These, he contends, essentially lack rigour and divert students from the traditional course of mathematical education that leads through algebra, geometry, linear algebra, and calculus. But these enrichment courses were in fact added in response to suggestions from other instructors, who complained that students were taking precalculus without the intention of obtaining placement at their home schools. And the elimination of Linear Algebra from this year's curriculum was prompted in part by an instructor's concerns about the difficulty of relating such an abstract theoretical basis to everyday life, and of framing such computionally intensive work within the limited time of a CTY course. On both academic and residential sides, there's been a great deal of discord and strain as CTY has grown from a relatively unknown office at Johns Hopkins to a nationally recognised institute. Many committed people seem to have been casualties of this infighting.
History repeats itself in ever more farcical form.
And yet, the commitment of the students and staff by and large continue to make CTY one of the most effective educational environments for highly able youth, and one of the most rewarding jobs for those of us fortunate enough to have the opportunity to teach them.