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1、Good is good, but better carries it.精益求精，善益求善。经济学家-TEXT1RebuildingtheAmericandreammachineJan19th2006|NEWYORKFromTheEconomistprinteditionFORAmericascolleges,Januaryisamonthofreckoning.MostapplicationsforthenextacademicyearbeginningintheautumnhavetobemadebytheendofDecember,soauniversityspopularityispu
2、ttoanobjectivestandard:howmanypeoplewanttoattend.OneofthemoreunlikelyofficestohavebeenfloodedwithmailisthatoftheCityUniversityofNewYork(CUNY),apubliccollegethatlacks,amongotherthings,afamoussportsteam,bucoliccampusesandraucousparties(itdoesntevenhavedorms),and,untilrecently,academiccredibility.Aprim
3、arydrawatCUNYisaprogrammeforparticularlycleverstudents,launchedin2001.Some1,100ofthe60,000studentsatCUNYsfivetopschoolsreceiveararethinginthecostlyworldofAmericancolleges:freeeducation.ThoseacceptedbyCUNYshonoursprogrammepaynotuitionfees;insteadtheyreceiveastipendof$7,500(tohelpwithgeneralexpenses)a
4、ndalaptopcomputer.Applicationsforearlyadmissionsintonextyearsprogrammeareup70%.Admissionhasnothingtodowithbeinganathlete,orachildofanalumnus,orhavinganinfluentialsponsor,orbeingamemberofaparticularlyaggrievedethnicgroupcriteriathatareincreasinglyimportantatAmericaselitecolleges.Mostofthestudentswhoa
5、pplytothehonoursprogrammecomefromrelativelypoorfamilies,manyofthemimmigrantones.AllthatCUNYdemandsisthatthesestudentsbediligentandclever.Lastyear,theaveragestandardisedtestscoreofthisgroupwasinthetop7%inthecountry.AmongtherestofCUNYsstudentsaveragesarelower,buttheyarenowjustbreakingintothetopthird(c
6、omparedwiththebottomthirdin1997).CUNYdoesnotappearalongsideHarvardandStanfordonlistsofAmericastopcolleges,butitsrecenttransformationoffersaneatparableofmeritocracyrevisited.Untilthe1960s,agoodcasecouldbemadethatthebestdealinAmericantertiaryeducationwastobefoundnotinCambridgeorPaloAlto,butinHarlem,at
7、asmallpublicschoolcalledCityCollege,thecoreofCUNY.Americasfirstfreemunicipaluniversity,foundedin1847,offereditsservicestoeveryonebrightenoughtomeetitsgruellingstandards.Citysgoldeneracameinthelastcentury,whenAmericasbestknowncollegesrestrictedthenumberofJewishstudentstheywouldadmitatexactlythetimewh
8、enNewYorkwasteemingwiththebrightchildrenofpoorJewishimmigrants.In1933-54CityproducedninefutureNobellaureates,includingthe2005winnerforeconomics,RobertAumann(whograduatedin1950);Hunter,itsaffiliatedformerwomenscollege,producedtwo,andasisterbranchinBrooklynproducedone.CityeducatedFelixFrankfurter,apiv
9、otalfigureontheSupremeCourt(classof1902),IraGershwin(1918),JonasSalk,theinventorofthepoliovaccine(1934)andRobertKahn,anarchitectoftheinternet(1960).Aleft-wingplaceinthe1930sand1940s,Cityspawnedmanyoftheneo-conservativeintellectualswhowouldlaterswingtotheright,suchasIrvingKristol(classof1940,extra-cu
10、rricularactivity:anti-warclub),DanielBellandNathanGlazer.Whatwentwrong?Putsimply,Citydroppeditsstandards.Itwaspartlytodowithdemography,partlytodowithearnestmuddleheadedness.Inthe1960s,universitiesacrossthecountryfacedintensepressuretoadmitmoreminoritystudents.AlthoughCitywasopentoallraces,onlyasmall
11、numberofblackandHispanicstudentspassedthestricttests(includingafuturesecretaryofstate,ColinPowell).That,criticsdecided,couldnotbesquaredwithCitysmissionto“serveallthecitizensofNewYork”.Atfirstthestandardsweretweaked,butthiswasnotenough,andin1969massivestudentprotestsshutdownCityscampusfortwoweeks.Fa
12、cedwithupheaval,Cityscrappeditsadmissionsstandardsaltogether.By1970,almostanystudentwhograduatedfromNewYorkshighschoolscouldattend.Thequalityofeducationcollapsed.Atfirst,withnobarriertoentry,enrolmentclimbed,butin1976thecityofNewYork,whichwasthenineffectbankrupt,forcedCUNYtoimposetuitionfees.Aneraof
