I see from today's Times that our country is not the only one with rotting
universities. In Paris, The Sorbonne, founded in the 13th century and once
France's most renowned university with the highest standards of
scholarship, has now given a doctorate to a 63 woman who wrote a thesis on
astrology (repeat: astro*l*ogy, not astronomy).
In England, only about one-fifth of our universities (known as the "Top
Ten") are worthy of the name. The rest vary between sub-standard and the
pathetic; some will accept anybody able to write their names on an
examination paper even if they can't write or do arithmetic as well as the
average 12-year old Victorian pauper schoolchild in a charity school.
I guess the proportion of worthwhile universities in America is about the
same. On the basis of the above news item, I would guess that France has no
universities at all with any respectable intellectual standards, though
they still have their �coles, thank goodness. On this list I dare not make
a guess as to the state of Canadian universities -- not that I know
anything about them. But I have my suspicions.
Keith Hudson
___________________________________________________________________
Keith Hudson, General Editor, Calus <http://www.calus.org>
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727;
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
________________________________________________________________________
