At 9:59 AM +0100 11/27/06, Daniel Wolf wrote:
John:
I was rhetorically exaggerating my case, of course, which should
have been clear by my writing "_it seems like_ every University had
one or two courses or requirements specifically designed to weed out
potential draftees", But it is a point of fact that quotas on class
size and reduction of that size from year-to-year were set at
political and administrative levels, and that purely academic
criteria were not used to arrive at these quotas. There is a huge
public record of discussion about this (I'm familiar with some of
that which took place, well before my time, at the University of
California and Cal State Sytems).
Yes, I've been known to exaggerate a bit myself! Point taken. But
as someone who grew up in a family of educators, I saw a very
different picture. Perfectly good research showed that teaching was
more effective with smaller class sizes, and there was nothing
"political" about that research although it was obviously an
administrative problem requiring the funding of additional faculty
positions. (And it makes a difference whether we are talking about
elementary, secondary, or college classes. I assume the latter.)
(Yes, I realized that I'm picking at nits, but I'm enjoying the discussion.)
I think, however, that you would agreed that in the huge expansion
of Higher Education which took place in the the post-war era,
Universities and the Military clearly worked to mutual benefit:
inflating the freshman class both created opportunities for students
who might not otherwise see a University campus (as did the GI Bill
for veterans) and was a growth opportunity for the Universityes, and
the addition of both education and maturity to the draft pool was
beneficial to the military.
My Mom was teaching in community college right after WW II, and was
right in the middle of the GI Bill rush and all the students who
never would have considered higher education without it. And my own
grad school was made much more comfortable by the fact that I
qualified for GI Bill benefits as well as a government fellowship I
didn't even know about! But it depends on exactly what you mean by
"mutual benefit." Yes, the law was the law, and Universal Military
Training was in place (but only for males, of course), and ROTC
courses were required (and taught by active duty military officers,
NOT paid out of university budgets). But it's an awfully big stretch
between that reality and the theory that universities and the
military were working in cahoots, and to the detriment of students.
Of course the military wanted well educated officers. The entire
officer corps were college educated. What we've found more recently
is quite a few students--and not necessarily in the Corps of
Cadets--who are in the reserves and have been called up for active
duty, starting back with the situation in Kosovo. The university, by
policy, makes it as easy as possible for those students to leave and
to return, and not all the deployments are long ones, but it's
something we've learned to live with.
But the main point of this thread was the decline in language
requirements, and my point was that pressure from students wishing
to avoid the draft had less to do with this than the fact that
academic faculties (particularly in Science and Engineering) had
ceased requiring languages on their own, as that study was no longer
essential to research or scholarship in their fields.
Well, we seem to be in complete agreement about that. Of course
university used to mean a place to study religion, back when schools
like Harvard and Yale were founded, and it was necessary to read
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at minimum in order to study scriptures in
the original. Which is why Latin was taught in elementary and
secondary prep schools. Later on in history it was still taught
because it was "good for you" or "trained your mind," which has
always struck me as a load of B.S.! But today, to be a citizen of
the world, understanding other languages and cultures is a must, and
business students who are fluent in other languages are just as
needed as military intelligence members. I've often been asked to
write recommendations for students applying for internships with the
CIA, and it is always the very best, most knowledgeable, sharpest
students. That should tell us something.
John
--
John & Susie Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
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