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<p>Thank you for your sane reply and not getting all defensive and angry.</p>
<p>But I never understood this point of view. Isn’t it up to the student to decide whether the university has failed to teach them what they want? I mean, if I was a chemistry major, and the university didn’t teach me any quantum mechanics at all, I’d feel cheated, because that’s an important part of chemistry. If they failed to teach me about Vermeer, I wouldn’t feel cheated, because I didn’t ask them to do that in the first place.</p>
<p>Do you buy a dozen eggs and say “these eggs are nice, but they have FAILED because they didn’t provide me with chocolate bars.” No, you bought eggs cuz you wanted eggs. Same goes for an education. Many people would like to major in just their discipline, some want a well-rounded group of general studies class to back up their major. It makes no sense for all schools to require general studies, it’s antiquated. It made sense a long time ago when books were scarce and expensive, and knowledge wasn’t so easily accumulated. These days, if I want to learn about Dostoevsky or Kubrick I can do so from home for a lot less money than tuition. And if I feel inclined, I can join discussion groups and clubs to further my education. For those who want a <em>formal</em> education in such things, fine and dandy, don’t let me stop you. But A) why force it on anyone and B) why assume that they will never learn about literature or the arts or history or culture if they don’t do it in their early twenties in a college classroom?</p>
<p>If you went to McDonald’s, asked for a Big Mac, and they forced you to buy the meal with it and you only wanted the sandwich, you’d feel like they were trying to extort money out of you, no matter how much that they were protesting that they merely wanted you to have a well-rounded meal.</p>