Editor speaks out against all administrations

By Connor de Bruler

debrulerc@thejohnsonian.com

Connor de BrulerThe future of the youth is determined by wealthy old men who will only live another 20 years.

It’s wrong.

Our tuition has increased by 4.9 percent this semester. Winthrop is lucky to have only a single-digit increase as opposed to other academic institutions in the state that are asking students to pay much higher amounts.

Universities are meant to be sanctuaries for personal growth, intellectualism and advanced disciplines. Universities have become either job-prep slaughterhouses or all-out degree mills.

I have several friends who could not attend this year because of financial reasons. It makes me guilty for being so fortunate. It also makes me angry.

I have many friends who work diligently to meet their scholarship requirements and friends who have no choice but to choose between massive art projects and a reasonable amount of sleep.

I don’t think these indignities can be described as a baptism of fire. They are more like preparation for a similar reality we must face for the rest of our lives.

It is difficult  not to become filled with rage and indignation at least once.

There is only one thing to do to fix the current financial crisis of universities.  

We must get rid of the administration.

They don’t do anything useful in my opinion. The administration is a crooked middleman between the student and the education. Sure, certain measures will always need to be taken to regulate the academics. But we don’t need a high paid room of elderly, out-of-touch individuals dreaming up more superfluous amenities designed to extort even more money from honest, hard-working students.
 
We don’t even need dormitories or fancy buildings peculiarly named after racist old white men. We could meet our professors in vacant fields and share our textbooks. Classes could be held in the woods near creeks, at skating rinks or even on professors’ front porches. Before each semester, we could pay the professors directly.

The current system in which people are taught and schools are based upon in America and around the world is a dying system: a failure.  We should adopt a method that actually encourages curiosity and understanding beyond the hollow rhetoric of an ACAD classroom. The Montessori or Waldorf method are good places to start.

Live. Learn. Lead.

Stress. Exclusion. Indignation.

I’m not calling for any kind of commie or socialist upheaval. I’m simply suggesting a solution to a problem that’s causing all of us great grief.

It’s time we did something about the administration - those who have monopolized our futures.