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Academia's Dirty Little Secrets |
| Section: BOOK WORLD / REVIEWS |
| Author: Edward S. Shapiro |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 12/1/1992 |
| Size: 3,029 Words, 19,114 Characters |
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HOW PROFESSORS PLAY THE CAT GUARDING THE CREAM
Why We're Paying More and Getting Less in Higher Education
Richard M. Huber
Fairfax, Va.: George Mason University Press, 1992
201 pp., $19.95
It is, of course, no secret that the American University is in serious trouble. At my own institution, for example, at least half the freshmen are unprepared for elementary courses in English and mathematics and have to do remedial work in what is euphemistically described as "basic skills." A colleague of mine has on his office door the words "If you can read this you must be an Asian." The level of work of our college juniors and seniors is comparable to that of high-school students in Japan and Korea. The problems of our colleges have been exacerbated by the activities of self-anointed "activists" who prey on the academic insecurities of undergraduates and inculcate in them a sense of grievance and victimization.
During the four or more years of their undergraduate experience, college students receive some preprofessional training and take a smattering of courses in the humanities and social and physical sciences. Upon graduation they have little if any knowledge of history or philosophy, continue to have serious problems with the English language, have as much interest in the life of the mind as a typical lifeguard, and have little awareness of their culture or of the world about them. They, along with the colleges, have been part of a gigantic fraud.
The public would like to believe that students crave education and the colleges seek to provide it, even though both of these assumptions are patently false. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find a locale where truth-in-advertising is more consistently violated than on the campus.
Despite their horrendous performance, the universities remain for some the panacea for what ails the nation. According to th...
Read Full Article
...se.
With a smaller student body, there will be a reduced demand for academicians. Many will have to find alternative forms of livelihood, and some will be forced to work for a living for the first time since they left graduate school. Don't count, however, on many people taking this suggestion seriously. The university "cream" feeds too many academic "cats." One can dream, nevertheless.
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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