(Minghui.org) As a professor who has taught at a state university for over a decade, I have noticed some ever-worsening problems in U.S. universities in terms of the academic, research, and student environment. I believe that universities have been seriously deviating from the right path.
Today's American universities are focusing more and more on how much research funding a professor can bring in, as the amount of grants directly ties into the professor's status and income within the establishment.
I once asked a professor how much time he had to spend writing grant proposals each year. He told me that it normally took him half a year, as there was a need to write multiple proposals to increase his chances of receiving funding due to the amount of competition out there. He also told me that he would not be doing the research himself, as it would be conducted by graduate students who were cheaper labor.
Let's think about this. With so much time spent on writing grant proposals, how much time would one have left to do actual research and teaching?
Another problem is that the number of students in U.S. universities has been increasing considerably. The state university where I taught had about 8,000 students when I joined the faculty, and 12,000 when I left.
Needless to say, with the increase in students, the infrastructure to accommodate that increase also needs to grow. But as far as I know, the infrastructure did not increase accordingly.
Problems Arising from Increase in Student Population
Almost all U.S. universities have a larger student body now. For example, there were 22,000 students at my alma mater ten years ago. There are now 32,000 students there.
The U.S. population has not increased dramatically over the past few decades; then where did the extra students come from? The only explanation would be lowered admission standards or international students, or both.
Larger enrollment generates more income for the universities. However, this money is not being used to facilitate the students' needs. Class sizes are much bigger, and graduate students are either teaching classes or being used as teaching assistants.
The assessment of a teacher's academic merits is largely based on student achievement. Therefore, students have been getting higher scores than they deserve. It has become a common phenomenon and it is very problematic.
I ran into a fellow Falun Dafa practitioner, who is also a university professor, in March 2018. He asked me how I scored my students, as he was concerned that other professors typically tended to add their own personal interests into the mix when marking students' work.
Scores can no longer truly distinguish students' levels, and it could be a blow to the morale for those who truly want to excel in academia. To earn a good evaluation from the university, a professor would probably rather please the students than educate them. This process of one's heart going bad happens slowly and is undetectable on the surface, but as time goes by the consequences are serious.
The problems regarding the students' environment are even worse. For example, video games, drugs, casual sexual relationships, homosexuality, and transgenderism are all negatively impacting students.
I have personally witnessed how video games have harmed students. I had a colleague who was teaching at the state university. He was originally from China as well. His son was admitted into a prestigious university with excellent academic scores, but the son had been addicted to playing video games and continued to play them at the university.
Video games had changed his thoughts and behavior. He had lost the ability to interact with people, and even with a college degree, he is still very dependent on his parents.
Another colleague of mine at the same state university had a son who was also addicted to playing video games. The son was a graduate student who chose me to be his advisor. His parents had tried everything to stop him from playing games, including canceling the WiFi at home. The father would rather kick their only child out of the house than let him play video games at home.
When the son was working on his graduate thesis, we discussed the possibility of his working in my office at least once a week.
I told him about how people conducted themselves in ancient times. Gradually, he began to change his behavior. He even read Zhuan Falun later. Slowly, he stopped playing video games. Not long after I left the university, he was able to find a job.
My point of using this example is that when a person accepts traditional Chinese culture, and especially if he can learn the Fa, then he can give up any addiction.
Master has taught about the harm of video games when he told us,
“Video games are really harmful to people, and not just Dafa disciples’ kids. They really draw people in, and have had a negative effect on everyday people as well. They make you do poorly in your work, sleep poorly, rest poorly, and make you devoid of human affection or warmth of feeling, make you neglect your family, make students neglect their studies, and entice you and draw you in. They are contributing to humankind’s destruction.”(“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
Young Dafa Disciples' Role as Students
The pervasive problems in today's U.S. universities are not limited to the issues mentioned above. We all know that the impact of the evil communist specter's poisoning people through education is even more serious.
Human morality has become corrupt, including the morality of educational establishments. It is a terrible thing for humanity. We are cultivators of Falun Dafa, and our Master has been repeatedly telling us of the importance of saving people. In my understanding, education plays a key role in guiding humanity back on the right track.
Four years of university education has a profound influence on a person's life, especially on young people entering adulthood. It is very difficult for a young adult to conduct oneself well in a corrupt environment, even for those who grew up in a Dafa practitioner's family. We have seen some young practitioners stop practicing cultivation because they were influenced by today's society.
However, studying in an environment that promotes high moral standards will surely play a positive role in a young adult's life. For example, the Fei Tian College in Middletown, New York values morality very much. We have seen students who entered last year undergoing very big changes. They were reluctant to study the Fa at first, then they gradually formed a Fa-study group, and then automatically regarded themselves as Dafa practitioners.
Fei Tian College is a Fa-validation project. Everyone is involved in it, be it the teachers, administrative staff, or students.
I think that many Dafa practitioners who are parents want their children to participate in some Fa-validation project as they grow up. It is up to us to carve out a path. This path we're developing may very well be the path for future generations to follow.
Perhaps many practitioners have already realized the problems in educational establishments in the U.S. that I have mentioned. For parents who send their children to Fei Tian, they trust that the cultivation environment is good for their children, but they have yet to realize the roles their children will be playing in this project.
Our goal is to train students to have high moral standards. Therefore, students who attend our college will be guided towards reaching these high values. This is not something money can buy.
If one goes to a regular university, one will be exposed to poisonous elements that harm society. How many people still have something righteous in their mind? Very few.
In addition, the extreme Leftist thought is very prevalent in American universities. Therefore, many things taught by the professors there are in line with the evil communist specter, and the textbooks they use all support their ideas.
In U.S. universities, each student must take comprehensive courses that account for a third of their four-year education. Many humanities courses make up these comprehensive courses and directly teach Marxism. Human morality has become corrupted to such an extent.
At Fei Tian College, students and faculty spend an hour of group Fa study with morning and evening exercise practice each day. It is a good cultivation environment for students.
Students have also formed a “Falun Dafa Association” and are doing cultivation-related activities in their spare time.
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Category: Perspectives
