DEGREES FOR EVERYONE BY BOB JONES (With reply from Sir Bob Jones)

New Zealand Party, led by Bob Jones, 1984 Documentary

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/bob-jones

BOB JONES – DEGREES FOR EVERYONE

Degrees for Everyone $24.95NZ Jones, Bob (Sir Robert)

Author's Name: Jones, Bob (Sir Robert) ISBN: 1-877270-70-9

"When complaints are freely heard, deeply considered, and speedily reformed, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attained that wise men look for "- John Milton.

The splendid quote above by Milton appeared in one of the most inspiring works- produced by a New Zealand university- that I have ever read. That was a report to the University of Otago, on the subject of university education for students with disabilities, compiled by Coralie Kirkland back in 1990. It was a sincere, sensible,comprehensive and compassionate document. Put simply, the intellectual and scholastic value of our universities would greatly improve once students/staff with disabilities could fully participate in university life.

As a member of University Council, I felt responsible for circulating and promoting the Kirkland Report as widely as possible. But along the way, I found an academic world very close to the hilarious, yet disturbing, picture painted by Bob Jones in Degrees for Everyone.

Set in Britain, Bob Jones' fictitious Minister of Education visits Ralston University, with his latest "fashion initiative- a sign-language exponent with the additional attributes of being a dwarf, paraplegic, and black." A quadriplegic friend of mine, who is also one of the world's funniest cartoonists, laughed out loud at this quote. Because real inclusion of any minority group should , as Jones writes in his Afterword, involve study that "affords a solid foundation for understanding the human condition". In Jones' view, the humanities- history, philosophy, the classics, literature- provide "the best form of brain exercise'' in the acquisition of that knowledge.

The story of Ralston University is about the rampant battle between commercially driven "fashion initiatives"- and the perennial truth-seeking purpose of university study in general, and the humanities in particular.

In order to attract more students, courses in witchcraft, line-dancing, astrology, hamburgerology are offered. Professor Trout, and his Department of Medieval Philosophy, which houses the world's second most important medieval philosophy library, must now make room for the rapidly growing classes in Rubenesque Studies- the idea that female obesity is “manipulated by economic and social forces”. We then see the rise of Frewen from Professor of Panel Beating to Dean of Humanities, via his lecturing in Rubenesque Studies; his arrests for protesting outside Weight Watchers; his growing of a beard; and his spouting of gibberish when confronted with serious questions.

As the medieval philosophy library is purchased by Princeton University, and as Professor Trout makes way for greener pastures, Degrees for Everyone, raises probably the most important issue of all- that intelligence, education, and humour go together. One simple outcome of studying philosophy is that we can be kinder, more interesting, and have more fun.

The late J J Stewart, also a University Councillor, was something of a mentor to me back in my Massey days. He was an outstanding teacher, educator, and rugby coach.

J J loved his extramural philosophy course and possessed a fantastic sense of humour. He would rattle tennis balls in a tin waste can to explain molecular function to his students. “You have to do more than teach them. You have to love them.” He once warned me how to spot a dark age dawning : “When 20-somethings like you stop believing that they can change things, we're f**ked.” Sage advice.

The late Pope John Paul II, forging his intellectual strength under Communist rule in Poland, argued that philosophy teaches about the affirmation of the person as a person, and in the process of discovering our own individuality, we serve humanity under the divine commandment of love.

Perhaps as this century sees the inevitable rise of China as a world power, I will close with the words of Pierre Ryckmans, who taught Chinese literature at Australian National University in Canberra, where he supervised the honours thesis of current Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd: “It is by cultivating the arts that a gentleman can actually realize the universal harmony that Chinese wisdom ascribes as his vocation: the supreme mission of a civilized man is to grasp the unifying principle of things, to set the world in order,to put himself in step with the dynamic rhythm of Creation.....A gentleman practices the arts in order to realize his own humanity.....It is only when we contemplate China that we can become exactly aware of our own identity and that we can begin to perceive which part of our heritage truly pertains to universal humanity, and which part merely reflects Indo-European idiosyncrasies”.

-ADAM GREENWELL, February 2009.

Bob Jones replied, on 16 February 2009:

“Dear Mr Greenwell,

Thanks for sending me a copy of your very nice review of “Degrees For Everyone”.

Conscious that I’m wasting my time proselytising my message I resort to humour which provides some compensation.

Best wishes,

Bob Jones.”