AOW for Experienced Divers: An Open Letter to PADI

[dytis-sm]

On the value of logbooks, I doubt that an inexperienced diver will fill his/hers up (or loan their computer to someone else to log dives) just to make up for deficiencies in their diving capabilities. Although the AOW card sets a standard that one has met, that does not make that person an "Advanced Diver" in the sense of a challenging dive. So a peek at one's logbook should worth something...

As to the value of a card, just recently I applied for a volunteer diver position that required rescue certification and the only use of the certification card was to get permission to enter the pool and demonstrate rescue skills... The point? That card does not mean much in terms of skill... and a checkout dive is probably the only way one can tell what a diver is capable of.

 

[drrich2]

Sometimes the different threads active on ScubaBoard at a given time intrigue me with the irony. Here we have an OW diver frustrated with the limitations imposed on him by dive charters because he 'only' has an OW cert.

Elsewhere on the forum, I've been following a thread where there seems to be some sentiment that PADI OW is so lousy that it should be changed to 'PADI Resort Diver' and graduates only allowed to dive under professional supervision.

Quick pot stirring suggestion to the mod.s; how about merging this thread and that one?

Richard.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I wonder what you would have thought if the OP had written the following instead:

Dear Harvard University:

Over the past decades, I have read a lot of books and had a lot of experiences that provided me with much more information than a typical college degree. I find, though, that I am unable to get the kind of job for which I am qualified because for some reason businesses are requiring a college diploma. I also find that it matters what college provides the diploma, and Harvard seems to do well in that category. I therefore suggest that Harvard have a program that provides a Harvard degree to anyone who can provide a list of books read that are equivalent to a college degree and who can pass a single check out test covering key concepts in those books. I believe that should cost $100.

PS: I notice that a lot of your recent graduates really, really suck compared to me. You should do something about that.​

Looks like that may have been working for a while now at Harvard...

