On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:29:20 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

,;On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:42:36 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm, F.
,;George McDuffee quickly quoth:
,;
,;On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:24:58 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:
,;snip
,;It's not that hard. Most kids pass high school civics. Apparently you found
,;it a challenge.
,;snip
,;=================
,;Its the traditional problem of how things *SHOULD* work [or
,;worked at one time] v. how they *DO* work. Not only do high
,;school civics classes have this problem but also the university
,;political science classes.
,;
,;For example, Condoleezza Rice earned her bachelor's degree in
,;political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the
,;University of Denver in 1974; her master's from the University of
,;Notre Dame in 1975;
,;
,;How do you jump from a BA to a MA degree in -one- year, pray tell?

Not at all difficult. Particularly if you are in a Ph.D. program.
Frequently the Master's thesis is waived for Ph.D. candidates. The
school where I got a MS and Ph. D. in chemistry "awarded?" a MS
degree fairly quickly to students that failed to qualify for the PH.D.
degree. Most students who left the school with an MS (in the chemistry
department) actually flunked out of the Ph. D. program. Students who
were on a successful Ph. D. track picked up a MS degree as a formality
without a thesis in one year including summer school.