13、freeeducationwasover,andauniversitywhichhadonceservedsuchadistinctpurposejoinedthemuddleofAmericaslower-endeducation.By1997,sevenoutoftenfirst-yearstudentsintheCUNYsystemwerefailingatleastoneremedialtestinreading,writingormaths(meaningthattheyhadnotlearntittohigh-schoolstandard).Areportcommissionedb
14、ythecityin1999concludedthat“CentraltoCUNYshistoricmissionisacommitmenttoprovidebroadaccess,butitsstudentshighdrop-outratesandlowgraduationratesraisethequestion:Accesstowhat?”Usingthereportasammunition,profoundreformswerepushedthroughbyNewYorksthenmayor,RudolphGiuliani,andanotheralumnus,HermanBadillo
15、(1951),AmericasfirstPuertoRicancongressman.AnewheadofCUNYwasappointed.MatthewGoldstein,amathematician(1963),hasshiftedthefocusbacktowardshigherstandardsamidconsiderablecontroversy.Forinstance,by2001,allofCUNYs11“senior”colleges(ie,onesthatofferfullfour-yearcourses)hadstoppedofferingremedialeducation
16、.Thispromptedhowlsfromtheteachingfaculty,whosaiditwould“createaghetto-likeseparationbetweenlevelsofcolleges”,keepingblackandHispanicstudentsoutofthebestschools.Infact,theracialcompositionoftheseniorschools,monitoredobsessivelybycritics,hasremainedlargelyunchanged:oneinfourstudentsattheseniorcolleges
17、isblack,oneinfiveisLatino.AthirdhavetiestoPuertoRico,Jamaica,ChinaandtheDominicanRepublic.Admissionsstandardshavebeenraised.StudentsapplyingtoCUNYsseniorcollegesnowneedrespectablescoresoneitheranational,stateorCUNYtest,andtheadmissionscriteriaforthehonoursprogrammearethetoughestintheuniversityshisto
18、ry.ContrarytowhatMrGoldsteinscriticspredicted,higherstandardshaveattractedmorestudents,notfewer:thisyear,enrolmentatCUNYisatarecordhigh.TherearealsoanecdotalsignsthatCUNYisonceagainpickingupbrightlocals,especiallyinscience.OneadvancedbiologyclassatCitynowhastwiceasmanystudentsasitdidinthelate1990s.L
19、astyear,twostudents,bothbornintheSovietUnion,wonRhodesscholarships,andaBronxnativewhowonthemuchsought-afterIntelSciencePrizeisnowinthehonoursprogramme.AllthisshouldnotimplythatCUNYisoutofthewoods.Muchofitlooksrundown.CUNYsannualbudgetof$1.7billionhasstayedlargelyunchanged,evenasstudentnumbershaveris
20、en.WithNewYorkCitysfinancesstillprecarious,cityandstatesupportfortheuniversityhasfallenbymorethanone-thirdsince1991inrealterms.Ithas,however,beguntobringinprivatemoney.Anewjournalismschoolwillopenintheautumn,helpedbya$4mgrantfromtheSulzbergerfamily,whocontroltheNewYorkTimes,andledbyBusinessWeeksform
21、ereditor,SteveShepard(classof1961).Effortstoraisea$1.2billionendowmenthavepassedthehalf-waymark,helpedby(formerlyestranged)alumni.Intelsformerchairman,AndrewGrove,whograduatedfromCityin1960asapennilessHungarianimmigrant,donated$26m(about30%ofCitysoperatingbudget)totheengineeringschool,callinghisalma
22、mater“averitableAmericandreammachine”.TherearebroaderlessonstodrawfromCUNY,especiallytodowithcreatingopportunitiesinhighereducationforthepoor.Currently,only3%ofthestudentsinAmericastopcollegescomefromfamiliesinthelowestincomequartileandonly10%fromthebottomhalf,accordingtoastudybyAnthonyCarnevaleandS
23、tephenRosefortheCenturyFoundation.Moststudentsarerelativelywell-off,andtheirnumbersincludeplentyofracialminoritieswhoreceivepreferentialstatusindependentoftheireconomiccircumstances.Forallitsimperfections,CUNYsmodeloflowtuitionfeesandhighstandardsoffersadifferentapproach.Anditsrecenthistorymayhelptodispelthemyththathighacademicstandardsdeterstudentsanddonors.“Elitism”,MrGoldsteincontends,“isnotadirtyword.”-