
##4000061 Section : Features Elegant experiments confirm long-held theory of cellular aging <p> They have found a way to re-verse the aging process , " Tom Brokaw proclaimed on the NBC Nightly News on January 14 , 1998 . Brokaw was referring to experimental results from researchers at Geron Corporation , in Menlo Park , California , and at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas . The work showed that providing normal somatic cells with the enzyme telomerase extends the length of their chromosome tips ( telomeres ) and renders them immortal , yet healthy . <p> Although the reported results were not quite as dramatic as the fountain of youth that Brokaw evoked , they did confirm the long-held theory that telomeres function as a cell division clock , ticking down time as they shorten . And as years of discoveries coalesce into the burgeoning field of telomere biology , potential medical applications are already on the horizon in such diverse areas as diagnosing cancer , slowing degenerative diseases of aging , and making organ transplants safer . <p> Human telomeres are made up of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ known that telomeres , long thought to protect chromosomal integrity in some vague way , erode with each cell division , ultimately reaching a threshold length that signals division to cease . For many somatic cell types , an end to cell division means not death , but rather the onset of a defined differentiated , or specialized , state . Telomere shortening seems to be the normal default option for most somatic cells . By contrast , cells in the germline and in highly proliferative tissues , such as bone marrow and the epithelium of the small intestine , continually replenish their chromosome tips . So do most cancer cells , which are notorious for having long telomeres and active telomerase . <p> Chromosomes keep from shrinking in some cells , including cancer cells , thanks to telomerase , a ribonucleoprotein with three components : a catalytic protein portion with reverse transcriptase activity , an RNA template , and an associated protein called telomeric repeat binding factor . The RNA template contains the sequence CCCUAA , the reverse complement of the TTAGGG DNA that forms the telomere . Reverse transcriptase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ template . And the telomeric repeat binding factor brings the chromosome tip , the RNA template , and the reverse transcriptase physically together , so that six-nucleotide DNA repeats can be added to the chromosome end . This cellular machinery is essentially a built-in telomere factory that is turned on only at certain times and in certain cells . <p> The sequences at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes , called telomeres , are composed of hundreds or thousands of short DNA repeats . The telomeres of the human fetal lung fibroblast chromosomes shown here , which are made up of repeats of the DNA sequence TTAGGG , were stained with a fluorescent probe . Thoughts on telomeres <p> The 1980s and 1990s have seen the elaboration and dovetailing of the molecular details of the telomere story . But the saga began many years earlier , with several seemingly unrelated observations made by some of the heavyweights in the history of biology . <p> Cytogeneticists first noted the importance of telomeres in the first half of the century , when they observed that chromosomes that lost their tips stuck together and vanished @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of telomeres in Drosophila in 1938 , and Barbara McClintock did so a year later in corn . In 1961 , Leonard Hayflick contributed information that would prove to be pivotal in telomere biology : He found that cells in culture divide a finite number of times , usually 40-60 . This number became known as the " Hayflick limit . " <p> A decade after the discovery of the Hayflick limit , Alexey Olovnikov , a senior researcher at the Institute of Biochemical Physics and the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow , proposed that telomere shrinkage is a countdown to cellular senescence . In 1973 he published " A theory of marginotomy : The incomplete copying of template margin in enzymatic synthesis of polynucleotides and biological significance of the phenomenon , " in the Journal of Theoretical Biology . What that mouthful means is that chromosome tips whittle down because DNA polymerase can not copy the very end of one of the replicating strands , the so-called lagging strand . Consequently , the chromosomes would shorten at each round of replication . Olovnikov wrote : " Marginotomy causes the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more and more shortened end-genes .... After the exhaustion of telogenes the cells become aged . " Olovnikov explains that , as he proposed in his 1973 paper , " The telomere shortening could serve as a counting mechanism , which , like a molecular bookkeeper , counts the number of cell doublings already performed . " A bacterium avoids the problem of shrinking chromosome tips , he also noted at the time , because its chromosome is a circle . <p> Soon after Olovnikov 's prescient hypotheses were published , James Watson published similar ideas . However , Watson 's description of the " end-replication problem " referred to the replication of the ends of linear bacteriophage DNA , and not to aging . Nevertheless , " the telomere field has always cited Watson , since his