Slashdot Mirror
The Destruction of Iraq's Once-Great Universities
Harperdog writes "Hugh Gusterson has written a devastating article about what has happened to Iraq's once great university system, and puts most of the blame for its total collapse on the U.S. Quoting: 'While American troops guarded the Ministries of Oil and the Interior but ignored cultural heritage sites, looters ransacked the universities. For example, the entire library collections at the University of Baghdad's College of Arts and at the University of Basra were destroyed. The Washington Post's Rajiv Chandresekara described the scene at Mustansiriya University in 2003: "By April 12, the campus of yellow-brick buildings and grassy courtyards was stripped of its books, computers, lab equipment and desks. Even electrical wiring was pulled from the walls. What was not stolen was set ablaze, sending dark smoke billowing over the capital that day."'"
Have you ever tried to deal with Americans? The standard of literacy among them is just terrifying. I have had to teach American exchange students doing degree-level courses what amounts to high school English, because they were functionally illiterate.
That's right. They could barely write a single paragraph without lapsing into "txtspk" or using language skills more appropriate for primary school age children. Writing an entire essay in formal continuous prose was utterly beyond them.
I did notice that the lack of literacy was more pronounced among students from traditionally religious right-wing backgrounds, but I suppose that's because that group does not traditionally value learning.