太子爷小说网 > 英语电子书 > the higher learning in america >

第64节

the higher learning in america-第64节

小说: the higher learning in america 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!






scale; inasmuch as it is altogether a matter of course and of



common notoriety within the precincts; that this is precisely



what these constituent schools and units now have to do; each and



several; with the sole qualification that they now have to take



care of these matters under the inhibitory surveillance of the



executive and his extraneous interests; and under the exactions



of a super…imposed scheme of mechanical standardization and



accountancy that accounts for nothing but its superimposition。 At



the same time the working force of the staff is hampered with a



load of dead timber imported into its body to administer a



routine of control and accountancy exacted by the executive's



need of a creditable publicity (15*)



    This highly conjectural tracing of consequences to follow



from this hypothetical dissolution of the trust; may as well be



pursued into a point or two of detail; as touches those units of



the university coalition that have an immediate interest in point



of scholarship;  the Collegiate (〃Arts〃) division and the



Graduate School。 The former being left to its own devices and; it



might be hoped; being purified of executive megalomania; it



should seem probable that something of a reversion would take



effect; in the direction of that simpler scheme of scholarship



that prevailed in the days before the coming of electives。 It was



in the introduction of electives; and presently of alternatives



and highly flexible curricula; that the move first set in which



carried the American college off its footing as a school of



probation and introduction to the scholarly life; and has left it



a job…lot of ostensibly conclusive short…cuts into the trades and



professions。 It need not follow that the ancient curriculum would



be re…established; but it should seem reasonable that a move



would take effect in the direction of something like a modern



equivalent。 The Graduate School; on the other hand; having lost



the drag of the collegiate division and the vocational schools;



should come into action as a shelter where the surviving remnant



of scholars and scientists might pursue their several lines of



adventure; in teaching and in inquiry; without disturbance to or



from the worldly…wise who clamour for the greater glory。







    Now; all this speculation as to what might happen has; of



course; little else than a speculative value。 It is not intended;



seriously and as a practical measure; to propose the abolition of



the president's office; or of the governing board; nor is it



intended to intimate that the captain of erudition can be



dispensed with in fact。 He is too dear to the commercialized



popular imagination; and he fits too convincingly into the



businessmen's preconceived scheme of things; to permit any such



sanguine hope of surcease from skilled malpractice and



malversation。 All that is here intended to he said is nothing



more than the obiter dictum that; as seen from the point of view



of the higher learning; the academic executive and all his works



are anathema; and should be discontinued by the simple expedient



of wiping him off the slate; and that the governing board; in so



far as it presumes to exercise any other than vacantly



perfunctory duties; has the same value and should with advantage



be lost in the same shuffle。







NOTES:







1。 〃He has stifled all manly independence and individuality



wherever it has exhibited itself at college。 All noble idealism;



and all the graces of poetry and art have been shrivelled by his



brutal and triumphant power。 He has made mechanical efficiency



and administrative routine the goal of the university's



endeavour。 The nobler ends of academic life will never be served



so long as this spokesman of materialism remains in power。〃



    History will relate that one of the eminent captains; through



an incumbency of more than a quarter of a century; in a



university of eminent wealth and volume; has followed a settled



policy of defeating any overt move looking to scientific or



scholarly inquiry on the part of any member of his faculty。



Should a man of scholarly proclivities by any chance sift through



the censorship exercised in virtue of the executive's appointing



power; as might happen; since the captain was himself not



qualified to pass a grounded opinion on any man's qualifications



in that respect; and should he then give evidence of continuing



to spend time and thought on matters of that nature; his burden



of administrative and class…room tasks would presently be



increased sufficiently to subdue his wayward bent; or; in an



incorrigible case; the offender against the rule of academic



sterility would eventually be retired by severance of his



connection with this seat of learning。



    In some sinister sense the case reflects credit on the



American academic community at large; in that; by the close of



this quarter…century of preventive regimen; the resulting



academic staff had become a byword of nugatory intrigue and



vacant pedantry。







2。 So far has this predilection made its way in the counsels of



the 〃educators〃 that much of the current discussion of



desideranda in academic policy reads like controversial argument



on 〃efficiency engineering;〃  an 〃efficiency engineer〃 is an



accountant competent to advise business concerns how best to



increase their saleable output per unit of cost。 And there has;



indeed; been at least one tour of inspection of American



universities by such an 〃efficiency engineer;〃 undertaken in the



service of an establishment founded with a view to academic



welfare and governed by a board of university presidents。 The



report submitted by the inquiry in question duly conforms to the



customary lines of 〃scientific management。〃







3。 〃Education is the one kind of human enterprise that can not be



brought under the action of the economic law of supply and



demand。 It can not be conducted on 'business principles。' There



is no 'demand' for education in the economic sense。。。。 Society is



the only interest that can be said to demand it; and society must



supply its own demand。 Those who found educational institutions



or promote educational enterprise put themselves in the place of



society and assume to speak and act for society; not for any



economic interest。〃  Lester F。 Ward; Pure Sociology; p。 575。







4。 Indeed; the resemblance is visible。 As among professional



politicians; so also as regards incumbents and aspirants for



academic office; it is not at all unusual; nor does it cause



surprise; to find such persons visibly affected with those



characteristic pathological marks that come of what is



conventionally called 〃high living〃  late hours; unseasonable



vigils; surfeit of victuals and drink; the fatigue of sedentary



ennui。 A flabby habit of body; hypertrophy of the abdomen;



varicose veins; particularly of the facial tissues; a blear eye



and a colouration suggestive of bile and apoplexy;  when this



unwholesome bulk is duly wrapped in a conventionally decorous



costume it is accepted rather as a mark of weight and



responsibility; and so serves to distinguish the pillars of



urbane society。 Nor should it be imagined that these grave men of



affairs and discretion are in any peculiar degree prone to



excesses of the table or to nerve…shattering bouts of



dissipation。 The exigencies of publicity; however; are; by



current use and wont; such as to enjoin not indulgence in such



excursions of sensual perversity; so much as a gentlemanly



conformity to a large routine of conspicuous convivialities。



〃Indulgence〃 in ostensibly gluttonous bouts of this kind 



banquets; dinners; etc。  is not so much a matter of taste as of



astute publicity; designed to keep the celebrants in repute among



a laity whose simplest and most assured award of esteem proceeds



on evidence of wasteful ability to pay。 But the pathological



consequences; physical and otherwise; are of much the same nature



in either case。







5。 See pp。 68…73; 79…81; above。







6。 As bearing on this 〃hired…man's loyalty〃 of the academic staff



and the means of maintaining it; see; e。g。; a paper by George



Cram Cook in the Forum for October; 1913; on 〃The Third American



Sex;〃 especially pp。 450…455。







7。 Unfortunately; the language wants a competent designation for



public…minded personages of this class; which comprises something



appreciably more than the homiletical university executives


返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的