was the prediction of chromosome shortening that people in the United States knew about , and were testing , " relates Carol Greider , of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine . " I did not know of Olovnikov when I discovered telomerase , nor did others , " Greider says , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were aware of his work . <p> But Calvin Harley , now vice president for research at Geron , knew of Olovnikov 's work and spread the word by describing and referencing it in a 1991 publication in Mutation Research . " Experiments have validated his predictions , " Harley says . " But Olovnikov did n't know the biochemistry of DNA replication very well and could n't describe it . He was thinking about aging . Conversely , James Watson carefully defined the end-replication problem , and wrote nothing about aging . " Many telomere biologists now concur that both of these researchers deserve credit for identifying the phenomenon of telomere shrinkage . Experiments reveal how telomeres shrink <p> Olovnikov suggested that an enzyme might maintain chromosome ends . " But molecular tools were needed to prove this idea , " Harley says . A living system in which to explore telomere behavior came in the form of the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila . This pond organism provides an enriched system for probing telomeres because when it forms sex cells , its chromosomes fragment and then replicate , generating about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cell has just 92 telomeres . ) In 1978 , Joseph Gall and Elizabeth Blackburn , then at Yale University , found that telomeres in T. thermophila consist of many short DNA repeats . By the mid-1980s , Blackburn , at the University of California-Berkeley , and Greider , then a graduate student in Blackburn 's lab , had discovered and described the enzyme that extends telomeres , naming it telomerase . <p> Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex that keeps the ends of replicating chromosomes from shrinking in continually dividing cells , such as those in the the germline and in highly proliferative tissues . This cartoon depicts the components of telomerase : the RNA component , shown as a pink ribbonlike structure , which includes a template region ( shown as AUCCCA ) that binds to the single-stranded portion of the telomeric DNA repeats ( shown as TAGGGT ) ; the catalytic component , a reverse transcriptase ( yellow oval ) that copies the RNA into DNA ; and telomerase-associated proteins ( orange ovals ) . <p> In 1986 , Howard Cooke , at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noting that the tips were shorter in somatic cells than in sperm cells . By 1989 , Robert Moyzis and coworkers at Los Alamos National Laboratory identified the human telomere repeat as TTAGGG , and in 1990 , Harley , Greider , and Bruce Futcher found that the telomeres of human somatic cells shorten as the number of cell divisions increases , although those of cancer cells do not . <p> In the early 1990s , several observations solidified the link between telomere shortening and aging . In 1992 , Richard Allsopp and colleagues at Geron reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( 89 : 10114-10118 ) that children with the rapid-aging disorder Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome have unusually short telomeres . In 1993 , shorter-than-normal telomeres were found in people with Down 's syndrome , and 3 years later , they were also found in people with Werner syndrome , an adult-onset rapid-aging disorder . Cells from people with these disorders literally race through their allotted divisions , accelerating life at the cellular level as the body ages ahead of schedule . ( People with Down 's syndrome have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease . ) <p> In 1995 , Geron researchers and Greider 's group at Cold Spring Harbor reported in Science ( 269 : 1236-1241 ) that they had cloned the RNA template component of human telomerase -- an 11-nucleotide sequence that includes the critical CCCUAA that encodes the telomere repeat . They and others subsequently measured the amount of RNA template in various tissues , finding greater abundance in tumor cell lines and germline tissues than in somatic cells . <p> Researchers also probed the origins of the telomerase system by searching for clues in reverse transcriptase , an enzyme that is not unique to telomerase . RNA viruses use reverse transcriptase to copy themselves into DNA in host cells , and retrotransposons also use the enzyme . A retrotransposon is a piece of moveable DNA that transcribes itself into an RNA intermediate when it changes location , and then reverse transcribes itself back into DNA when it inserts at a new location in a chromosome . <p> The fruit fly has retrotransposons rather than typical telomeres at its chromosome tips . " If a retrotransposable element wanted to use as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effectively take over the role of telomerase . This is what has apparently occurred in Drosophila melanogaster , " says Thomas Eickbush , of the University of Rochester , in New York . He discussed the evolutionary relationship between retrotransposons and telomerase -- that is , which came first -- in 1997 in Science ( 277 : 911-913 ) . Eickbush suggested that , in early eukaryotes , telomeres originated from retrotransposons , which a retrovirus perhaps supplied , and that