been reduced to a unit on logic, wliichnwas a late addition. In my opinion, itnwasn’t part of the design they originallynproposed. But when I pointed out theynhad no composition in the course at all,nthey suddenly added logic.” It is clearnfrom the syllabus that student writingnhas been de-emphasized. No assignmentnis more than 700 words long, andnthere is no term paper. It has beennreplaced by a 500 to 700-word “legalnopinion,” in which the student findsnfor either the plaintiff or the defendantnin an assigned court case. But becausenundergraduates are not allowed to usenthe law library at UT, 306 students willnbe limited to the legal materials providednby their instructor and the coursenpacket.nAs mentioned above, this is a coursenthat affects the university as a whole,nand according to Gribben there isnwidespread dissatisfaction with thenchange. An ad expressing concernnGribben ran in the Daily Texan wasnsigned by 56 professors, from a numbernof departments. But within thenEnglish department there is mostlynsupport: a September vote on the newn306 reading list (the Rothenberg booknhaving been cut) saw 46 votes in favornof the class, with 11 against and 3nabstaining. Up until now, despite then”death squads” rhetoric, it has seemednprobable that the course will gonthrough; in his announcement of thencourse’s postponement the collegendean expressed his enthusiasm for it.nBut the administration’s ardor may bendampened by the largely negative publicitynthe case has received. As we go tonpress there are rumors at UT of ancompromise, and the dean has resigned.nChairman Kruppa maintains thatn”personal political beliefs are inevitablenin the classroom,” which in a limitednsense is true. But that begs the questionnof substituting grammar for indoctrination,nand Kruppa has not an-nFor Immediate ServicenChroniclesnNEW SUBSCRIBERSnTOLL FREE NUMBERn1-800-435-0715n10/CHRONICLESnswered the charge that the readings onnthe course curriculum list present onlynone side of the afiRrmative action debate,nor done anything to allay fearsnthat some “illiberal” students will benpenalized for their viewpoints. In anyncase, even a compromise will probablynbe a Pyrrhic victory for Gribben andnRuszkiewicz, who have been shunnednby many of their colleagues and byntheir chairman. In their opposition tonEnglish 306 they have proved themselvesntoo intolerably traditionalist,neven for Texas.n—Katherine DaltonnTHE GATT TRADE talks in Europencollapsed and surprised advocatesnof the new international order. Americannofficials tagged blame on the nationsnof Western Europe and Japan forntheir intransigent unwillingness to dismantlennational farm programs shelteringnindigenous rural communities. Ournnegotiators blasted the irrational protectionnof obsolete jobs and an incomprehensiblensubsidy to undercapitahzed,ninefficient industries seekingnspecial privileges.nThere is an alternate way, however,nto view the same event: that the rest ofnthe Western world refused to follownthe United States in the willing sacrificenof its rural population to the shibbolethnof efficiency; that other valuesnwere judged to have claims as well.nWe Americans enjoy liberties originallynwon through the blood and characternof an independent farming class.nIndustrialization made inevitable ancontraction of the farm population as anshare of the general population. Yet anpeculiar American schizophrenia wasnalso at work, with dark consequences.nOn the one hand, a stream of publicnrhetoric and (after 1932) federal programsnhas sought to save the familynfarm. On the other hand, a secondnstream of public rhetoric and (since then1860’s) federal programs have subsidizednintensive research designed tonimprove agricultural efficiency by substitutingncapital (machines, syntheticnfertilizers, chemicals) for labor.nThe net result was both the virtualndestruction of the family farm as anculturally relevant factor in Americanand massive subsidies to the farm sector:nthe worst of both worids. Today,nour family farms have become primari­nnnly old age homes, except for thosenmarginal farming sectors that havenavoided government subsidies andnheavy capitalization — groups such asnthe Amish. We spend 20 billion dollarsnannually on farm programs, yet thenproportion of the American populationnresiding on farms is lower than innsmaller, more crowded nations such asnFrance and Germany.nWestern Europeans, like the Japanese,nsimply give greater credence to anvision that once guided the Americannagrarian republic: in the words of poetnWendell Berry, “that as many as possiblenshould share in the ownership ofnthe land and thus be bound to it byneconomic interest, by the investmentnof love and work, by family loyalty, bynmemory and tradition.”nIn defending the French wheatnfarmer or the Japanese rice grower,nnational politicians pay at least in partnan honest tribute to a cultural connectionnwith the land, and a respect fornhusbandry, that appears to be incomprehensiblento many American ideologues.nThe relevant philosophical point isnthat an unencumbered market is notnan absolute value in human affairs.nWithout question, it is the finest systemnfor creating and delivering thenhighest quality goods at the lowestnprice. Healthy communities, though,nalways involve competing values asnwell. For example, a successful familyndoes not operate on market principles.nIndeed, it is the only pure collectiventhat successfully operates on the socialistnprinciple of “from each according tonhis ability; to each according to hisnneed.” As Garrison Keillor once noted,nsmall towns survive through a relatednform of restraint: you buy your newntoaster at Ernie’s Dry Goods, althoughnyou could get it cheaper at the big citynmall, because Ernie is your neighbor.nEuropeans and the Japanese havenplaced a high national value on thenpreservation of a peasant agriculture,nwith concepts of family, soil, history,nand national security intimately involved.nIn contrast, American policymakersnhave managed the near destructionnof our independent yeomannclass. Rather than excoriate our keyntrading partners, we might better focusnon steps that might correct our ownnfarm follies.n—Allan Carlsonn