Ersatz Education

Despite administrative protests that the new three year requirements will not constitute a lowering of Harvard standards, it is fairly plain that the ruling is strictly an emergency measure. Trite as it may seem, much of a college education is contained not in the four courses plus tutorial per annum but rather in the life outside of classes. Twenty years out of college, so our elders tell us, one is more likely to remember riots than lectures, and friends than textbooks. Not only will the new regulations cut down the period of college life by almost a full year, but they will mean that time spent in Cambridge will be filled to such an extent with course work that a student will be able to do little else. Five courses and a full load of tutoring are not conducive to long hours of bull sessions or to practicing up on a tenor part for the Glee Club.

Unfortunately, the emergency is with us, like it or no, and not only the liberal arts colleges but every other part of American life except airplane manufacturers is looking forward to a bit of belt-tightening. If it is a choice between the three-year degree and an almost non-existent Harvard, it is certainly better to lop off the year. The Administration, with its car to the ground and its pipeline to Washington, seems to feel that the developments of the draft make the move a necessity.

What is most to be dreaded is an extension of the emergency to such a degree that the University will forget such a thing as Senior year ever existed. At best the three year plan is a poor substitute for college education; it must never be accepted as the real thing.