the unusual telomeres of Drosophila reflect a more recent takeover of somatic cells by retrotransposons that preferentially insert at chromosome ends . Revealing the role of telomerase <p> Two key experiments reported in late 1997 and early 1998 further strengthened the connection between telomere shortening and cell senescence , while indicating that the enzyme 's role in cancer causation is complex . One investigation removed telomerase in knockout mice and observed the onset of senescence . The other work , which made the nightly news , added telomerase to human cells in culture and demonstrated extension of the cells ' proliferative lifetime . <p> Mice in which telomerase was eliminated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ telomerase RNA component gave Greider and her colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor , the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City , and Quest Diagnostics , Inc. , in Teterboro , New Jersey , the opportunity to ask what life would be like without telomerase . The researchers created these knockout mice , then observed them and analyzed several highly proliferative tissues through six generations ( Cell 91 : 25-29 and Nature 392 : 569-574 ) . <p> As the researchers had expected , the knockout mice did not fare well . Overall , the lack of telomerase compromised chromosome stability and the integrity of cells that normally divide often . Their telomeres became shorter than normal , their chromosomes broke , and some nonhomologous chromosomes fused to form translocations . The animals ' fertility plummeted , reproductive organs shrank , and highly proliferative tissues , such as testis , spleen , and bone marrow , degenerated . These results therefore confirmed that telomerase is important for maintaining highly renewable tissues . Interestingly , cells cultured from the knockout mice could still become cancerous . This result showed that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is consistent with the fact that cancer development is often a multistep process requiring the participation of several genes . <p> In the 16 January 1998 issue of Science , Harley and colleagues at Geron , and Woodring Wright , Jerry Shay , and colleagues at Southwestern Medical Center , reported the effects of adding the gene that encodes human telomerase reverse transcriptase to normal human cells in culture . These experiments used cells important in human disease and aging -- retinal pigment epithelium , fibroblasts , and vascular endothelium . Slowed metabolism of retinal epithelium can cause age-related macular degeneration . Fibroblasts in aging skin make less collagen and elastin and more collagenase , causing wrinkles . And overgrowth of the endothelium that forms capillaries and lines blood vessel interiors contributes to atherosclerosis . <p> The results of adding telomerase to these cells were striking -- the cells regained their proliferative potential , ignoring the Hayflick limits . " For the first time , we showed that if you highly specifically modulate telomere dynamics , you can see the predicted effect on cell lifespan . It proves the causal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . <p> The fact that most cancer cells have active telomerase and long telomeres led to the hypothesis that telomerase is required for tumor growth , with telomere shortening in normal somatic cells having a tumor-suppressing function . However , although many of the cells to which the researchers added telomerase reverse transcriptase churned out the enzyme at levels similar to those of cancer cells , signs of cancer have not appeared , and the cells seem normal despite ignoring the Hayflick limit . " After a year , the cells have not progressed to cancer . They have normal karyotypes , pass all the cell cycle checkpoints , and do not cause tumors when injected into nude mice which lack immunity and are used to test tumor-forming potential . They divide at a reasonable rate , and they have a youthful appearance , " Shay reports . <p> The fact that the telomerase-bolstered human cells do not become cancerous , and that telomerase-deficient mice can still get cancer , is not as contradictory as it might seem . It just shows that telomerase is neither necessary nor sufficient to cause @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past 20 years , it is that a lot of different insults are required to transform a normal cell to a cancerous cell . By simply adding telomerase , you 're only affecting one factor . As long as the other pathways are intact , there is no reason to expect an increase in cancer incidence , " Shay says . Telomerase may enable a cell to ignore the Hayflick limit , or directly or indirectly destabilize chromosomes , which in turn could activate an oncogene or deactivate a tumor suppressor gene that is part of the pathway to cancer . " Now we have to see how telomerase fits into all the other aspects of cancer that are controlled by other genes , " Shay adds . Eclectic applications <p> With the components of telomerase clearly identified , and the enzyme 's function elegantly demonstrated , the next stage in the continuing tale of telomeres will be developing clinical applications . <p> Because telomerase is critical to maintaining cellular stability and cell division , altering this enzyme 's activity may have varied uses . In basic research using cell cultures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human