We have an exemplary organization that does an exceptional job. King notes that even the best safety programs and reporting systems cannot eliminate crime. Our statistics are very low, and we're proud of that. But a campus is a microcosm of society and shares its problems. I am pleased that this department faces the issues of safety in a proactive manner that provides the best protection as well as shows people how to protect themselves.
Higher education is a sack of potatoes . . .
So runs the thinking of legions of legislators and coveys of commentators. Let's back up. Obviously my potato metaphor can't literally be true. But our descent to the condition of potatoes is, for quite a number of observers of higher education, the logical end point of universities' charges. No, they don't say it, they holler it so loud that their displeasure resounds in the halls of Congress, the boardrooms of corporations, and the newsrooms of the media.