Our Universities: The Future Of Society

koan · Post by **koan** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:32 pm

Chris Hedges wrote an article that should demand attention.

It's not the kids that are the problem here. They are the result of our training.

The corporate world sees football players, fraternity brothers and sorority sisters as prime recruits. They have been conditioned to join the team, to surrender moral autonomy, to accept and carry out acts of personal humiliation, to treat with contempt those who oppose them or who are different, to define their life by an infantile narcissism centered on greed and self-promotion and to remain silent about crimes they witness or take part in. It is the very ethic of corporations.

...

College and university administrators defund libraries, close foreign language and classics departments and invest staggering sums in gargantuan sports arenas and athletic programs. And the only time the student body protests or riots is when, as at Penn State, something unpleasant happens to the beloved football coach. Pity the student who goes there to learn. The faculty and administration will not help them; they are complicit or intimidated.

The Perversion of Scholarship - whole article

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:14 am

Is that happening in canada as well?

koan · Post by **koan** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:51 am

Why, yes. It is.

One popular myth about hazing is that it only happens in certain sports and fraternities/sororities. In fact, both of the large studies done to date on hazing incidence (Alfred University 1999 and University of Maine 2008) tell us that hazing takes place in groups as diverse as sport teams, choirs, high schools, drama groups, Cadets, scouts and guides, youth orchestras, marching bands, intramural sports, summer camps and youth exchange organizations. Since 2007 the Red Cross Support Line has seen a 700% increase in calls with hazing identified as a problem within sport, recreation or cultural organizations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

source- Canadian Red Cross

Regarding corporations running the Universities,

Licensing and spin-off companies are the main mechanisms for commercializing university technologies. Licensing agreements by which corporations purchase rights to exploit the market potential of discoveries on campus are now commonplace.

Universities For Sale, by Neil Tudiver

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 6:09 am

I heard on the news they might take away Penn State's accredidation, emphasis on sports and scandals and not learning, which is what colleges are for.

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:34 am

Is Penn State known for their academics?

~~~~~~~~~~

I think the OP hits the nail on the head. Sure, they want engineers & other brainiacs, but they can get those anywhere. But the management corps needs to know how to toe the line, follow the leader, and sing the team song. The company comes first, then God, family, or whatever other trivia is in your life. The last thing a big corporation wants or needs is a guy with moral autonomy.

Yet another reason to stop giving tax subsidies and other incentives to big corporations. Small companies are much better for a morally balanced society.

~

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:03 pm

Accountable;1400839 wrote: Is Penn State known for their academics?

~~~~~~~~~~

I think the OP hits the nail on the head. Sure, they want engineers & other brainiacs, but they can get those anywhere. But the management corps needs to know how to toe the line, follow the leader, and sing the team song. The company comes first, then God, family, or whatever other trivia is in your life. The last thing a big corporation wants or needs is a guy with moral autonomy.

Yet another reason to stop giving tax subsidies and other incentives to big corporations. Small companies are much better for a morally balanced society.

~But then what would we invest in?

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:05 pm

koan;1400757 wrote: Chris Hedges wrote an article that should demand attention.

It's not the kids that are the problem here. They are the result of our training.

The corporate world sees football players, fraternity brothers and sorority sisters as prime recruits. They have been conditioned to join the team, to surrender moral autonomy, to accept and carry out acts of personal humiliation, to treat with contempt those who oppose them or who are different, to define their life by an infantile narcissism centered on greed and self-promotion and to remain silent about crimes they witness or take part in. It is the very ethic of corporations.

...

College and university administrators defund libraries, close foreign language and classics departments and invest staggering sums in gargantuan sports arenas and athletic programs. And the only time the student body protests or riots is when, as at Penn State, something unpleasant happens to the beloved football coach. Pity the student who goes there to learn. The faculty and administration will not help them; they are complicit or intimidated.

The Perversion of Scholarship - whole articleThat's the evolution of the free market system.