Friday, 8 May 2009
We think we've got problems
Over at Cardiff Uni, they're savagely slashing continuing education courses and jobs - mostly in humanities. It's clearly a matter of profit-seeking rather than being committed to the intrinsic benefits of education. With the posh universities, extramural/continuing education are tempting targets because they hardly see themselves as part of the local community in the way that Wolves Uni does. Who cares about a few poxy beginners' Welsh courses if you can spend that money on importing a Nobel laureate? I'm a double graduate of the University of Wales (Bangor), which took a completely different view, and managed to attract students and staff from across the globe while simultaneously caring for the needs of the local community. Why can't Cardiff do the same?
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6 comments:
It is self defeating too. Surely by making links with the community (particularly through courses) you are (forgive the consumerist term) creating a market for education locally which will bring money to the university.
Also it is not impossible to combine high profile staff and community links. Manchester took a lot of stick for employing Amis but the university clearly make a profit off him being there. His public lectures are also a great addition to the city's literary scene.
Why not make the cuts elsewhere? Most universities have a church they could sell off. Is rebranding essential? Would the Ministry of Sound be interested in a buildings worth of large flourescent light bulbs? Perhaps there are some cuts possible in personnel/management?
I think that perhaps the main problem is that, accross the whole country now, education is only seen as a means to an ends i.e. to get a well paid job. "Why do beginner's Welsh or English literature or Pottery when you could do an IT course that could, possibly, lead to an extra couple of thousand pounds a year? - Why be happier when you could be richer?" This sort of attitude allows government to distance itself from higher education.
You could almost put someone through a degree for the price of Hazel Blears' televisions. I suppose you have to have priorities though.
Sorry for rambling on.
Right on all points. Why aren't we in charge of the world?
Well, let's see if we can figure this one out.
I believe that people like you are not in charge simply because you don't like the idea of power, which is what makes you a decent person - at least in my view. Unfortunately, by the same token, those who get to the top only achieve this because they adore power.
Now you may think this sounds depressing. Well, it is.
Are you related the The Deer Friend?
It's true that power corrupts, but in my idle moments I wonder about seeking office. The problem is that I also frequently wonder about consigning entire groups of people to camps. Tories, people with hairstyles instead of haircuts, you know the type.
I'm not sure it really is that way round. I think the urge to power comes first, a dangerous prerequisite to becoming a successful politician. But then there are other people. Those few who get far because of some amazingly powerful idealism which they simply hold on to, no matter what. I imagine it to be incredibly hard It must be hard in the midst of ego-monsters.
So I do believe there could be a place for you. But it's a sacrifice for people like us who, if I judge you right, like to avoid alienation.
The Deer Friend is, of course, a dear friend of mine. I'm sure she'd love camels, these gentle creatues, if she'd come across them in Europe. They don't have hairstyles, either, so you might like them, too.
Is the Deer Friend merely changing species because she's in Egypt? Carry On Cleopatra?
Becoming an elected representative, as Paul Flynn and various other dedicated backbench MPs point out, is to voluntarily resign one's priniciples to party demands, with rare exceptions. Winning currently seems to mean pandering to the basest desires of the widest spread of voters - leading to terrible injustices. That's why I admire Flynn, Skinner, Millington and Acland, Bernie Sanders, Denis Kucinich, Vito Marcantonio and Claude Pepper so much. They didn't compromise and survived.
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