Education: Employers Are Unanimous

Dean Gordon Johnston of the University of Denver College of Law had heard too many lawyers make the same complaint : the law school graduates who came to them for jobs did not seem to know either spelling or grammar. Dean Johnston decided that Denver graduates would be different, this year gave incoming students a special test. Last week he announced the results: half the class, including one Phi Beta Kappa, had flunked. Samples of examination answers:

¶ “On election day, we as Americans will be able to execute one of our most cherished princapals.”

¶ “Everybody is a salesman whether they realize it or not.”

¶ “Any treaties we make with the Russians are only as good as they may profit by them.”

Students used such phrases as “there is choas,” “property subject to alienment,” and “this report is purported to xplain.” One student brashly wrote: “More specificly employers are almost unamimous in declaring that among all the college people they hire, very few have a well founded knowledge of the English language.” Added Dean Johnston: “Amen.”