[Husker] It is Done

[Steve Reichenbach]

> Granted it was in the 80s, but i received two degrees from Nebraska
> and a Ph.D. from Illinois.  It was night and day; academically the Big
> 10 fully deserves its reputation.  From that standpoint alone, i am
> ecstatic about NU joining the Big 10.

I think that the differences between national PhD-granting research
universities is greatly exaggerated.  I earned a BA from Nebraska in
the 1970s, earned an MS from Washington University (St. Louis) and a
PhD from William and Mary in the 1980s, and currently am on the faculty
at UNL.  Washington University is a "top" research university and
William and Mary is a "top" national university.

In my experience and opinion, there is more variation within a department
of a university than there is between departments of different
universities.  Many of UNL's faculty are better than most faculty at
the "top" research universities.  For example, see this link ranking
UNL faculty members among the world's top 50 software engineering
scholars (G. Rothermel #2, M. Dwyer #29, S. Elbaum #50):
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1247001.1247010

So, I believe that "night and day" is an inaccurate characterization
of the academics at UNL versus the Big 10 schools.  A student's
experience has far more to do with who they work with and what they
do than in which university they are enrolled.