As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students

It may be due to my lack of consciousness slowly creeping in as I read this text, or the fact that this text is somewhat difficult to read due to the poor quality of the scanning, but Mark Edmundson seems like an enemy of the liberal arts in our schools simply because he doesn't feel people should have an "enjoyable" experience while learning. This may be a strong statement, and possibly it's completely false, but how he speaks negatively about being adored for making his classes fun and how our generation is affected by the constant stream of white noise coming from the radio and television sets makes him sound pointedly against anything that isn't straight-forward, thought changing, education.

I agree on many parts as Mark dissects the political environment of a college campus and compares it more to a candy store - showing off the goods so students will be interested in buying, taking samplers until they find the right taste, etc - than a collegiate establishment meant to educate students within certain standards in order to receive a degree that fully states their accomplishments and knowledge of specific topics.

Colleges do make the process too easy for students. The classes aren't difficult enough, and most professors aren't shying away from admitting that they are dumbing down their course material from what it was before because the newer generations are struggling. How sad is this, that really any worthless being can attend a college and ghost their way to a degree? How is it fair that those who don't care to try get to succeed just as much as those who actually give a shit?

Now this isn't necessarily true in the outside world; reality after university. But we're all on the same road to an ultimate goal, and I personally feel that one better be damn well committed to reach the end. This is also something that baffles me of students who find college time to be party time. What's the point? Why don't you simply rent a house on campus and save the tuition costs on booze instead of wasting your time and money on classes you're going to drop or fail out of anyway?

And why are some of these students not dropping or failing out of classes? Because they university is holding their hands. Most professors have the mentality that "we want you to succeed" without any mention or emphasis on "striving to succeed." The student's should be putting forth the effort, not the professors.

Now dismissing liberal education doesn't necessarily fix the ADD issue students have. What professors and universities need to understand is how this can be used as a tool to help students. It can only be used as such if the teacher forces a challenge on the students to keep to a certain par of performance, while using more enjoyable means of educating.

It sounds to me that Mr. Edmundson needs to stop whining and do something about it.