Up the University: Re-Creating Higher Education in America

The central point of this freewheeling critique is that the marketplace has become the model for American higher education. But the Solomon brothers--Robert is a University of Texas philosophy professor and Jon a University of Arizona classics professor--wander far afield, with mixed results. They score hits in calling for a less regulated, more communal academic setting with fewer required courses and fewer administrators, but they include so many recommendations that one often contradicts another. They favor open admissions, for example, speculating that the practice would not lower standards since poor grades would force many students out; yet elsewhere they argue for de-emphasizing grades. Their zeal for reform also takes some peculiar turns, as when they unconvincingly propose that the concept of ``academic freedom'' is redundant in a democracy. Other suggestions include abolishing tenure and asserting the primacy of teaching over research. (Feb.)