Here is a little collection of questions I have been often asked by people I barely knew. So I have to be politically correct and honest at the same time. I tried. Sometimes I know the answers by heart. Don't take them too serious.

- Nice to meet you!
Dennis? But this is an American name.
It is not Russian, is it?

Yes, it is! is the straight-forward transliteration of the Russian name . It is of Greek origin like many other contemporary Russian names and is pronounced [di-'ni:s]. The only thing I changed was the vocal stress, not to be confused with Denise.

- How do you like it here in California?

Well, I really like California. It has wonderful people, nice weather and beautiful land. Among other things I love travelling and enjoy being able to move in one day from tropical coastline to hot inland deserts and from there to high altitude giant forests. California has them all. But there is still something California does not have. Know what?

- What is this Engineer's degree you have? Is it Bachelor's or Master's?

Neither. There was no direct correspondence between the Russian degrees and the American degrees, although an attempt has been made in 1994 to align them. Besides, it differs from university to university and from one major to another. In my school Dipl.Eng. requires five and a half years of formal post-highschool education including five years of course work and half a year devoted completely to the thesis internship, preparation and writing. At the end you have an oral defense of your thesis, or the diploma project as it is called.

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Last modified: March 13, 1996 Denis A.Khotimsky denis@cs.ucsb.edu