<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t know what kind of McDonald’s you go to, but at mine they charge extra for the meal.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In a lot of ways, this is a very valid point. Unfortunately, there is much more to the situation than this metaphor can encompass. If you’re buying eggs, the grocery store doesn’t care what you do with your eggs–you can egg someone’s house or you can eat them. They just want your money.</p>
<p>A university though, has its reputation partially based on the competency of its graduates. If they graduate an engineer that can’t read and only speaks pig latin, it’s not going to reflect well on them. Out of this self-interest, you get core requirements and the like.</p>
<p>If you take the issue back to its very core, it also becomes a political debate: what should they be allowed to require? You have the fun parent (Brown) that says, “Hey, kids, would you like ice cream, cupcakes, or bacon for dinner tonight? Or all three?” Then you have the hard-ass parent (Columbia) that says,“**** that. You’ll eat your spinach, and when you’re done, you can have a piece of hard candy and some tonic water.”</p>
<p>Which is better? Neither. The question becomes more, “Which is better for me?”</p>