Universities, Doctors and Society - Part III:
University Society interaction
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Vidya Jothi Prof. Arjuna Aluvihare, Emeritus
Professor of Surgery, University of Peradeniya delivered the Sujata
Jayawardena Memorial oration, organised by the Alumni Association of the
University of Colombo, last December.
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In many of the situations discussed below it is necessary to remember
that students, staff, parents, ordinary people who have no direct
connection with a university, society at large, the university as a body
corporate, law enforcement authorities, politicians, and others have
rights (which are sometimes enforceable). What is more important is that
they all have obligations to each other- this is a more voluntary aspect
and has to stem from their own codes of religion and ethics, and may
have to take precedence over their rights. The outcome in action always
has to be an ethical balance between rights and obligations.
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Demonstrating student power |
These paragraphs list and comment on university- society holistic
interaction obligation breakdown or aspects of thereof- in a mixed
manner deliberately to challenge a reader to think. Insular students and
staff do not seem to protest to University Senates or society at large
about insular approaches and courses that may be divorced from the real
world, nor do they worry that there is scant recognition to and
involvement of the national functioning professional sectors in
University teaching and training (e.g., economists, lawyers, private and
public sector business leaders). Exceptions are the involvement of
non-university doctors, clothing and textile sectors to name some of the
few.
Consequences of being jobless
A corollary of this is the relatively small number of courses in
which something like an industrial placement or its equivalent is
compulsory. A consequence is difficulty with jobs after graduation, and
research that may not be useful to the country. Society is slow to help
with an increase in state funding or private endowment and funding to
improve the inadequate facilities and emolument and thus maximise
quality output of the good teachers; the funding inadequacy may display
a lack of confidence in state universities. Lack of funds aggravating
poor quality output and this aggravating lack of confidence and funding
are a vicious cycle. Fortunately there are exceptions showing that
imaginative actions by University staff and the state and private sector
can have positive effects (e.g. in the IT sections of Colombo, parts of
Moratuwa and others).
The lack of private universities
The number of university places available in the country for youth
(almost the worst in South Asia) and the huge tragic outflow of students
(not all of whom find going abroad at all easy) for university education
abroad represent a societal betrayal of the University system. The lack
of private indigenous universities that is partly again the result of
insularity and intransigence of university youth in the country, may be
arising out of their lack of trust that society and the political system
in particular will safeguard interest of poorer students. Youth worry
that corruption and politicisation of selection processes will safeguard
the rich and powerful with neglect of the less fortunate and further
degradation of the state universities. In this atmosphere of distrust
and lack of confidence between state universities and society, private
offshore institutions have developed- some better than others. This
situation is compounded when the social consciousness of state
universities is not always manifest in constructive ways (a betrayal by
university of society) increasing mistrust of university by society.
A particularly disgusting habit is ragging of freshers by seniors in
Sri Lankan (and other) universities. This surely is a breakdown within
the institutions of proper methods of ensuring acceptance of university
student norms and encouraging interaction between students of all social
strata. Many do not realise that this started in our universities in the
1950’s with the students from private and better known schools
inflicting suffering on those from poorer and rural back grounds- the
table are now turned: the practice remains abhorrent.
The aims include to demonstrate student power, equalise levels,
reduce dependence on staff, get rid of a feeling of one type of law for
rich and able - the existence of peaceful ways to achieve these aims was
well illustrated in one year- 1975- when with a huge effort by students
union and staff- there was no ragging at Peradeniya (stopped by students
and staff).
If Universities (and the equivalent by whatever name) feel they are
the apex bodies of education, scholarship, learning, and research, and
perhaps there is a reluctant recognition from society that this is
generally true, then they (universities) have to avoid being insular and
have a higher level of responsibility than anyone else to look after,
and must care for, the interests of society and ensure that their
graduates do the same - thus earning the respect of society. Equally
society has, as stated earlier, to nurture universities and to try not
to corrupt their output.
Ethics and holistic thinking ability
In this paragraph reference is made to a series of university society
interaction ‘breakdown’ situations. You have to decide not only whether
the ‘accusations’ are correct but whether these are the results of
‘society’ corrupting the ‘good’ output of universities, or an intrinsic
lack of ethics and holistic thinking ability in the graduates as they
grow older, or whether the Universities either do not instil a holistic
thinking process in graduates or if they teach ethics of a discipline
they do not instil in graduates enough of a backbone to enable them
(graduates) to stand up to corrupting pressures of ‘society’.
Amongst politicians there are many graduates and attorneys- they do
some good work but there is ‘high handedness’, corruption, nepotisms and
chicanery. In the Police there are many graduates but there are
complaints of irregularity, partiality, subservience to political
pressure, inattention (all amongst a lot of good work). There are many
graduates in the Sri Lanka Administrative service- and they do good work
but they may pliant and be subservient to political pressure.
The rich and powerful countries (G7) now have governing ranks riddled
with graduates (unlike in the time of Genghis Khan, the Romans, ancient
Sri Lankan kings) and the way in which they handle their affairs often
does not provide an example to those who will in due course replace them
(G20 minus G7). Powerful organisations- again graduate enclaves- also do
good work but sometimes fail society (e.g. the World Bank, IMF, GMOA,
large Media organisations, and others). In many of the G20 countries
whose governments have many graduates, there are huge pockets of
deprivation and systematic disadvantage (Indigenous peoples of Canada,
Australia, India, USA, Brazil-to name a few; Health Care deprived in
USA; the Media coverage of the recent Mumbai attacks and middle east
attacks almost ignoring the deaths of the poor- examples of skewed
news).
Brain drain situation
In the graduate dominated ‘Brain drain’ situations the economic South
output tends to be blamed- but some responsibility has to attach to the
richer countries who suck these people in, ignoring the fact that
deprivation of their services in the donor country leads to substandard
services as compared to what is considered a minimum acceptable standard
in the richer country (e.g. as regards health system personnel). In the
current USA and Wall Street led financial collapse situation there must
be hundreds of Ivy League MBA’s (and similar in Iceland, Britain and
elsewhere) whose education has failed them in avoiding this situation.
Financial scammers
Even financial scammers in the USA and Sri Lanka, if any, must be
graduates of somewhere. Medical graduates are involved whenever prison
camp inmates/ condemned prisoners are used for unethical medical
experiments without willing consent- this happened during the Second
World War and also more recently in certain jurisdictions in the matter
of transplant services and research.
Finally for this paragraph one has to ask -does a university have to
teach it’s researchers to consider a responsibility to society of
consequences of Research / Scholarship/ Education? In Atomic physics
Joseph Rotblat left the Los Alamos program in 1944 because of concern
about the uses of atomic explosives and was branded a communist for many
years- he and Pugwash got a Nobel Peace prize in 1996.
Research and Financial structures
There are similar considerations in Research on Gene technology,
Poisons, Military hardware, Advertising technology and Psychology,
Financial structures, In Vitro fertilisation, and many more fields.
‘The tension between scientific Power and Democratic Principles’ is
the title of a lecture by Justice Weeramantry on this subject in April
2007 in Mount Lavinia! A schism between knowledge that is generated and
the implications for society may be disastrous.
At this stage I quote Gandhi and ask the reader to substitute the
words University, Doctor, Society alternately and variably for
‘Customer’, ‘he’, and ‘us’ in the quotation to see how it applies to the
topic of this discourse.
(Concluded)
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