THE BACK ROOM: Eden Park prep-talk

It is clear that you know very little about tertiary education There is nothing smug about saying the lecturers i had overall were better - as a student of both an Australian and NZ university I think I have very right to make comparisons as any student would and does - and I did point out the Australian university was still a good institution. Good universities can make difference sure, but a great student will make more difference that is my point there. Ask any lecturer anywhere in the world they will agree. So no it is not having a bet both ways at all Anyway yes this is getting boring so at least we concur on something

You can do all the checking you want on our ( yes i am an Australia citizen as well) university rankings- I never said that was not the case but explained some of the reasons on how the process works "The whole “anything in the top 500 is good” is disingenuous." No it is not - and if you had read any decent articles on the the ranking process you would realise that nobody wants to drop out of the top 500 and these article usually give the reason why. But these same articles point out that everyone wants to be in the top 50 because apart from anything else you attract more research money and students which bring in money and Education is BIG BUSINESS these days The point is, you demeaned my education and yes that is ignorant disposition. You claim you have degrees from those in top 100 and those outside it ( busy boy) and there's a difference ? - I would love to see these multiple degrees you now claim to have. And for someone with so-called multiple degrees, if you can't figure out why i mentioned the Vet College from someone who put down Massey University as an entity then you don't understand foundation and argument very well. So much for those higher ranked universities huh? By the way - for the record I am a Massey Scholar - which means I was awarded a special University Scholarship to go on to post graduate because I was a top graduate across four campuses in my faculty. That took about 60-70 hours per week of research and study to achieve, l was also mentored by Doctoral graduates from Ivy League universities so don't tell me I would have got better education in Australia and especially since I myself attended and graduated from an Australian University before I went to Massey, and though it was a good university I think the lecturers I had at Massey, overall, were superior in my fields of study, Bottom line dude - How dare you demean someones education. It is what's between the students ears and their desire to educate themselves that is the real difference and that can come from any university anywhere in the world and brilliant lecturers, and indeed some of the very best in their field, are not mutually exclusive to the top 50 or even 100 universities and never have been. So your comment about my education most certainly is an ignorant one.

Oops - "no" of course not "know" -

Indeed peterk - a precarious position the court jester business - if the court laughed but the king and his closest allies therein did not - he was on thin ice and lucky to get away with warning. Though jesters were a combination of "the fool" "the clown" "the silly skit performer" "social commentator' but also they were instructed to write and/or perform or act out scathing, heavy hitting satire that was less about making anyone laugh - if at all - and more about making a critical point to visiting ambassadors and dignitaries and/or political, religious or military rivals Some of this stuff pulls no punches whatsoever, but always made the King or Queen happy as they stuck it to the visitors and then could blame the jester for not knowing his place - cunning but effective and most definitely satire that was designed to make the visitors/ rivals feel very uncomfortable

Well yes and know, Chicago is now ranked 6 places higher than Columbia and in the top 10. Stanton is Ivy League as well just for the record. And thanks for the support there by the way as well Peterk

Yep all that is very true Faith and thanks for the positive comment and the enlightening perspective on satire and the responses it gets - In history some people have been executed by those who couldn't tolerate the heavy hitting satire

Thanks Sandgroper Cheers mate

Mate if you are going to demean my education you better know what you are talking about. That is one of the most insulting and ignorant comments I read in a while, and I don't normally get too annoyed by negative comment on my work - it goes with the territory - but your comment is something completely different Massey has four campuses of different rankings and it overall ranking worldwide as a university is 360 and just so you know, an Ivy League University is ranked in the top 15 - which like NZ, Australia has none. Both countries never will probably as rankings are done on a system that favors the world famous established institutions and new players backed by powerful lobbying and major financial donors who give money to research and research is one of the key criteria that a university gets its ranking. Australia's highest currently, is Melbourne University on 42. And for the same reason, that is because NZ does not have the large financial resources for research or enough private investment to compensate, it is unlikely any of its universities will out rank the highest ranked Australian Universities anytime soon. For example Melbourne and Sydney University, the University of NSW and Brisbane University most often will always be ranked higher than say Bond University because on average they get ten times as much research investment into its large number of faculties and have the bigger campuses and a lot more academics voting for them as well. because they are well established, have a larger number of academics working there or who have worked there etc etc Obviously it is hard to topple long established Ivy League or the better established universities off their perches because they have - in some cases 400 years - of history and prestige behind them and therefore attract votes from academics worldwide ( another criteria) and attract massive private research funding. There over 40,000 - that's right over 40,000 - tertiary institutions globally. The top universities in the world are those that are in The 500 Club - that is, from the over 40,000 Universities and Tertiary institutions globally you are considered in the Top 500. So yes mate, Massey is a top university and ranked as such globally. Might I say with some irony that your opinion is clearly not an educated one in this area - oh and by the way those Australian Universities you are crowing about - well they have had over the years and still do have - Academics there that were educated at Massey and lecturing- that is how silly your comment is because good universities hire people who they regard as having the right education - funny that huh? And just for the record, Massey Veterinary College has been around for over 50 years and is regarded as one of the very best Veterinary Doctor Educations in the Southern Hemisphere. Furthermore mate, two of my lecturers got their Doctorates at Oxford and Cambridge respectively, another from Columbia and one from the University of Chicago - All Ivy League educated that wanted to work in a university that according to you - and you would know of course better than they do - is not a top shelf University!!!! My apologises to other Roarers but insulting comments like that deserve a firm response.