Vernon
But he wanted perfection and strived for it all the time. He was a real math genius. He
was from Europe, I've forgotten which country he was from now. But he used to tell me
how the European education was so different than the American. He says, "They don't
teach you to really think in Europe. He says, "They taught you the theory, and you
learned a lot of complicated formula and all that kind of stuff. But he said, "They don't
really teach you how to analyze problems and to make up your own procedures and that
sort of thing." He said, "If you had things that were laid out, this is the way you did it
and didn't try to think if there was a better way to do it.
So he said he liked the education his daughters were getting. It was better than his
education. He says, "Even though I've got a lot of math and that stuff, still have
problems with just making the right judgments on a lot of things. That was interesting
to
out that a guy would have that own self-criticism.
Q ..
Now that's an important step in anyone's education--to be able to criticize oneself.
A
Well, I was thinking about this book that was put together here.
Management
Q ..
The book by Jamie and Dorothy Moore The Army Corps of Engineers and the Evolution
of Federal Floodplain Management Policy? You wanted to talk about
activities
in floodplain management?
A
There are new programs in the agency. You asked me before how did the Corps respond
from an H&H point of view to these new programs. Did they jump into them
or drag their feet, that sort of thing. Well, it has been my experience that
the Corps is very conservative on taking on new projects or new responsibilities. They
go in very slowly--gradually, they'll get there but it takes them awhile. They just don't
want to rush into something new, which is just the opposite point of view of the
Department of Interior. If they even have an inkling that they've got some possibility for
a new responsibility, they jump right in there and go full bore. They don't wait like the
Corps does.
The Corps wants to be very sure that this is what Congress wants and very sure this is
what the Administration wants before they really charge. A good example of it was when
they got started in the floodplain management business, and the flood insurance program
kind of went hand in hand. Al
had really been interested in the floodplain
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