My last LETTER titled \u201cMaking American Universities Affordable\u201d stirred a great deal of interest. I received four good comments. Because I want this subject better thought and researched, I decided to publish them in this issue, together with my responses. <\/p>\n
Dear Orhan,<\/p>\n
Sorry for the delay in responding to this important essay. The most hurtful aspect of what you write is that you are absolutely correct in your assessment but no hope for the solution you suggest. <\/p>\n
Except for the middle class (not the middle earners that have been improperly identified as middle class) who understand the importance of schooling at all levels, our country is woefully deficient in educational issues. The day this country allowed REMEDIAL READNG at the college level (30 years ago) I understood that we had dangerously downsized educational standards to accommodate minorities. That did not help minorities who for the next thirty years failed by 50 % to take real advantage (or graduate) from institutions of higher learning. <\/p>\n
Then there is the daily deluge of empty rhetoric sent over the TV airways and published in popular magazines: celebrity information that in no way fosters learning. Consumerism became the God of our country and now we are facing the consequences of second rate leadership, mindless greed and careless citizenry. Perhaps the new economic reality will force even the empty heads to take other paths than that of the department store, inane concerts posing as art and all the other endeavors they have substituted for living in purposeful life. Immediate gratification, day-to-day fulfillment like children in a candy store has exposed dire consequences at all levels, from those whose jobs are lost to the millionaires who thought Mr.Madoff was Jesus of Wall Street. Enough ranting. Thank you for writing. Merry Christmas and a Healthy New Year. <\/p>\n
Joan Salemi <\/p>\n
Good Morning Orhan, <\/p>\n
Two thoughts as I read your letter, first, in my mind, the current problem in U.S. Education begins before high school. The education process seems to have degenerated into a \u201cday care\u201d system, with kids being put into \u201dPre kindergarten\u201d as soon as they are out of diapers. Young people are passed along grade to grade, and enter high school without being able to read adequately, have little or no math skills and virtually no knowledge of the country or the world they live in. <\/p>\n
As you point out, the college\/university system may be the make-up for high school today; I would submit that high school has become the make up for elementary school. <\/p>\n
Second, as a product of the Depression, I always heard at home that not everyone was supposed to, nor necessarily entitled to, go to college. A lot had to do with money. Not everyone could afford to go. It was not a frivolous follow-on to high school but serious preparation for professional career fields <\/p>\n
Colleges today are nothing to be admired, they are just another profit-making enterprise. <\/p>\n
Robert Dickie. <\/p>\n
Orhan bey;<\/p>\n
Thank you. Excellent. This article reflects also many of my thoughts. I have found only very few books and articles on the subject, but not as powerful as yours. Unfortunately the government will continue to pride itself with improving the school buildings, student populations in classes, and all other peripheral issues, it will never address the main issue of course contents, claiming that it is a matter for the local education board and for teachers. <\/p>\n
Universities also would refuse to change claiming that their last 200 years of experience proves that they are doing the right thing, like the auto industry. Success makes them arrogant to accept that there may be better methods of doing things, especially after 200 years. <\/p>\n
Metin Camcigil. <\/p>\n
You are making an assumption about professors and colleges. Professors seek positions in American universities to do research, not to teach. American universities hire and (more importantly) retain\/promote professors who are able to bring in research grants or recognition to the university. Teaching is a wonderful<\/p>\n
Side-benefit for those who are lucky to be able to afford tuitions to these schools. <\/p>\n
Which brings me to sports. I\u2019ll announce my bias up front. I am a big sports fan. College athletes are divided into three categories:<\/p>\n
1. Men\u2019s college football<\/p>\n
2. Men\u2019s college basketball<\/p>\n
3. Everything else<\/p>\n
#1 and #2 are massive revenue streams for universities. #3 is not. However, the number of scholarships awarded to athletes is something to also consider. In many cases the students receiving scholarships would never be able to otherwise afford tuition or have grades strong enough to earn academic scholarships. <\/p>\n
K. Hayri Tarhan, Jr.<\/p>\n
W R I T E R\u2019 S R E S P O N S E S <\/p>\n
I thank all my four readers for their comments. Joan Salemi\u2019s complaints about the weakening educational level in this country are of course very true. They are a part of the greater picture in education. However, I had chosen a narrower subject :How to cut costs in higher education to make it affordable. From that narrower view point I did answer the question. I suggested several means of cutting costs that would actually make the colleges affordable. However, as Joan Salemi points out, I did not attempt to answer the \u201cgreater picture\u201d. <\/p>\n
Bob Dickie\u2019s contention that the problem of Education starts before high school is absolutely correct. Bob <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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