The bastardization of research

DESPITE Cynthia Villar’s exasperation with the expense that goes into research, progress without research is inconceivable. Any gains that would be made would be a matter of serendipity. But what the good lady senator can rightly turn a cynical gaze at is the bastardization of research, all because almost every agency of government, and especially state universities and colleges, want to produce research.

It was necessary for higher education to put a premium on research. I once met a university president who confidently announced that the institution over which he presided was a “teaching university” and not a “research university.” That is of course downright stupid, as a university that does not put a premium on research should be a professional institute or a community college, but certainly not a university — as that term has come to be understood in academic tradition and by the best of international standards.