Honorary Degrees | Harvard University

Some honorary degree recipients

[TABLE="class: stripe"]
[TR="class: even"]
[TH]Year
[/TH]
[TH="width: 60%"]Recipient
[/TH]
[TH]Degree
[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1753
[/TD]
[TD]Benjamin Franklin
[/TD]
[TD]A.M.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1776
[/TD]
[TD]George Washington
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1781
[/TD]
[TD]John Adams
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1787
[/TD]
[TD]Thomas Jefferson
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1792
[/TD]
[TD]Samuel Adams
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1822
[/TD]
[TD]John Quincy Adams
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1832
[/TD]
[TD]Washington Irving
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1833
[/TD]
[TD]Andrew Jackson
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1852
[/TD]
[TD]Alexis Charles Henri de Tocqueville
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1859
[/TD]
[TD]Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1866
[/TD]
[TD]Ralph Waldo Emerson
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1872
[/TD]
[TD]Ulysses S. Grant
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1896
[/TD]
[TD]Booker T. Washington
[/TD]
[TD]A.M.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1905
[/TD]
[TD]William Howard Taft
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1907
[/TD]
[TD]Woodrow Wilson
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1916
[/TD]
[TD]John Singer Sargent
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1917
[/TD]
[TD]Herbert Hoover
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1919
[/TD]
[TD]Theodore Roosevelt
[/TD]
[TD]A.M.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1929
[/TD]
[TD]Franklin Delano Roosevelt
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1935
[/TD]
[TD]Albert Einstein
[/TD]
[TD]S.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1937
[/TD]
[TD]Robert Frost
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1938
[/TD]
[TD]Walt Disney
[/TD]
[TD]A.M.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1940
[/TD]
[TD]Carl Sandburg
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1943
[/TD]
[TD]Winston Churchill
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1946
[/TD]
[TD]Dwight Eisenhower
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1947
[/TD]
[TD]George Marshall
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1951
[/TD]
[TD]Thornton Wilder
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1956
[/TD]
[TD]John F. Kennedy
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1961
[/TD]
[TD]Aaron Copland
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1966
[/TD]
[TD]Martha Graham
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1967
[/TD]
[TD]Leonard Bernstein
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1968
[/TD]
[TD]Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1972
[/TD]
[TD]Saul Bellow
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1973
[/TD]
[TD]Georgia O’Keeffe
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1973
[/TD]
[TD]Robert Penn Warren
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1974
[/TD]
[TD]Mstislav L. Rostropovich
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1974
[/TD]
[TD]Beverly Sills
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1976
[/TD]
[TD]Arthur Fiedler
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1977
[/TD]
[TD]Barbara Jordan
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1977
[/TD]
[TD]Eudora Welty
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1978
[/TD]
[TD]John Cheever
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1978
[/TD]
[TD]Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1979
[/TD]
[TD]Desmond Tutu
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1980
[/TD]
[TD]Octavio Paz
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1981
[/TD]
[TD]Ansel Adams
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1981
[/TD]
[TD]Leontyne Price
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1982
[/TD]
[TD]Mother Teresa
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1982
[/TD]
[TD]Tennessee Williams
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1983
[/TD]
[TD]Carlos Fuentes
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1984
[/TD]
[TD]Juan Carlos I
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1984
[/TD]
[TD]Benny Goodman
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1985
[/TD]
[TD]Louise Nevelson
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1986
[/TD]
[TD]Lord Carrington
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1986
[/TD]
[TD]Itzhak Perlman
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1987
[/TD]
[TD]Thomas P. O’Neill Jr.
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1988
[/TD]
[TD]Jessye Norman
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1988
[/TD]
[TD]Oscar Arias Sánchez
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1989
[/TD]
[TD]Benazir Bhutto
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1989
[/TD]
[TD]Toni Morrison
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1990
[/TD]
[TD]Ella Fitzgerald
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1990
[/TD]
[TD]Stephen W. Hawking
[/TD]
[TD]S.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1990
[/TD]
[TD]Helmut Kohl
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1991
[/TD]
[TD]Yo-Yo Ma
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1991
[/TD]
[TD]Eduard Shevardnadze
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1992
[/TD]
[TD]Gro Harlem Brundtland
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1992
[/TD]
[TD]Isaac Stern
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1993
[/TD]
[TD]Colin Powell
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1993
[/TD]
[TD]Ravi Shankar
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1994
[/TD]
[TD]Albert Gore Jr.
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1995
[/TD]
[TD]Vaclav Havel
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1997
[/TD]
[TD]Quincy Jones
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1997
[/TD]
[TD]John Rawls
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1998
[/TD]
[TD]Gertrude B. Elion
[/TD]
[TD]S.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1998
[/TD]
[TD]Nelson Mandela
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D. (awarded during a special convocation in September)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1999
[/TD]
[TD]Julia Kristeva
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1999
[/TD]
[TD]Herbert Block
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2000
[/TD]
[TD]Seiji Ozawa
[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2001
[/TD]
[TD]John Ashbery
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2000
[/TD]
[TD]Nicolaas Bloembergen
[/TD]
[TD]S.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2001
[/TD]
[TD]Jürgen Habermas
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2001
[/TD]
[TD]Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2002
[/TD]
[TD]Daniel Patrick Moynihan
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2002
[/TD]
[TD]Neil L. Rudenstine
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2002
[/TD]
[TD]Ruth J. Simmons
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2003
[/TD]
[TD]Philip Roth
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2003
[/TD]
[TD]Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2004
[/TD]
[TD]Kofi Annan
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2004
[/TD]
[TD]Margaret Atwood
[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2004
[/TD]
[TD]Shirley M. Tilghman
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2004
[/TD]
[TD]Edward O. Wilson
[/TD]
[TD]S.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2005
[/TD]
[TD]D. Ronald Daniel
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2005
[/TD]
[TD]John Lithgow
[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2005
[/TD]
[TD]Charles M. Vest
[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2006
[/TD]
[TD]Sir Michael Atiyah, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Philip E. Converse, Philippe de Montebello, Shirley Ann Jackson, Jim Lehrer, Robert P. Moses, Norman F. Ramsey, Leo Steinberg
[/TD]
[TD]various
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2007
[/TD]
[TD]Daniel Aaron, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, William H. Gates III, Conrad K. Harper, William Felton ‘Bill’ Russell, Joan Wallach Scott, Robert Silvers, Lawrence H. Summers, Karen K. Uhlenbeck
[/TD]
[TD]various
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2008
[/TD]
[TD]His Highness the Aga Khan, James P. Comer, Wen C. Fong, Eric R. Kandel, The Hon. Damon J. Keith, Gerda Lerner, John McCarthy, Janet Rowley, J.K. Rowling, Daniel C. Tosteson, Sen. Edward Kennedy
[/TD]
[TD]various
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2009
[/TD]
[TD]Steven Chu, Pedro Almodóvar, Joan Didion, Wendy Doniger, Ronald Dworkin, Anthony S. Fauci, Sarah Hrdy, Robert Langer, Wynton Marsalis, Sidney Verba
[/TD]
[TD]various
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2010
[/TD]
[TD]Thomas R. Cech, Renée C. Fox, Freeman A. Hrabowski III, Susan Lindquist, Thomas Nagel, David G. Nathan, The Baroness Onora O’Neill of Bengarve, Richard Serra, David H. Souter, Meryl Streep
[/TD]
[TD]various
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2011
[/TD]
[TD]Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, Plácido Domingo, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dudley Herschbach, James R. Houghton, Rosalind Krauss, J.G.A. Pocock, David Satcher, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
[/TD]
[TD]various
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2012
[/TD]
[TD]John Adams, K. Anthony Appiah, Dame Gillian Beer, Walter Kohn, Wendy Kopp, Hon. John Lewis, Mario Molina, Fareed Zakaria
[/TD]
[TD]various
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[BVickery]

