University of Virginia English professor Mark Edmundson has a most worthwhile essay on the Oxford American, “Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?” In it, he points out to incoming students that getting a degree is easy, but getting an education is hard. He writes, “To get an education, you’re probably going to have to fight against the institution that you find yourself in — no matter how prestigious it may be. (In fact, the more prestigious the school, the more you’ll probably have to push.) You can get a terrific education in America now . . . but the education will not be present to you, wrapped and bowed. To get it, you’ll need to struggle and strive, to be strong, and occasionally even to piss off some admirable people.”

The problem Edmundson is addressing is familiar to PBC readers — many professors aren’t much interested in teaching undergrads and get by with as little effort directed to them as possible.