James Berlin

James Berlin's text about reinventing English studies is making me think-- especially as so many schools want to discontinue basic writing. It's interesting to me, because at the university, I've met far more people who claim to be Marxist in thinking or at least democratic in thinking than anywhere else. And yet, it is often these same people that want to make sure that education remains a priviledge. We can't have anyone getting into university-- that would be wrong. No, we need to keep the gates closed to the university. We shouldn't let anyone in who won't be able to successfully complete what they set out to do. I mean I understand competitive programs. I also realize that it is unfair to flood the market with ill-qualified job candidates. I even understand the idea of supply and demand and wanting to be able to have more demand before there is too much supply, but I don't think that is Marxist or democratic thinking. I think that is capitalist thinking. I don't think all students enter the university equally, and I don't think they should all be placed in the same classes. I do think they should all have the same expectations. We can't lower standards for less qualified students, but I'm not sure we should shut them out either.