It’s not enough to know something.
Things change.
Like fashions, they come and go.
Some things persist.
I lose patience when things don’t get better.
I fought the fight.
Still am.
The archives that survive drag my past into the now.
The persistence of uncertainty again raises its head.
I discover an Alumni questionnaire (CSULA, Eng. Dept.) 1/15/88.
I don’t know if I ever sent my response. Likely not, because I got no reply.
The content, questions, issues are so timely today that I could change the date to now.
So I’ll try again, put my old words “out there,” hoping someone will read, hoping for a response.
Please let me know.
I’ll answer.

Alumni questionnaire (CSULA, Eng. Dept.) 1/15/88

A few additional comments: First, a note of praise (again): The CSULA professors are generally as good as you’ll find anywhere (UC, ivy league…). They’re better than the level of students, and that built-in frustration continues to be a concern of mine. I try to find, motivate, and steer my own students toward the best schools which will accept them, and have sent a number of good prospects to Cal State. I’d like to see a greater articulation between the high schools and the colleges in terms of standards, curriculum content, the significance of a degree in English. I’d like to see the English department take on a more active/aggressive role in working with the teacher training department on campus. (I see too many high school English teachers who don’t have a secure major, a thorough background in or commitment to the study of English language & lit.). I’d like to see an established and recognizable magnet which will draw to the department those students who have a serious interest and a real capability. (I’ve been away for over 10 years, but my general feeling still is that the English major at UCLA will receive a more intense but more artificial training. I’ve had some discussion/argument with professors at Harvard and similar schools, have spoken to English majors, and have the general impression that the tendency toward “preciousness” is wide-spread. Do the Cal State profs have any feelings on this issue? Where do they stand? If they recognize a problem, how will they address it? Do they want to work with high school teachers on educational continuity? Will you let me know?)_ I contribute to the annual fund, specif. for the Eng. Dept. Do we know how that money is being spent?