Dear Professors Plank & Edgerton,

I recently stumbled across your article titled "Managed Education Controlling the American Mind" (The Montana Professor 8.1, Winter 1998) I greatly appreciate the plug for RockWare in the first paragraph. The implication that our software represents a technological zenith provided a major ego surge. Thanks from all of us.

The remainder of the paper was very disturbing. I emphatically agree with everything you say, but I also have a fatalistic feeling that you're just "pissing in the wind." We're undergoing a steamroller transformation that will crush education as we know it. We should automate the clerical/administrative part of the education system, not the education itself.

For me, the greatest loss is the notion of educators as mentors. My life has been fundamentally changed, for the better, by people. As much as I like software, I can't say that a program has ever inspired me to be a better scientist, or a better person. As far as liberal arts are concerned; what could be more influential than admiring a geology professor for his or her scientific prowess only to discover that that same "hero" is also interested in history, art, music, languages, etc. These types of role models force the young protégés to expand their horizons. How can someone truly be a physicist without philosophy? How can someone understand philosophy without history? These lessons cannot be taught remotely. Intellectual excitement and passion cannot be conveyed remotely. The problem with remoteness is that it's so damn remote.

Keep fighting the good fight,

Sincerely,

Jim Reed
VP R&D
RockWare Inc.