Mills Lane,

It cannot be COB posters since we do not have anyone in COB with a high IQ. We screen them out in the hiring process. We find that very high IQs get into the way when you have to think and solve problems. People with high IQs never solve the problem, they merely tell you that the problem is trivial and the answer is intuitively obvious to anyone of their intellect.

Bobbie Burns wrote:

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O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us An foolish notion: What airs in dress an gait wad lea'es us, An ev'n devotion!

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Sounds like one of the unintelligible outsourced customer service representatives I've been speaking with during the past week.

The somewhat hysterical responses to my original post have served to remind me of a lesson learned long ago. I attended elementary school here in the south back in the day when teachers were not so concerned with the feelings of their students. Once a year a reading comprehension test was administered, and sometimes a teacher would announce the results in class. Unless a particular young lady and I happened to be in the same class, it was not at all unusual for my score to be the highest. On one occasion, a fellow student congratulated me on my performance by calling me a “queer”, and I recall that I would be treated as a bit of an outcast for a day or so after the test results were announced. The lesson: If you live in the south, don’t let your peers know you are bright. Taking instruction from my elementary school days, I became a lackadaisical and popular high school student.

I gather that here in the south you need not be modest about your athletic prowess, your good looks, or your family’s comfortable financial situation. Certain performing talents are well-tolerated by folks here. (Has anyone else noticed how some country music videos fall just short of deifying the performer?) And there is an exemption to the rule that you must hide intellectual talent: If you can use your mental capacities to attain wealth, rather than being shunned you may find yourself greatly admired. But employ your gifts in academe and you invite suspicion.

There is nothing in my original post which should offer offense. And until we are willing to proclaim unashamedly that faculty members here at USM are intellectually gifted folks who have worked hard to develop their talents, we’ll continue to be characterized as lazy schoolteachers who work 6 hours a week. I do get a kick out of people on this board making fun of our administrations claims of “wurl class” status, and we should certainly keep things in perspective. But we’ve got to be honest with ourselves and our community. We provide something to this state that relatively few people can. (Or will.)

And you know, although everything I said in my first post is true, I was laughing a bit when I composed it. It is pretty absurd to post that your IQ is in the (low) genius range. Or above 160. Or that your kids have tested at the genius level, but that you won’t let them know how smart they are! I loved that one. (By the way, I would guess my IQ is about average for a college professor. Oops! I shouldn’t have let that out of the bag. Believe me, we are just plain folks! And ever so humble.) But all in all, it’s been instructive. It turns out that everything I needed to know I learned in elementary school.

Mills Lane wrote:

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I'm hoping this is the place where LVN  will surface to tell you children to rein in your giant intellects and cool it?  She's probably engaged in some more meaningful pursuit at the moment, but it appears to be high time for reason and good sense to intervene and put the quietus to your bickering.

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I was, in fact, engaged in a nice roast beef dinner at my mother's house. I wish she could use a computer, she'd have you lot sitting up straight and minding your manners in no time!

I should also clarify that as "Scotland the Brave" I was responding to the person who implied that Bobbie Burns wrote gibberish. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

If and of you think it's hard to be smart (and it can be) try being a girl and being smart. Better yet, try being an "invisible" motherly-looking middle aged woman and being smart.

John Q. Faculty wrote:

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Mr. Wizard wrote:
........ everything I said in my first post is true......
Could you possibly be any more smug, Shelby?  Sheesh.  Give it a rest. You're making us all look bad.

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Though I can hardly bring myself to say it, you're starting to make Shelby look good. Now sprinkle a little soot on your clothing and practice your bow.

Southern Fried wrote:

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Mr. Wizard wrote: Ahh, thought I'd quickly check the board before heading to the Javawerks faculty confab, and then on to my remedial "How to be a Genius" course (see,  I'm trying).

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It sounds like there is a market in the Hub City for the WB Merchandising department, as they could sell a lot of their "Wile E. Coyote, Genius" shirts.  Is the Disney Store still open in Turtle Creek?

Well folks, I've had more fun here than Andy Kaufman at a wrasslin' match, but let me leave you with this:

In their book, Know Your Child’s IQ, Glen Wilson and Diana Grylls outline occupations typical of various IQ levels:

140


Top Civil Servants; Professors and Research Scientists.

130


Physicians and Surgeons; Lawyers; Engineers (Civil and Mechanical)

120


School Teachers; Pharmacists; Accountants; Nurses; Stenographers; Managers.

110


Foremen; Clerks; Telephone Operators; Salesmen; Policemen; Electricians.

100+


Machine Operators; Shopkeepers; Butchers; Welders; Sheet Metal Workers.

100-


Warehousemen; Carpenters; Cooks and Bakers; Small Farmers; Truck and Van Drivers.

90


Laborers; Gardeners; Upholsterers; Farmhands; Miners; Factory Packers and Sorters.