UPDATE

In an update to yesterday's post, The Portland Press Herald reports today the University of Southern Maine announced a new round of budget cuts and faculty layoffs. At least seven full-time faculty members will lose their jobs--and that number is likely an underestimate according to the article.

And where are the majority of faculty cuts taking place, you ask? In the Music Department, of course. Again, I find the comments section indicative of the overall assault on the humanities and fine arts:

"Or take courses that will prepare them [the USM students] for real world jobs," commenter, Steven Scharf writes snidely. Thankfully, Scharf's anti-intellectual remarks are thoroughly rebuked by other commenters. Still, given that his comment received 26 "Likes," I fear Scharf is not alone in this attitude.

Incidentally, I feel compelled to point out that, contrary to popular belief, college professors receive a very modest salary. If the UMaine System is looking to make significant cuts, they should look to those university employees that truly make the most money--those in the athletic departments. The football coach is typically the highest paid individual at any major U.S. university, with the president, or chancellor following close behind.

Yet most colleges are loathe to cut coaching or athletic positions because sports make the school money. Academic studies and publications, generally speaking, do not.

You can read my article on the dumbing down of higher education here.

Photo from the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.