ldmom06

UNCC - I hope you aren't a business major. Funding of a private equity startup has nothing to do with "personal" wealth, but it does has everything to do with investors willing to RISK wealth based on a person's knowledge or skills. (For the record, our own personal wealth is also at risk in this venture....so no need to make incorrect or inappropriate assumptions about our financial situation.)

My point is.... my husband has good and accurate insight and is VERY well-qualified to offer an opinion as to which schools are most respected for energy industry-related degrees. (omGOSH...I'm going to have work on my nouns and verbs I suppose...yet another person can't seem to hone in on the 'point'!) vc stated UCB had a top 10 program in engineering related to the oil and gas industry. Per the UCB website, that is not the case. Also, there is a chart at their website where UCB does compare their engineering rankings to those of Stanford and MIT.

Also, I don't really understand the comment re: the use of the phrase 'omgosh' UNC. Why would you distrust people based on something like this? But I do appreciate your acknowledgement of your own [over]compensation and ego in your post. Believe it or not, I appreciate the humor. This thread needs it.

Finally, in the real world, hyperbole is not respected. To describe my opinions as a rant, merely because you don't agree with, like or respect them is inaccurate and gross exaggeration.

vc - If you have an issue with the price of gasoline, you'd do well to speak to your legislators. How many years has it been since a refinery has been built in Cali? And for the record, independents do not refine. They explore and produce. Longterm analysis - the reason gasoline is so expensive is because it is an increasingly scarce commodity given the expansion of economies in China and India. OPEC nations are producing all they can as fast as they can and it isn't enough. ANWR reserves will be a meaningless drop in the bucket. You want solutions? My husband's advice is alternative fuel sources. Imagine that from an 'oil man'. (We are actually considering trading our gas guzzlers in for the Toyota Prius.) Also, for a better than laughable understanding of just the basics of economics, especially as they relate to the energy industry, try reading "Twilight in the Desert".

I apologize if I make anyone uncomfortable with my low opinion of rankings and those who insist on overemphasizing them. Those who do this truly do people who are here searching for meaningful information, and yourself, a disservice with this attitude.