John said:
>Here is something else they can do: they can teach you many things that
>are not in the syllabi, and which are strongly misdirective. They can
>fail to take advantage of a supreme opportunity, namely to show by example
>how a thoughtful, caring, organization can be well-managed. They can
>progressively lower standards of education, and thereby drag down a nation
>built on the blood, sweat, and tears of older generations.
>
>Yes, if all they did was get you moving in the right direction, they would
>be doing fine. Having been in various universities for 37 years of my
>life, I can see both the good and the bad at work. The worst thing about
>the bad is that if 5% of the energy spent in these institutions were
>diverted to correcting the bad, a 1000% improvement could be had. That's
>real leverage, and the fact that it lies fallow is mute testimony to the
>present nature of these institutions.
John,
I am not sure about the tone of your mail. At times it seems very
sarcastic and at times you seem to agree with the "trickle charge". :(.
When I said "no univ can give you total education", I was saying you
cannot look at univs alone for your education. How does one say what's
right or wrong in a univ ? When a univ has to cater to a diverse community
whose culture, background,goals,visions are different the "current univ"
has to have a generic "program". I remember the time when I went to univ
without any kind of real guidance. Society as a whole does not facilitate
this kind of information. And once I got admitted, I start saying "right"
and "wrong". And I still was not sure of my wants.
I believe no univ today consciously chooses not to provide education. They
are trying and what they URGENTLY NEED is HELP. Which should be our focus
area. And doing away with them is a scaring proposition.
You raise an interesting point when you say "thereby drag down a nation
built on the blood, sweat, and tears of older generations. ". I have some
thoughts.
If the the values of the older generations were enduring, why dont we see
them now ? Who screwed up ? Can we drop the responsibility on univ's lap ?
John, you also talked about leveraging. Having been a software programer
for 6 years I have a maxim. "If a thing seems to work, dont tinker with
it" :-). When we accept products of univs with all their strenghts faults
and fallacies, without ever raising a voice how will univs change?
..ram
sundar@sriven.scs.co.in
The Shark - He glides silently , focused on his prey , giving no clue
whatsoever of his presence.
And when he attacks, its usually for a clean , effortless kill.
--sundar@sriven.scs.co.in (Ram Sundaram)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>