A MATTER OF DEGREE

Jim Mann’s “The Physics of Revenge” (June 7) offers a warning signal about a largely unacknowledged problem: Our once internationally acclaimed system of advanced doctoral degree education is deteriorating and the whole process of attaining a Ph.D. is increasingly alienating and dehumanizing. Despite many outstanding faculty and research programs, there is a growing sentiment, especially by those who have gone through the process, that earning a Ph.D. in many subject areas has become a vicious, arbitrary and insipid pursuit.

DEBORAH ANNE PALMIERI, PH.D.

Rancho Palos Verdes