On the value of logbooks, I doubt that an inexperienced diver will fill his/hers up (or loan their computer to someone else to log dives) just to make up for deficiencies in their diving capabilities. Although the AOW card sets a standard that one has met, that does not make that person an "Advanced Diver" in the sense of a challenging dive. So a peek at one's logbook should worth something...

As to the value of a card, just recently I applied for a volunteer diver position that required rescue certification and the only use of the certification card was to get permission to enter the pool and demonstrate rescue skills... The point? That card does not mean much in terms of skill... and a checkout dive is probably the only way one can tell what a diver is capable of.

I wouldn't be so sure. Seems there was a Cave Diving Accident where 2 divers pretty much fudged their credentials and go themselves killed while diving a cave in FL. I don't know the full details, but in order to dive this spring you have to show things.

---------- Post added May 29th, 2013 at 07:48 PM ----------

Looks like that may have been working for a while now at Harvard...

Honorary Degrees | Harvard University

Some honorary degree recipients

[TABLE="class: stripe"]
[TR="class: even"]
[TH]Year[/TH]
[TH]Recipient[/TH]
[TH]Degree[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1753[/TD]
[TD]Benjamin Franklin[/TD]
[TD]A.M.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1776[/TD]
[TD]George Washington[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1781[/TD]
[TD]John Adams[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1787[/TD]
[TD]Thomas Jefferson[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1792[/TD]
[TD]Samuel Adams[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1822[/TD]
[TD]John Quincy Adams[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1832[/TD]
[TD]Washington Irving[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1833[/TD]
[TD]Andrew Jackson[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1852[/TD]
[TD]Alexis Charles Henri de Tocqueville[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1859[/TD]
[TD]Henry Wadsworth Longfellow[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1866[/TD]
[TD]Ralph Waldo Emerson[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1872[/TD]
[TD]Ulysses S. Grant[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1896[/TD]
[TD]Booker T. Washington[/TD]
[TD]A.M.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1905[/TD]
[TD]William Howard Taft[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1907[/TD]
[TD]Woodrow Wilson[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1916[/TD]
[TD]John Singer Sargent[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1917[/TD]
[TD]Herbert Hoover[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1919[/TD]
[TD]Theodore Roosevelt[/TD]
[TD]A.M.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1929[/TD]
[TD]Franklin Delano Roosevelt[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1935[/TD]
[TD]Albert Einstein[/TD]
[TD]S.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1937[/TD]
[TD]Robert Frost[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1938[/TD]
[TD]Walt Disney[/TD]
[TD]A.M.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1940[/TD]
[TD]Carl Sandburg[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1943[/TD]
[TD]Winston Churchill[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1946[/TD]
[TD]Dwight Eisenhower[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1947[/TD]
[TD]George Marshall[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1951[/TD]
[TD]Thornton Wilder[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1956[/TD]
[TD]John F. Kennedy[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1961[/TD]
[TD]Aaron Copland[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1966[/TD]
[TD]Martha Graham[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1967[/TD]
[TD]Leonard Bernstein[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1968[/TD]
[TD]Mohammad Reza Pahlavi[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1972[/TD]
[TD]Saul Bellow[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1973[/TD]
[TD]Georgia O’Keeffe[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1973[/TD]
[TD]Robert Penn Warren[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1974[/TD]
[TD]Mstislav L. Rostropovich[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1974[/TD]
[TD]Beverly Sills[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1976[/TD]
[TD]Arthur Fiedler[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1977[/TD]
[TD]Barbara Jordan[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1977[/TD]
[TD]Eudora Welty[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1978[/TD]
[TD]John Cheever[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1978[/TD]
[TD]Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1979[/TD]
[TD]Desmond Tutu[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1980[/TD]
[TD]Octavio Paz[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1981[/TD]
[TD]Ansel Adams[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1981[/TD]
[TD]Leontyne Price[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1982[/TD]
[TD]Mother Teresa[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1982[/TD]
[TD]Tennessee Williams[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1983[/TD]
[TD]Carlos Fuentes[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1984[/TD]
[TD]Juan Carlos I[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1984[/TD]
