A. Tatters

     A study by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching said the campus has been the scene of a breakdown in civility and that traditional academic and social values on campus have been undermined.
     It also found that many students are unprepared for college work and that, while on campus, most did only enough studying "to get by."
     Racial and other tensions have undermined a sense of community in academic life, the foundation found. "The idyllic visions that are routinely portrayed in college promotional materials often mask disturbing realities of student life," said Ernest L. Boyer, president of the foundation, in the prologue to the study.
     The study found that "words are used not as the key to understanding but as weapons of assault.... Equally disturbing is the fact that abusive language is revealed most strikingly in racial, ethnic and sexual slurs."
The problems were most acute at large institutions, where more than 60 percent of the students said sexual harassment was a problem and half complained of "racial intimidation and harassment." At smaller liberal arts colleges, the study found the percentages were 30 and 15 percent, respectively.
     The foundation criticized the academic system that encourages faculty members to pursue research at the expense of teaching. "Faculty, because of their reward system, are often not able to spend time with students, especially undergraduates," the foundation reported. "Teaching frequently is not well rewarded, especially for young teachers seeking tenure...." The report stated that young instructors find "it's much safer to present a paper at the national convention than it is to spend time with undergraduates back home."
     It also reported that 23 percent of the students spent more than 16 hours a week studying outside the classroom, down from 33 percent in 1985.

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Organize a campus study that includes students, admissions officers, nontenured and tenured faculty members and administrators. Paint a portrait of campus life.

B. Adoption

     Unable to find children in the U.S. to adopt, people have turned to agencies that have agreements with orphanages in foreign countries. Make a check of local agencies to see what countries they work with and see what is involved with such adoptions: visits to the foreign orphanage, costs, numbers of these adoptees in the community. If possible interview an adoptive family.