Posted on 11/13/2011 1:10:57 AM PST by Maelstorm
Laying the groundwork to revamp higher education in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott has questioned the value of liberal arts degrees, dissed anthropologists, proposed ending tenure for professors and posted salaries of all state university employees on the Internet.
Scott also recently sent a letter to state university trustee boards pushing for change on campuses. He included excerpts from a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece by Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder, "Time to Make Professors Teach." Vedder derided much academic research as "obscure" and "trivial," noting there have been 21,000 scholarly articles on Shakespeare since 1980.
"Wouldn't 5,000 have been enough?" Vedder wrote.
Among those who received Scott's letter: Ayden Pierce Maher, a senior at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton who serves as the student representative to the school's trustee board. Maher called the governor "misguided."
"Isn't a university supposed to be a place for emerging minds to ponder new ideas?" said Maher, of Coral Springs, the FAU student body president.
Longtime FAU mathematics professor Fred Hoffman said Scott's actions have left a bad taste with faculty: "We assume he has some kind of ax to grind."
Boris Bastidas, an FAU senior and political science major, said, "It's almost as if the governor is saying some of these areas are a waste of taxpayer money. But it's not right to cut arts, sociology, psychology. It goes against what conservatives are supposed to stand for — individual choice and the belief that with hard work you can get a job and succeed."
They all say that Scott, a former health care CEO, is bringing too much of a bottom-line business mentality to a place where the pursuit of knowledge and development of student intellect is supposed to be paramount.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
American university students are the new sharecroppers. Best be bowin’ and scrapin’ to da old masser professor lessen you be kicked off de land.
Governor Scott was a businessman and had no political experience before he was elected as our State.
He is doing what most Politicians would not dare do in years past. He is working for the people not the GOP Establshment.
Thank You Governor Scott.
AWESOME
I remember one political science professor who talked about the task of securing grants. It seems quite a few of them chase that grant money to get funding for their various screwy papers they want to publish. And yes, the prof in question was an extreme liberal who didn't mind telling the class about her political preferences.
Right, add prerequisite for law school.
yitbos
One simple solution: have student loans be dischargeable in bankruptcy, AND have the college be on the hook for at least part of the loan if the student declares bankruptcy.
Suddenly, schools will lose interest in having students enrolling in unproductive majors, and in accepting students who would not benefit from a college education.
Political science was on the plate as a humanity where I went, as was history. I dabbled in history but that soon became, well, history. It became political science, anthropology, earth science, the mushy sciences. But not art. A good drawing artist I never was. Much later I found a forte in music, pardon the pun. But that was without the help of any university.
Great quote.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
