Now it's my turn.
1. Judge the applicant, not the school.
As a college instructor, I have two types of students: those who care about
their educations, and those who do not. Those who care make an effort to know
the course material, and, at the end of the semester, some students will get As
while others get Cs. At the end of the year, however, both types of students
will graduate from the same university with the same degree. Beware the unaware
employer! Every school in the country has students doing the minimum amount of
work, enough just to get by. If you hire or don't hire someone because of their
alma mater, e.g., not hiring an MSU grad simply because they are an MSU grad,
then you are potentially missing out on some wonderfully talented and dedicated
employees. Do your homework and find out if the applicant knows his/her stuff.
Why not ask potential applicants to put together a forecast for you? If they
can't do that, then it doesn't matter where they went to school. They are not
the applicant for you. If :30 seconds into their resume tape you like what you
see, give them a chance. Dumping someone's tape in the trash because of where
they went to school is doing a disservice to the applicant and your station.
Don't believe me? Consider Washington D.C., where Bob Ryan at WRC and Doug
Hill at WUSA go head to head; Ryan has a post-graduate degree in atmospheric
science, Hill doesn't have a degree, but both are certified by the AMS. Without
question, both are excellent forecasters and broadcasters. Who is better? Even
money, I'd say. I like them both for what each has to offer me as a viewer. If
someone in a position of power had disregarded Doug Hill's application because
he didn't have a degree, it would have been a shame.
2. Regarding this test, will there be a review?
What an excellent idea to have a qualifying exam for the AMS seal!
Furthermore, to insure that no undeserving sealholders are lurking about, why
not require all current sealholders take the same exam? If they fail, revoke
their seal. Anybody have a problem with the idea? This intellectual cleansing
would certainly be good for the industry. We would finally know who is and who
is not a meteorologist, despite how well you do your job and how much you know.
No pass, no seal. If your station won't hire someone without an AMS, will they
fire you if you lose yours? No grandfather clause here, folks. I hope you
remember your differential equations. Or are the current seal requirements
enough to keep everybody satisfied?
3. Undular Bore or Unduly Boring?
Aaron Tuttle, I hope, for your sake, you never get that technical on air.
If so, the sound I hear must be the channel surfers checking out your
competition. Technical competency is one thing, but bore me as a viewer and I am
gone.
4. Pick your battles.
Is the debate really about MSU? If so, is it the on-campus program, the
off-campus program, or both? If not, is it about unqualified weathercasters in
general? The generalizations thrown around in this debate amaze me, mainly
because I am sure we have all worked with or have seen people that have no
business on air for a variety of reasons, and they didn't all come from one
school. Whether incompetent as meteorologists or incompetent as broadcasters,
the solution is the samedon't hire them! (Remember #1--judge the applicant,
not the school). The real battle is against bad meteorology and bad TV.
5. TV or not T.V.?
I don't mean to get on a rant here, but TELEVISION is abbreviated TV, not
T.V.!!
6. Anonymity Anonymous, A.A. for weathercasters (AKA, Grow a Backbone)
Anonymous letter writers carry little credibility. Make your point and
stick your name on it.
Name withheld upon request--just kidding,
Richard J. Ortner