The very first text editor 3692

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All so very true. I particularly like the part about quality of raw material -- some is, of course, quite good, but some is, well, not.

And bad career moves may include not only turning away too many people who might otherwise continue to contribute to the insbreastution's revenue but also doing anything that would result in negative comments from the students. I don't know what things are like outside the US, but for many schools here, decisions about faculty raises and promotions are based on student course evaluations, and a student who isn't getting high grades in a course is apt to be a student who thinks the instructor isn't doing his-her job. (Sometimes, of course, it *is* the instructor's fault when the students aren't getting high grades.)

All of this of course does not increase the odds that universities will do what one might like them to do.

True, but the possession of a bachelor's degree in any subject is something of an indicator that the student is willing to put forth effort for a delayed reward, and also (usually) to put up with a certain amount of arbitrary nonsense to achieve a desired goal, both of which are presumably of interest to potential employers. Or that's what some of us involved in the production process claim, anyway.

-- B. L. Mbuttingill ObDisclaimer: I don't speak for my employers; they return the favor.