Richard E. Walton
Editor
This issue of The Montana Professor is dedicated to George Madden, MSU-Billings, founding Editor and Publisher.
This issue of The Montana Professor opens with four articles on the tragic events which have come to be called simply 9/11, offered now from the perspective gained by a year's experience and reflection. These are followed by two articles on higher education, and five excellent book reviews. Daniel Shephard revivifies the attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center for us: we found the image of New Yorkers trudging across the Queensborough Bridge particularly poignant. Barry Ferst then wrestles with the dissonance between the liberal ideals of the Enlightenment which most of us share and the realities of the Islamic world in the form of snippets from a travelogue. Richard Drake pleads with journalists to attend more carefully to the meaning of the term "terrorism," a topic to which he returns in his review of Bruce Hoffman's Inside Terrorism in our book review section. John Hajduk reflects upon the teaching of history in the post 9/11 academic environment, repudiating what he calls "The Drool Method." George Dennison gives us an amply documented discussion of the shift in financial support for public higher education from taxpayers to students, a shift which has been justified on quasi-libertarian grounds. President Dennison announces an initiative which readers of this journal will want to support. The trend toward privatization in finance must inevitably augment a trend in the curriculum which first took hold in the Vietnam era, i.e., it must become a trend away from education for a public purpose. In concrete terms this means the further weakening of programs of so-called general education. Hugh Curtler offers a counter-program in response, a proposal for strengthening general education on the principle that it is education for citizenship.
As disparate as the topics they address may appear, a common theme runs through many of these pieces: it is reaffirmation and renewal. Our theme makes its first appearance not in the articles, however, but in the masthead information on the page opposite. Long-time readers will have noticed some important changes there. George Madden, who led those who founded The Montana Professor and served as Editor and Publisher for the past twelve years, has found it necessary to step down. The journal's Editorial Board was able to replace him only with two persons, demonstrating vividly the extent of George's contribution to TMP. Dick Walton, Philosophy, UM-Missoula will serve as Editor, and Steve Lockwood, English, MSU-Northern will take over the job of getting each issue distributed. In admiration and gratitude, we dedicate this issue to George Madden.
The past two years have brought changes in the journal not readily apparent to the readership. These came in important part in response to a financial crisis. Three years ago the Fall issue's Editorial announced a conference on school choice scheduled for the spring of 2000. That conference was organized by a committee that included the principal editors of The Montana Professor. It was from all reports an excellent and productive conference, but it did not please the leadership of the Montana Education Association. The MEA had by then merged with the Montana Federation of Teachers, who had been the primary source of the journal's financial support from its inception. We all owe the MFT a debt of gratitude for underwriting the journal for more than a decade. However, with the merger of the two associations that financial support was withdrawn. Consequently, the Editorial Board incorporated the journal and began a search for funding. We are pleased to report that President Geoff Gamble of Montana State University and President George Dennison of The University of Montana have stepped forward to keep The Montana Professor at work.
The Editorial Board reaffirms the journal's goals and dedicates itself to the task of building on the record of accomplishment of the past dozen years. The Board would also like to take this occasion of renewal to remind our readers that TMP is their journal: it does not exist to serve the interests of any association, institution, or organization, or to advocate any one set of positions on the issues it addresses. In the best tradition of the academy, TMP strives to facilitate open, rational discussion of the issues which fall within the journal's purview. TMP is a refereed journal. Please see the inside of the back cover for a description of our review and selection process, and for guidelines for submissions. Let us hear from you.
Should your name appear as author on the cover of a future issue of The Montana Professor you will find yourself in especially good company: the editors have secured commitments from at least four of the Montana University System's Regents Professors to provide us articles in upcoming numbers. Among the first of those contributions will be an article by Gordon Brittan, MSU-Bozeman, which will address a question raised by George Dennison in this issue: What has happened to the public purpose? We hope that you look forward to future issues of The Montana Professor as eagerly as do we of the editorial staff, and that we may count on you to assist us in achieving our journal's purposes.