1.) Yes, MSU does have a 4-year program... offering a degree in Geosciences... NOT Meteorology or Atmospheric Sciences. IT IS NOT equivalent to a B.S. in Meteorology as Rhonda Shelby would have us believe. Even graduates of this program are forced to take most of the bachelor's level courses in Meteorology before going into graduate studies at my alma mater, Florida State. (By the way, is FSU one of the "Big Three?" How about SUNY-Albany, or the Univ. of Wisconsin? St. Louis Univ.? The Univ. of Washington? UMASS-Lowell? NC State? Just wondering.) As I have stated before... IT'S NOT DEBATABLE.
2.) If you come to the realization late in life that you dig weather but you're unable to do what it takes to get the 4-yr. degree in Meteorology, then by all means, take the 2-yr. BMP program and learn as much as you can. If you know your stuff I'll be proud to work side-by-side with you any day. Just realize this - too many of your 2-yr. MSU brethren have used the program to pad their resume instead of learning the physics of the atmosphere - thus damaging the program's reputation. As long as the tuition checks keep rolling in though, I don't think Dr. Binkley really cares about that. The legitimate grads of this program should care though. It's their reputation too.
But, I digress. AS I STATED IN MY LAST EDITORIAL.... My beef isn't with MSU... it's with the AMS for tolerating incompetence from MSU and "Big Three" grads alike. I WANT to "turn the microscope on my organization." Talk about not caring as long as the checks keep rolling in! The AMS Seal has become nothing more than the mother of all resume pads. It's become something strictly to impress news directors with - it doesn't indicate competence at all. It's a joke - and if it weren't for the resume padding it does, I wouldn't bother sending my check in every year. Would anybody?
John Honore
KTVT-TV
Dallas-Ft. Worth
johnh@ktvt.com