"In the Basement of the Ivory Tower" is written by an English adjunct who works part time at various community and private colleges. He talks about how the campuses are "physically lovely," but the job is not. He says that he hates the fact that the students who take his class take it because they have to, not because they want to. He also states that he envys teachers in other diciplines because their topics are straight forward and concrete. He gives an example of a biology professor who has to grade a multiple choice test...obviously an easy task. This is nothing compared to what he has to go through - grading multiple essays that all could state right answers in different ways.
He also goes on to state that while America's industry wants all to attend college, academia is not for everyone. He hates teaching the low level courses and being the one to lower the hammer. He states that adjuncts are the ones who are forced to tell students that they lack the basic know how to complete college.
I agree that while the general ideology of today is that everyone must attend college, college is not for everyone. We as a society must realize this and be accepting to those who may not be up for that particular challenge.
If I had to ask 3 questions to they author, they would be:
1- Do you dread going to work everyday or just when you have to fail a student?
2- Do students hate you for failing them?
3- What do you think we should do as a society to get rid of the notion that EVERYONE should attend college?
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