When Oxford University raised the idea of establishing a business school six years ago, outraged Ionians unleashed (发起，释放) volleys of Ciceronian oratory, arguing that the groves of academe should be out of bounds to commerce. How times have changed. Frustrated by the British government’s reluctance to let the university charge red-world tuition fees, demoralized by mounting charges of elitism, with research and teaching stifled by inadequate state subsidies, the dons are realizing that capitalism might just be the key to their future. At the traditional 800-year-old institution, increasing numbers of them are calling for their university to be privatized.
That’s a hugely controversial proposal in a country that still clings fiercely to the ideal of providing a free, state-funded education to anyone who merits it. Prime Minister Tony Blair wants 50 percent of Britain’s under 30s in full-time education by 2006, and given his no new-taxes style, universities suspect they’ll be responsible for finding a large proportion of the $15 million that will cost. Already Oxford is having trouble paying salaries sufficient to attract top teachers; a full-time Professor gets $ 68,400 -- roughly half the salaries of their U. S. counterparts. For Oxford, long the global epitome(缩影) of top-drawer education, the question is whether the university’s days as a bastion (堡垒) of world-class excellence might be over.
Lately the issue seems to have taken on a new urgency. Newspapers reported mini-scandal just last week that a 19-year-old deaf student, Anastasia Fedotova, failed to win place despite high exam scores. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown criticized the admissions system as" more reminiscent of the old boy network... than genuine justice in our society". This highlighted just how vulnerable Oxford remains to charges of elitism.
"More and more people are saying the only solution is independence," says classics professor Richard Jenkyns. In the end, Oxford may be hoping for some in-between solution. Since 1998 it has been pumping funds into a private company called Innovation, set up to commercialize researchers discoveries. Of a total of 28 fledging spin-offs, ail are still in business. While big payoffs are still a long way off, "that could quickly change", says managing director Tim Cook, "if one of them hits the jackpot. "More immediately, Oxford bigwigs report that permission to charge the full cost of tuition will almost certainly be given in government report due this November. Oxford still isn’t likely to let business interests run wild over its hallowed greensward. But it is learning that the academic it so prizes can be preserved only at a price.
The major reason for Oxford University’s lack of funding is that _____.