Impostors in the Temple: American Intellectuals Are Destroying Our Universities and Cheating Our Students of Their Future.Impostors in the Temple: American Intellectuals Are Destroying Our Universities and Cheating Our Students of Their Future, by Martin Anderson (Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. , 255 pp., $22) IN THIS latest book on higher miseducation, Martin Anderson rightly explains that the real problem is not "political correctness politically correct adj. Abbr. PC 1. Of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. " but its tolerance by non-politicized faculty and administrators. As further evidence of decline he cites the widespread practice of using graduate students as instructors; the pretense that academic publications are important; and the tolerance of sexual liaisons between professors and their students. A former advisor to Presidents Nixon and Reagan, Anderson argues that intellectual integrity has been retained only by the small, untenured band of intellectuals whose incomes depend on the market--think-tank fellows, magazine and newspaper columnists Noun 1. newspaper columnist - a columnist who writes for newspapers agony aunt - a newspaper columnist who answers questions and offers advice on personal problems to people who write in columnist, editorialist - a journalist who writes editorials , authors and editors of policy-oriented books. It would seem to follow that we should find ways to make the overwhelmingly socialized so·cial·ize v. so·cial·ized, so·cial·iz·ing, so·cial·iz·es v.tr. 1. To place under government or group ownership or control. 2. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable. monster of American higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. more accountable. Voters might take an interest in how their taxes are spent: state governments provide nearly 60 per cent of the funding of state universities, and the Federal Government provides 20 per cent of the funding of private institutions. And consumers of education might try to become better-informed. Oddly, Anderson comes to a different conclusion. Trustees, regents, and the like have the ultimate legal responsibility for educational institutions, and therefore he fixes the blame on them. 'Trustees," he writes, "just don't like to do what should be their main business." But Anderson's solution, which is to add more academics to these governing boards Noun 1. governing board - a board that manages the affairs of an institution board - a committee having supervisory powers; "the board has seven members" , would only exacerbate the problem of the self-governing academy's unaccountability un·ac·count·a·ble adj. 1. Impossible to account for; inexplicable: unaccountable absences. 2. . Fortunately, he does not step there. He offers the reader ten additional concrete recommendations--from eliminating tenure to prohibiting student teaching-each of which deserves serious consideration. |
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