[TD]Benny Goodman[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1985[/TD]
[TD]Louise Nevelson[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1986[/TD]
[TD]Lord Carrington[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1986[/TD]
[TD]Itzhak Perlman[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1987[/TD]
[TD]Thomas P. O’Neill Jr.[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1988[/TD]
[TD]Jessye Norman[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1988[/TD]
[TD]Oscar Arias Sánchez[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1989[/TD]
[TD]Benazir Bhutto[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1989[/TD]
[TD]Toni Morrison[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1990[/TD]
[TD]Ella Fitzgerald[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1990[/TD]
[TD]Stephen W. Hawking[/TD]
[TD]S.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1990[/TD]
[TD]Helmut Kohl[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1991[/TD]
[TD]Yo-Yo Ma[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1991[/TD]
[TD]Eduard Shevardnadze[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1992[/TD]
[TD]Gro Harlem Brundtland[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1992[/TD]
[TD]Isaac Stern[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1993[/TD]
[TD]Colin Powell[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1993[/TD]
[TD]Ravi Shankar[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1994[/TD]
[TD]Albert Gore Jr.[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1995[/TD]
[TD]Vaclav Havel[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1997[/TD]
[TD]Quincy Jones[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1997[/TD]
[TD]John Rawls[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1998[/TD]
[TD]Gertrude B. Elion[/TD]
[TD]S.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1998[/TD]
[TD]Nelson Mandela[/TD]
[TD]LL.D. (awarded during a special convocation in September)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]1999[/TD]
[TD]Julia Kristeva[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]1999[/TD]
[TD]Herbert Block[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2000[/TD]
[TD]Seiji Ozawa[/TD]
[TD]Mus.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2001[/TD]
[TD]John Ashbery[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2000[/TD]
[TD]Nicolaas Bloembergen[/TD]
[TD]S.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2001[/TD]
[TD]Jürgen Habermas[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2001[/TD]
[TD]Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Daniel Patrick Moynihan[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Neil L. Rudenstine[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2002[/TD]
[TD]Ruth J. Simmons[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2003[/TD]
[TD]Philip Roth[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2003[/TD]
[TD]Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2004[/TD]
[TD]Kofi Annan[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2004[/TD]
[TD]Margaret Atwood[/TD]
[TD]Litt.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2004[/TD]
[TD]Shirley M. Tilghman[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2004[/TD]
[TD]Edward O. Wilson[/TD]
[TD]S.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2005[/TD]
[TD]D. Ronald Daniel[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2005[/TD]
[TD]John Lithgow[/TD]
[TD]Art.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2005[/TD]
[TD]Charles M. Vest[/TD]
[TD]LL.D.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2006[/TD]
[TD]Sir Michael Atiyah, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Philip E. Converse, Philippe de Montebello, Shirley Ann Jackson, Jim Lehrer, Robert P. Moses, Norman F. Ramsey, Leo Steinberg[/TD]
[TD]various[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2007[/TD]
[TD]Daniel Aaron, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, William H. Gates III, Conrad K. Harper, William Felton ‘Bill’ Russell, Joan Wallach Scott, Robert Silvers, Lawrence H. Summers, Karen K. Uhlenbeck[/TD]
[TD]various[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2008[/TD]
[TD]His Highness the Aga Khan, James P. Comer, Wen C. Fong, Eric R. Kandel, The Hon. Damon J. Keith, Gerda Lerner, John McCarthy, Janet Rowley, J.K. Rowling, Daniel C. Tosteson, Sen. Edward Kennedy[/TD]
[TD]various[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2009[/TD]
[TD]Steven Chu, Pedro Almodóvar, Joan Didion, Wendy Doniger, Ronald Dworkin, Anthony S. Fauci, Sarah Hrdy, Robert Langer, Wynton Marsalis, Sidney Verba[/TD]
[TD]various[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2010[/TD]
[TD]Thomas R. Cech, Renée C. Fox, Freeman A. Hrabowski III, Susan Lindquist, Thomas Nagel, David G. Nathan, The Baroness Onora O’Neill of Bengarve, Richard Serra, David H. Souter, Meryl Streep[/TD]
[TD]various[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: odd"]
[TD]2011[/TD]
[TD]Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, Plácido Domingo, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dudley Herschbach, James R. Houghton, Rosalind Krauss, J.G.A. Pocock, David Satcher, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf[/TD]
[TD]various[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: even"]
[TD]2012[/TD]
[TD]John Adams, K. Anthony Appiah, Dame Gillian Beer, Walter Kohn, Wendy Kopp, Hon. John Lewis, Mario Molina, Fareed Zakaria[/TD]
[TD]various[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

