友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!阅读过程发现任何错误请告诉我们,谢谢!! 报告错误
飞读中文网 返回本书目录 我的书架 我的书签 TXT全本下载 进入书吧 加入书签

the higher learning in america-第39章

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!






men; such an income; indeed; as may afford the means to cover the



conventional routine of such polite expenditures。 So that; in the



absence of an independent income; some sort of a business career



that promises well in the pecuniary respect becomes the necessary



recourse of the men to whom these amenities of expenditure have



become habitual through their undergraduate training。 With like



effect the mental discipline exercised by these sports and polite



events greatly favours the growth of tactful equivocation and a



guarded habit of mind; such as makes for worldly wisdom and



success in business; but which is worse than useless in the



scholar or scientist。 And further and perhaps more decisively; an



undergraduate who does his whole duty in the way of sports;



fraternities; clubs; and reputable dissipation at large; commonly



comes through his undergraduate course with a scanty and



superficial preparation for scholarly or scientific pursuits; if



any。 So that even in case he should still chance to harbour a



penchant for the pursuit of learning he will be unfit by lack of



training。







NOTES:







1。 Cf。 George T。 Ladd; 〃The Need of Administrative Changes in the



American University;〃 reprinted in University Control; by J。



McKeen Cattell; especially pp。 352…353。







2。 Cf。 George T。 Ladd; as above; pp。 351…352。







3。 Apart from the executive's need of satisfying the prejudices



of the laity in this matter; there is no ground for this



competition between the universities; either in the pecuniary



circumstances of the several establishments or in the work they



are to take care of。 So much is admitted on all hands。 But the



fact remains that no other one motive has as much to do with



shaping academic policy as this same competition for traffic。 The



cause of it appears to be very little if anything else than that



the habits of thought induced by experience in business are



uncritically carried over into academic affairs。



    Critics of the present r間ime are inclined to admit that the



colleges of the land are in great part so placed as to be thrown



into competition by force of circumstances; both as to the



acquisition of funds and as to the enrolment of students。 The



point may be conceded; though with doubt and reservation; as



applies to the colleges; for the universities there is no visible



ground of such rivalry; apart from unreflecting prejudice on the



part of the laity; and an ambition for popular acclaim on the



part of the university directorate。







4。 An incumbent of executive office; recently appointed; in one



of the greater universities was at pains a few years ago to speak



his mind on this head; to the effect that the members of the



academic staff are employees in the pay of the university and



under the orders of its president; and as such they are bound to



avoid all criticism of him and his administration so long as they



continue on the pay…roll; and that if any member of the staff has



any fault to find with the conduct of affairs he must first sever



his connection with the university; before speaking his mind。



These expressions were occasioned by the underhand dismissal of a



scholar of high standing and long service; who had incurred the



displeasure of the president then in charge; by overt criticism



of the administration。 As to its general features the case might



well have been the one referred to by Professor Ladd (University



Control; as above; p。 359); though the circumstances of the



dismissal offer several details of a more discreditable character



than Professor Ladd appears to have been aware of。







5。 The strategic reason for this is the desire to retain for



graduate registration any student who might otherwise prefer to



look for graduate instruction elsewhere。 The plan has not been



found to work well; and it is still on trial。







6。 At least one such businesslike chief of bureau has seriously



endeavoured so to standardize and control the work of his staff



as to have all courses of lectures professed in the department



reduced to symmetrical and permanent shape under the form of



certified syllabi; which could then be taken over by any member



of the staff; at the discretion of the chief; and driven home in



the lecture room with the accredited pedagogical circumstance and



apparatus。 The scheme has found its way into academic anecdote;



on the lighter side; as being a project to supply standard



erudition in uniform packages; 〃guaranteed under the pure food



law; fully sterilized。 and sealed without solder or acids〃; to



which it is only necessary to 〃add hot air and serve。〃







7。 So; e。 g。; it is known to have; on occasion; became a



difficult question of inter…bureaucratic comity; whether



commercial geography belongs of right to the department of



geology or to that of economics; whether given courses in Hebrew



are equitably to be assigned to the department of Semitics or to



that of Religions; whether Church History is in fairness to be



classed with profane History or with Divinity; etc。;  questions



which; except in point of departmental rivalry; have none but a



meretricious significance。







8。 Nugatory; that is; for the ostensible purpose of reducing



inter…academic rivalry and duplication。 However; there are other



matters of joint interest to the gild of university executives;



as; e。g。; the inter…academic; or inter…executive; blacklist; and



similar recondite matters of presidential courtesy and prestige;



necessary to be attended to though not necessary to be spread



abroad。







9。 The English pattern of boys' schools and gentlemanly



university residence has doubtless afforded notable guidance to



the 〃Educators〃 who have laboured for the greater gentility of



American college life; at the same time that the grave



authenticity of these English customs has at many a difficult



passage sewed opportunely to take the edge off the



gentlemen…educators' sense of shame。







10。 Illustrative instances have little value as anecdotes and not



much more as circumstantial evidence; their abundance and



outrance are such as to have depreciated their value in both



respects。 Yet to any who may not know of this traffic by familiar



contact one or two commonplace instances may perhaps not seem too



much。 So; a few years ago; in one of the greater of the new



universities; a valued member of one of the athletic teams was



retained at an allowance of 40 a month as bookkeeper to the



janitor of one of the boys' dormitories on the campus。 At the



same university and about the same 
返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0
未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!