美国的克莱登大学，曾经因为围城和方鸿渐的关系而名扬天下。
后来听说杨兰的老公，也毕业于这所知名学府。
最近在看一本小说，是Carl Hiaasen写的《Skinny Dip》（中文名《裸浴》）。里面的主人公 Chaz Perrone博士，就差点成了方鸿渐先生和吴征博士的学弟，就连毕业论文的题目和故事的结局，也都十分的神似（《试论糖为什么是甜的？》／复旦大学的博士）。
为什么？小说中是这样写的：
It dawned on Chaz that he wasdoomed to minimum-wage hell unless he obtained a master's degree, so he purchased one from a popular dimloma mill in Colorado. The eight-week mail-order course guaranteed graduation (with honors) for a fee of $999, which Chaz remorselessly conned from his mother. Any topic vaguely related to biology was acceptable for a thesis paper, double-spacing being the only academic requirement. Chaz's opus, researched one afternoon in the produce section of the local supermarket, was titled "A Comparative Analysis of Late-Season Oranges, Ruby Grapefruits, and Tangelos".
Ten days after mailing off the sinished manuscript - a cashier's check clipped to the cover page, as required - he received a certified letter stating that the school had been shut down, stripped of its accreditation and evicted from the strip mail where its "campus" had been headquartered.
Grudgingly, Chaz accepted the fact that he might have to physically attend classes in order to secure an advanced degree.
幸运的是，这位主人公得到亲戚的和企业的赞助，最终获得迈阿密大学的海洋生物学硕士和杜克大学湿地研究中心的生物学博士学位。
值得指出的是，美国人对于学历的迷信，一点也不下于国人。而杜克大学的湿地研究中心，在数据造假方面则赫赫有名。
最近和女儿的学校（小学）的一个老师聊天，他告诉我说他是博士，而且是某知名大学的兼职教授。
哪所大学？
噢，克莱登大学！
