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I Letters
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      Kade Institute Ceremonies
      I commend James Rhem's interesting and
      well-written article on the Max Kade Insti-
)     tute in the January/February issue. For all
      of us who were involved, it brought back
      the opening of the institute quite well.
      However, there were some minor factual
      and interpretational fallacies that I would
      like to clear up.
         The rally and vigil which occurred in
      conjunction with Dr. Carstens's visit was,
      in fact, co-sponsored by the Ad Hoc Com-
      mittee on German-American Friendship
      and the New Jewish Agenda and had the
      full support of the German Department
      Graduate Student Association as well as of
      many members of the faculty. It is not true
      that "speakers fumbled with a microphone
      they weren't used to handling," since there
      was no microphone at the rally. University
      rules prohibit the use of such amplifying de-
      vices after 2 P.M., and we cooperated with
      those rules to the fullest. Moreover, Felix
      Pollak's poem, "Speaking: The Hero," is
      not about a conscientious objector.
        It is true that those of us who organized
     the rally were embarrassed by the vitupera-
     tion of those few who chose to concentrate
     on Dr. Carstens's past membership in the
     Nazi party, but it is not true that we were
     "willing to forget the recent past." On the
     contrary, we were trying to draw attention
     to the recent past and underline the fact
     that the silence and apathy that plunged
     Germany into a holocaust in 1933 could do
     the same to America now. The German im-
     migrants whose arrival in this country we
     were celebrating last year were, after all,
Faculty Salaries
The recent legislative action on faculty sala-
ries constitutes a serious threat to the qual-
ity of instruction, research and service that
has made the University of Wisconsin a ma-
jor contributor to the intellectual and eco-
nomic strength of the state and the nation.
At Wisconsin the issue is faculty salaries.
Similar problems are found in almost every
institution of higher learning across the
country. The difficulties are not limited to
pacifist Mennonites, and to use their mem-
ory to boost a trans-Atlantic cooperation
which in this context means the installation
of Pershing II and cruise missiles in a coun-
try that already knows better than any
other the horrors of modem war is, we be-
lieve, hypocritical.
    Finally, the author implies that when
 Dr. Carstens finished his speech our "vigil"
 was over, which is not true. We were there
 to greet him on both his entrance and exit
 from the Memorial Union with our mes-
 sage of opposition to his and our govern-
 ment's nuclear policies. If in concluding
 Mr. Rhem chooses to associate the absence
 of demonstrators with the feeling of "a
 good autumn in Wisconsin" that is his privi-
 lege, but for those of us who have made the
 study of German literature and history our
 life's work such an absence is a very omi-
 nous sign indeed. It was because of our re-
 spect for the integrity and perseverance of
 those Germans and Americans now and in
 the past who have dedicated themselves to
 the establishment of peace and our belief in
 the principle of democratic opposition that
 we considered our activities to be an impor-
 tant part of the celebration of the opening
 of the Max Kade Institute.
 STEPHEN BROCKMANN
 WARF Fellow
German Department
MARCH/APRIL 1984 / 5
any one area or level of education. A vari-
ety of studies and reports point to the inade-
quacies of elementary and secondary edu-
cation in relation to individual and social
needs. The conventional responses tend to
focus on the difficulties of making do with
inadequate resources. Almost no one ad-
dresses the question, why does the public
fail to recognize the problem and provide
the support? My frustrations and minor suc-
cesses as chair for seven years of the Fac-
ulty Senate Budget Committee at another
large state university, prompt me to offer
some modest observations.
    1. The contributions of quality educa-
 tion are not clearly and immediately appar-
 ent to the average taxpayer. The dividends
 are often deferred. The investment of a cur-
 rent tax dollar will be weighed in relation to
 opportunities for attractive discretionary
 purchases. The question will be asked,
 "Who needs this most?"
    2. Education and the teacher do not
 command the high public regard they once
 enjoyed. For many, education and training
 tend to merge. Completion may become a
 substitute for achievement. We have yet to
 relate effectively the liberal and the profes-
 sional areas. The value of the integrated to-
 tal is not a public concept.
    3. A reexamination of internal resource
 allocation in relation to values, roles and
 goals may be necessary. What is the nature
 and the contributions of a variety of ancil-
 lary activities that have become a part of al-
 most every school, college and university?
 Many institutions have accepted responsi-
 bilities which they are not equipped to dis-
 charge, and have allowed to develop activi-
 ties that adversely impact the basic goals.
 Are we willing to ask what impact each has
 on student attitudes and public percep-
 tions? That may be painful, but it will be-
 come imperative.
   4. A more appropriate measure of fac-
ulty compensation must be established. As
measured by their contributions, most fac-
ulties at all levels are inadequately compen-
sated and supported in their work. Many
young professionals are better paid than the
teachers who helped prepare them. The
taxpaying public does not understand this.
It does not functionally relate such compen-
sation levels to the quality of individuals at-
tracted to teaching or the ability of the exist-
ing teacher to continue in his/her
profession. Until the role and contributions
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