OMG, Drunk Ted finally got his Harvard degree (he was thrown out for cheating).

 

[Scott]

Looks like that may have been working for a while now at Harvard...

Honorary Degrees | Harvard University

Some honorary degree recipients

I wonder what happened in 2006, did Harvard lower their standards for achieving an honorary degree?
Harvard, the honorary degree mill. < Notice winking smiley, no offense intended to Harvard grads.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I wonder what happened in 2006, did Harvard lower their standards for achieving an honorary degree?
Harvard, the honorary degree mill. < Notice winking smiley, no offense intended to Harvard grads.

2006.. that was the year Boulder John started teaching his persuasive writing class (I think).

 

[chrpai]

Dear Harvard University:

Over the past decades, I have read a lot of books and had a lot of experiences that provided me with much more information than a typical college degree. I find, though, that I am unable to get the kind of job for which I am qualified because for some reason businesses are requiring a college diploma. I also find that it matters what college provides the diploma, and Harvard seems to do well in that category. I therefore suggest that Harvard have a program that provides a Harvard degree to anyone who can provide a list of books read that are equivalent to a college degree and who can pass a single check out test covering key concepts in those books. I believe that should cost $100.

PS: I notice that a lot of your recent graduates really, really suck compared to me. You should do something about that.​

ROFLMAO

John, do you really think a degree is that important? I've never wasted a single dollar in the "higher education" scam and yet I've had a highly successful career. I was making six figures within 4 years of starting and in 17 years I've never been on the bench. Why? Because most degree programs aren't actually "education" rather they are "training". Employers care about your skills and experience... not the paper on the wall.

Oh, and colleges do offer honorary degrees. But, like PADI, they typically expect something in return...

 

[boulderjohn]

I am really sorry my point was completely lost on some people, but I think a lot of other people got it.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

It's like giving money away. Why would they do that?

Because if they expect to be treated as a legitimate gatekeeper for recreational diving certification, making money cannot be their sole priority.

Scuba can cost a lot for gear, gas, training, and all the people you pay to take you diving -- but at the end of the day it isn't a 'pay to play' activity. At least in the US I'm not aware of any statute that says you need AOW or any other bought license to go dive, and the shops that require it will only do so as long as the agencies maintain some veneer of 'we issue this card because we taught you something new.'

Once it becomes 'you have to pay this much to be allowed to have X level card regardless of what you know', divers have every right to start printing their own fake AOW cards.

 

[chrpai]

I am really sorry my point was completely lost on some people, but I think a lot of other people got it.

No. Your "point" assumed two falsehoods. That 1) people like me can't find jobs and 2) that companies care.