One could write a book on the ways the "select" element is poorly used.

Some of my "favourites":

* dropdowns used for just *two* options. this is sometimes okay, but not usually

* dropdowns used for two options, one of which is impossible. e.g. my school's information system (PeopleSoft/Oracle) has many pages with a dropdown for choosing "undergraduate" or "graduate" – which is insane, considering that they *know* I am an undergraduate

* dropdowns with *one* option – my personal favourite

oh, sorry, thought it was an example of bad usability....
my bad

> thought it was an example of bad usability

It was.

to be or not to be, here is the selection ...