Posted on 11/01/2011 8:27:13 AM PDT by thackney
Jim Stout, an English professor at Williston State College in Williston N.D., started losing some of his best students to the oil fields last year. It was too hard to compete: The students could either spend thousands of dollars on a college education or earn $100,000 a year working on the rigs, performing maintenance on oil wells or driving trucks.
"At some point they decide, 'Well, college will always be here ... but the oil boom won't,'" he said.
One engineering student dropped out of college last winter to take a job boiling the water used in hydraulic fracturing. In just two weeks, he made $5,000, according to Lance Olson, a science instructor at the college.
While some students leave the college altogether, others take the bare minimum of courses necessary in order to qualify for campus housing and still be able to work. So class time often comes second to their day jobs.
"One of my students working in the oilfields habitually came in late, and started to fall asleep in class," said Stout. "I asked him what was going on, and he said, 'I'm putting in 90 hours a week because the overtime pays so well ... to be honest with you, I'll get what you cover from my friends in class, but don't count on me staying awake or getting to class on time.'"
America's Biggest Boomtown
Only about one-third of Williston State College students graduated from the two-year associate's degree program last year, said Mike Hillman, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs with the North Dakota University System. That rate has stayed around 35% to 40% for the past few years, but Hillman said he expects it to plunge even lower this school year as students exit early for jobs.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
A job is terrible thing to waste.....
then change professions . . .
Reality Slaps College professor in the face.
Sound like his students are smarter than he is.
I have a nephew that is turning 26 and makes $110K per year as an oilfield welder. I have a PhD and three undergraduate degrees with a minor and make half that. More power to him. MD’s with similar education make six times as much as an average veterinarian. Its just the way the cards fall.If I was a bedwetting handwringing liberal I’d be out protesting.
I was speaking with an older gentleman this morning who holds numerous patents on catalyst cracking. He knows the oil and gas industry as well as any living human. He says it was well known 20 years ago that we had least 1.5 trillion barrels of known US reserves. And we have much more now.
Our salvation is under our feet in America. All we need to do is go get the energy...
The professor’s former students in the oil industry are doing useful work that contributes to the economy and benefits society. While society needs good teachers, most of the college employees probably do little or nothing useful and are just parasites sponging off the taxpayers.
>> All we need to do is go get the energy...
Fat chance of the Dimmocrats allowing that.
I guess that makes them intelligent.
Compare that to the Occupy crowd that are crying that no one will pay them $100k a year to make use of their PhDs in Afro-transgender-underwater-basket weaving.
my roommate in college worked on the oilfields and it sounds like it’s totally dangerous.
During his short time working there, he
1. Got his teeth knocked out by some machinery that springed back
2. Dislocated his arm
3. Broke his leg.
It doesn’t pay well because it is simple and easy.
Lessons come hard for those that don’t pay attention to the safety orientation films.
There are lots of dangerous jobs.
I worked in a hardwoods sawmill and had a few scary moments and injuries myself.
probably true. He was never the brightest guy around.
Sounds like a serious problem for academia.
Any way the Baraqqis can shut this down?
whud’d be funny would be the professor leaving the classroom for the oil patch.
Most of Americas more successful businessmen, entrepreneurs and inventors have no college. Some have no HS. That should speak volumes to this whiny professor. Working on an oil rig is 20 times more constructive than brain washing college students with liberal jibberish on a daily basis.
I would pay an oil field worker more than I would pay an English professor. After all, the oil field worker produces something of value.
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