"K"'s comments on New Paltz and Education

[Greg Nowell]

There are definitely things that are wrong with the
system.  In particular, its tendency to try to set
itself up as a "machine" for mass production, when in
fact the production of trained intellect is a craft.
But there are inconsistencies in the system.  The
property-rights isue over book lists and whatever is
important, but the tendency towards adjuncting is
somewhat counteracted by the fact that university
administrations prize themselves on their ratio of
full-time faculty, and use it as a recruiting tool.
Everyone knows that adjuncting stinks as a system.

For my part, the main problem is the somatization of
the student body, which appears to be incrmentally
higher than the somatization of the general public as a
whole.   Regardless of whether we use the internet or
whatever, we have to get people to read.  It is the
sine qua non, because the cognitive function of the
brain literally depends on it.  Watching some prof do
his antics on a computer screen will be even less
effective, I think, then having students rouse
themselves to join a classroom.  Hypermotivated people
can always work in relatively isolated environments;
there is little that can be done on the internet that
wasn't already possible by filming professors and using
the mails.  But it is not an effective system.   By
which I mean, even less effective than the current
system, which itself has egregious problems.
B

--
Gregory P. Nowell
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science, Milne 100
State University of New York
135 Western Ave.
Albany, New York 12222

Fax 518-442-5298