[1] From: { brad brace } <bbrace@NETCOM.COM> (15)
From: Pamela Cohen <pac@eden.rutgers.edu>
Subject: academics--endangered species?
Financial Times, November 20, 1995
Endangered species. Modern electronic technology could mean
that the days of academics at higher-education institutions
are numbered.
People pay enormous sums for higher degrees, not because
they cannot obtain the knowledge elsewhere, but to give
themselves an edge in hyper-competitive labour markets.
Higher degrees serve a function akin to that of the
exotic plumage of birds: they are primarily a means of
attracting attention, of signalling that you deserve
special attention.
[snip...]
[Editorial interjection: consider what online instructional materials
could do to the monopoly we have had on the distribution of culturally
valued information. Would the role of the university be reduced to
certification alone? --WM]
___________________________________________________________________
Pamela Cohen / Doctoral Candidate, Art History / Rutgers University
pac@eden.rutgers.edu