Having read the opinions of several others on the technician versus 
researcher and their status in the world, I must venture my own opinion.  
I have worked in academia for years, and clinical medicine before that.  
In all this time I have found that it is not the degrees that a person 
wears but the person wearing them that makes the difference
     In many institutions, the graduate student (whether masters or 
doctoral candidate) gets a bright idea from the major professor, the two 
of them come up with a game plan and then tell a tech to do the work.  
The graduate student writes the material, gets the degree and really 
knows nothing about what went into the research.
     I am glad to say that this is not true at this institution, where 
all graduate students must do their own work.  However my point is - one 
cannot state that the wearer of the degrees knows it all and techs know 
nothing.   More often than not, it's the tech who knows it all, but is 
not driven to do research forever.  He/she prefers to have a life away 
from work.
      I remember being awed by the number of MD, DVM, and PhD around me 
when I started this job.  Then I realized they all put their pants on the 
same as I.  Then I was told that a BS was for Bull s***, MS for more S*** 
and PhD for piles higher and deeper.  This is very true.  
Cheryl Crowder, BA, HTL(ASCP)
Chief Technologist
Department of Pathobiological Sciences
School of Veterinary Medicine
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA  70803

(225) 578-9734
FAX  (225) 578-9720