Editor,
Professor Wilcox’s letter should be circulated throughout the nation.
As a fiscal, social conservative, there were many times when I was an undergraduate that I wrote in to critique the ruminations of “entitlement” espoused by some in academia. This response to Gov. Susana Martinez was uncommonly apropos as placed with Matthew Dahlgren’s letter.
As a career orator, I could not more eloquently and clearly address the problem of perspective demonstrated by our elected officials.
At a federal level, states, local governments, citizens, etc. are being asked to “chip in” or make changes while the sources of financial mismanagement continue to draw high salaries and enjoy unprecedented perks.
Concurrently, the value of education is lost if the professional teachers are hemmed in even further. Budgets already strain creative and active teaching methodologies.
Dahlgren addressed the essence of formal education’s value in his writing. Many people have found professional success without college. In an information-overloaded society, educational structures of education are immeasurably valuable.
These concepts may not be easily grasped by the many tiers of administrators and elected officials who are concerned with cutting costs anywhere but in their opulent offices, but we as citizens and national members of the college-educated community should echo the themes of these two letters.
Dietr Biedenfeld
UNM alumnus
