed off about someone going OT. Just avoid it if you wish.
I didn’t know the rest about Parker. And all of it-- good, bad, honorific, ugly-- was always irrelevant to this discussion.
OK now, for realz, y’all can get this thread back On Topic.
[QUOTE=mvp;8306537]
Hmm. I thought I read in Parker’s biography that she made a $1M or $2M donation to Suny Morrisville.
I admitted all of it is off-topic from the outset so no need to wade into that backwater just to get pissed off about someone going OT. Just avoid it if you wish.
I didn’t know the rest about Parker. And all of it-- good, bad, honorific, ugly-- was always irrelevant to this discussion.
OK now, for realz, y’all can get this thread back On Topic.[/QUOTE]
Way to backpedal and attempt to take the focus away from the facts I presented by accusing me of being pissed. And acting as though admitting it was off-topic excuses your ignorant and belittling comments? I thought you were better than that mvp.
I think everyone is missing part of the bigger picture here. Yes they got caught drugging one of their more well known horses. But if you read the hearing in it’s entirety; BP’s trusted crew openly admitted to giving perfect prep paste to the horses and then openly admitted their reasoning for doing so. Along the lines of: to alter behavior to increase the chances of winning. How are fellow competitors not absolutely outraged. I get it; there are a lot of competitors doing the same thing but for those out there playing by the rules who have to compete against this; Why on earth do you keep showing when you have to deal with this?
Yes perfect-prep is legal to use because it is not made from any banned substances but the reasoning for using it is of greatest concern. You are DOPING YOUR HORSE TO WIN. Inclusive’s team then openly admitted to giving him more than the recommended dose; because if 1 tube doesn’t work; administer 3 more!
The crazy thing is that they likely gave him more for his recent win at HITS because what theyre doing is still considered legal. Banned substances or not; you are still administering a calming agent prior to competing so that you can win.
Reading all the legal documents and seeing all the finger pointing really make this much worse than seeing the news initially in The Chronicle…
Makes me wonder…
Cheaters gonna cheat.
I was under the impression that Betsee Parker had a doctor of divinity degree? So apparently that isn’t the case?
Well, then she absolutely shouldn’t be using the title “Dr.” at all this stuff is true about it just being an honorary degree.
[QUOTE=GypsyQ;8302516]
Wow.
If this country’s (arguably) best combination of bankroll, trainers, horseflesh, and rider talent still feels the need to drug, then what the devil are the rest of us doing here? It essentially proves that the current hunter ideal is, in fact, unachievable.[/QUOTE]
THIS. EXACTLY.
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