What is the truth Lynda? (about her educational degrees)

Lynda Hopkins says on her web site that she has a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford in Coastal Land Use & a Master’s Degree in Land Use Policy. According to Stanford, they don’t issue a degree in Coastal Land Use Policy and that Lynda’s profile at Stanford shows that she has a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing/Poetry and a Masters in Earth Systems with an emphasis in journalism.

In this era of Trump its expected that a politician will exaggerate her credentials, however it does point out a key character weakness. Recent, highly credible research shows that people who tell small, self-serving lies are likely to progress to bigger falsehoods, and over time, the brain appears to adapt to the dishonesty.

This research, done by respected scientists at University College London and Duke University, is backed by neuroscientists at University of Zurich and Brown University. See the 10/25/16 article in the NY Times titled “ Why Big Liars Often Start as Small Ones”

So Lynda, what is the truth? I suppose that all those big money backers that are pouring cash into your campaign are just poetry lovers. They no doubt have no expectation that you will do their bidding when it comes time to vote on major environmental or development issues in Sonoma county.

Barbara Beals

This post is exactly the sort of nasty, diminishing and unwarranted personal attack that most people I know in Sonoma County are sick of.

That Shepherd Bliss, a man who has written frequently on this board advocating civility in communications, finds it worthy of gratitude, shows how far our community discourse about this election has fallen.

Barbie's post equates Hopkins with Trump and other liars. It calls her backers poetry lover because she had a bachelors degree in Creative/Writing Poetry, using that as a lever to smear her because of who her funders are.

It says she pads her resume simply because she calls an "Earth Systems" degree "Land Use Policy."

I have no idea what Earth Systems means, so calling it Land Use Policy sounds reasonable.

Anyone who has heard Lynda speak knows that she is extremely knowledgeable about land use policy and earthy systems and protecting water and soil.

One may choose not to vote for her because of her funders and the distrust that this creates.

But this type of nasty diminishment of a well-,meaning, upstanding member of our community and mother of two small children leaves me, and many others, more supportive of Lynda Hopkins, not less.

It is uncivil, it is unfair, and it is exactly the sort of personal attacks that turn people off to politics.
We are better than this. :waccosun:

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Posted in reply to the post by Barbie:

Lynda Hopkins says on her web site that she has a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford in Coastal Land Use & a Master’s Degree in Land Use Policy. According to Stanford, they don’t issue a degree in Coastal Land Use Policy and that Lynda’s profile at Stanford shows that she has a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing/Poetry and a Masters in Earth Systems with an emphasis in journalism.....

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I do agree with parts of what Jonathan says below, including the following: " Anyone who has heard Lynda speak knows that she is extremely knowledgeable about land use policy and earthy systems and protecting water and soil."

I do not consider expressing gratitude for concerns that someone expresses to be a "nasty, diminishing and unwarranted personal attack." I did not mean to imply that I agreed with everything in the email. Perhaps I expressed too much gratitude.

I guess I just have to get used to Jonathan using even my gratitudes to mean that I am "nasty," "uncivil," and "unfair," and engaging in a "personal attack." None of that was my intention.

I certainly did not associate Lynda with Trump at all.

By the way, I am not a candidate for office. I do however, maintain friendships with people whom I disagree with on politics, religion, and other aspects of life.

My main concern, which I expressed in a separate email thread is the that fact that one candidate has at least $440,000 in her war-chest, including money from a New York billionaire.

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Posted in reply to the post by Peacetown Jonathan:

...That Shepherd Bliss, a man who has written frequently on this board advocating civility in communications, finds it worthy of gratitude, shows how far our community discourse about this election has fallen. ...

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Posted in reply to the post by Barbie:

Lynda Hopkins says on her web site that she has a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford in Coastal Land Use & a Master’s Degree in Land Use Policy. According to Stanford, they don’t issue a degree in Coastal Land Use Policy and that Lynda’s profile at Stanford shows that she has a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing/Poetry and a Masters in Earth Systems with an emphasis in journalism.....

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Here's a quote from an email Lynda wrote to address this concern. Published with Lynda's approval:

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Posted in reply to the post by Lynda Hopkins:

...the Stanford Earth Systems Program offers a self-designed Master's degree. So yes, technically I am an environmental scientist whose graduate course of study was in land use policy. More specifically, I studied the development, implementation, and communication of conservationist land use policy. An Earth Systems Master's degree is the result of an approved academic plan between student and advisor -- and the topic could be anything. Friends of mine designed Earth Systems Master's degrees in climate change, or world food economy, or environmental education. Emmett studied urban design. I studied conservation land use policy and its communication to the public.

I have publicly explained that I studied land use policy and coastal land use through Stanford University's Earth Systems Program, which is an interdisciplinary environmental problem solving program. I have never "embellished" or "mischaracterized" my degree. Unsurprisingly, I just know more about my personal course of study than Padi Selwyn's internet search does.

I conducted research for my Master's project around the U.S. (and in fact briefly forayed into Mexico and Canada). I interviewed land use planners and public transit officials in a half-dozen different cities/counties/towns, and studied the development patterns, land use policies, and transit systems in those communities. I wrote a creative non-fiction book on the subject (bringing in that communication portion of my studies), which I submitted to my advisor.

For more information on the Earth Systems Program, please visit: https://earth.stanford.edu/esys.

If you're curious about my work on coastal land use, I conducted research on the Daintree River and Great Barrier Reef in Australia, as well as on Palmyra Atoll (a tiny atoll in the middle of the Pacific, owned by the Nature Conservancy). My research focused on total dissolved solids and nutrient loads in the Daintree River, the impacts of adjacent industry, and coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef and Palmyra Atoll. My advisors were internationally renowned climate change scientists Rob Dunbar and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. ...

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Lynda's detailed, specific, and clear response answers this question, as far as I am concerned.

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Posted in reply to the post by Barry:

Here's a quote from an email Lynda wrote to address this concern. Published with Lynda's approval:

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Honestly, my head is really starting to hurt! :stoptheinsane: Looking forward to Wednesday.