Provider Paradox, Universities in the Information Ecosystem,

¶ … Provider Paradox, Universities in the Information Ecosystem," author Siva Vaidhyanathan criticizes the growing trend of commercialism seen in many American universities today. Schools like Columbia University are "marketing" themselves, similar to the way private companies market their brand names. Columbia, for example, has lent its name to a consortium of institutions that offer a form of boutique learning via the Internet. For a fee of $500 per course, a learner may download a copy of copyrighted material for his or her own personal use.

MIT, on the other hand, is providing web access to its courses. For Vaidhyanathan, these practices contribute to the changing views and goals of education. By selling access to their courses and marketing their name, education itself becomes a product. The information they provide becomes a commodity. The university is now akin to a store, selling knowledge and information the way a hardware store sells hammers and nails. Proponents of this arrangement believe that universities stand to benefit, because of higher revenue and a greater number of students.

However, Vaidhyanathan points out that this practice also takes away from the previous roles played by universities and other educational institutions. Instead of its previous role as a marketplace of ideas, schools and universities now are generators of revenue. Furthermore, to generate market worth, the universities often have to assume the opposite function. Since market worth is related to scarcity, many universities assume the task of "regulating" the information or knowledge that they disseminate.

Thus, while Columbia's www.fathom.comostensibly allows outsiders to benefit from the knowledge "owned" or controlled by the university, Columbia is now acting as a regulator of information. Instead of facilitating the free exchange of ideas, universities now restrict knowledge through licensing, copyright, controlling resources and other techniques. The effect, according to Vaidhyanathan, is the regulating of knowledge itself. Universities are aiding the private sector in their quest for ownership and profit. The casualty in this new orientation, unfortunately, are the students and other seekers of knowledge.

After all, as Vaidhyanathan points out, the greatest attributes of colleges and universities cannot be quantified in monetary terms. Universities provide a venue for the free and creative exchange of ideas. It is in this free exchange that innovations occur, that new knowledge is produced, that progress occurs. It is only in universities where the vitality of young and new ideas can simmer, grow and effect change.

This growth can only occur if the flow of ideas and information is kept free and open to all, regardless of their financial status. This means that information must not.