I declined to get involved in the Larry Summers sexism affair. (That's Larry at left, along with other future cast members of Saturday Night Live.)

But an opportunity has come to make a relevant comment, and brag on the old alma mater at the same time.

One big difference between Harvard, where Summers is President, and Rice, where I went to school, is that Harvard has an extensive Old Boy Network and Rice does not.

As an alumnus it pains me to admit this. Rice offers a high-quality education, better than Harvard in many ways, but once you're out you're on your own. There's no big power network in New York and Washington waiting to give you a leg-up.

But we're now seeing the flip side of this. Rice is a pure meritocracy. If you've got the goods, the Owl will shine his light on you. Harvard openings often go to those in the know, or those who know those in the know.

This may be why Larry Summers has trouble finding high-quality female scientists. Rice has had no trouble at all in that regard. In fact, the new Rice engineering Dean is Dr. Sallie Keller McNulty. The science dean is Kathleen Matthews, who chaired the search committee.

That is not all. Far from it. Dr. Rebekah Drezek and Dr. Jennifer West of the biochemistry department have recently found that silica-gold "nanoshells," another form of the Buckyball first found at Rice 20 years ago, can help cure cancer through imaging. They were following up on pioneering work on nanoshells by Dr. Naomi Halas, an electrical engineer. Dr. Halas, in turn, is currently being featured on PBS' Nova.

Now it's possible that Dr. Matthews deserves more credit here than I have given her. (That's Dr. Halas to the right, from the Nova site.) Maybe she looks for high-quality women to be colleagues. But she's in science, not engineering.

The people who likely deserves the big kudos here are Sidney Burrus, outgoing dean of engineering, and Richard Smalley, Nobel Prize winner for the Buckyball discovery and long-time chemistry professor. Both Burrus and Smalley are men.

What's more likely, I suspect, is that like attracts like. Harvard attracts old boys and is attracted by them. Other institutions are left with what's left, and those who draft smart can put together a winning team.

It's not just that Rice lacks blinders. They have their own, a complete set. But top male scientists are likely to gravitate toward Harvard, and Harvard's Old Boys seem quite happy to welcome them.

Which is why all Larry Summers may see is a lighter shade of pale on the bearded side of male.

For affirmative action to work, it must work both ways. And at Rice it's working out fine.