I'm not a Star expert so please correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe there are some programs that allow you to earn some combination of miles and tier earning points. The example that comes to mind is Singapore Airlines (SQ) which allows you to put your SQ miles into other Star airline accounts (ie; UA, LH, etc) yet still earn elite tier points in their PPS program.

We need Gaucho to make sure I'm not passing on bad gouge here.