cells that are not cancerous , but would proliferate , " Shay says . In clinical applications , new understanding of telomerase function could lead to more sensitive cancer diagnostics and make transplants safer , treat AIDS , and perhaps even rejuvenate aging tissues . <p> Measuring telomerase levels , for example , can be used to track cancer progression . In one study , 12 of 16 children with neuroblastoma and high telomerase activity in their cancer cells died , whereas only 2 of 60 children with low telomerase activity died . " About 85 percent of tumors contain this marker , and use of telomerase as a cancer marker is already a routine procedure in some oncological centers , " Olovnikov says . A polymerase chain reaction-based assay called TRAP ( telomeric repeat amplification protocol ) can spot a single telomerase-producing cancer cell among 10,000 healthy cells , and a technique using fluorescent in situ hybridization ( FISH ) and flow cytometry , called " flow-FISH , " can measure telomere length . Clinicians may someday manipulate telomerase level or activity as a way to treat cancer , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be worked out first . <p> New understanding of telomere biology may also solve a vexing problem with bone marrow transplants : Something about the transplant process seems to rev up the mitotic clock , accelerating the aging of donor cells . Robert Wynn and colleagues at The Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester , UK , reported in the 17 January 1998 issue of The Lancet that telomeres in transplanted bone marrow cells are shorter than those in normal bone marrow cells in either the donor or the recipient . Rosario Notaro and coworkers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City reported in the 9 December 1997 issue of PNAS that the more cells that are transplanted , the less the telomeres shrink . It is as if transplanting only a few cells stresses them in their effort to repopulate the recipient 's marrow , and in response the cells age faster than normal , the researchers suggest . <p> The rapid aging of transplanted tissue may explain the increased risk that bone marrow transplant recipients face of developing blood cancers years later , Shay suggested in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ marrow transplant is supposed to be all stem cells , but this is not completely so . Ten to 15 years later , a recipient may develop leukemia because the transplanted cells did not have the proliferative capacity of a true stem cell , " he says . Inserting telomerase into the donor bone marrow cells before the transplant may help to extend the cells ' lifetimes . <p> A similar approach of extending cellular life with telomerase might be used to treat AIDS , but in this case the patient 's own cells would be used . The human body has enough hematopoietic ( blood-forming ) stem cells to last a lifetime , but as HIV kills more and more T cells , the stem-cell population has to work overtime to replace them . The hematopoietic system may eventually shut down . " Telomere biology might be part of the AIDS story , " Shay says . Instead of transplanting bone marrow from donors , hematopoietic stem cells could be taken from a person at the early stage of HIV infection . The cells would have their telomeres extended in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ falls as the infection progresses , he or she can receive the stored stem cells , which may replenish the T-cell supply . <p> Telomere biology may also be exploited to address signs of aging . A blast of telomerase might keep fibroblasts in the skin 's dermis layer at a more youthful stage , in which they synthesize collagen and elastin rather than collagenase . Reactivating collagen and elastin production from within might be an alternative to injecting bovine collagen to plump out wrinkles . <p> Further in the future is the possibility of using autologous ( self ) cell implants to renew selected tissues that degenerate with age , approaching Tom Brokaw 's view of telomere biology as providing a fountain of youth . Olovnikov speculates that " such cells will be treated in vitro with telomerase activity-containing viral vectors . Artificially elongating their telomeres will preserve these cells ' ' normalcy , ' so they will not senesce . Such cells might be used to renew the inner parts of blood vessels , cells of the pancreas , or even normal postmitotic cells such as cardiocytes and neurons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much in the future . As Shay sums up , " We ca n't make people live forever . There 's nothing wrong with fantasizing , but there are too many interesting short-term benefits of the research to focus on . If we can develop tissue-specific therapies , if we can correct certain problems , then maybe we will live longer . " <p> By Ricki Lewis <p> <p> Ricki Lewis is the author of several life science textbooks published by McGraw-Hill and is working on a book on scientific discovery . <p> 
##4000066 Section : Education <p> We recently conducted an in-formal survey of 222 students in various biology classes at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville . All were biology majors , ranging from freshmen to seniors , and all had been taught about the fern life cycle at some point in their academic careers . We asked the following question : " If you have ever been taught anything about ferns , please indicate two or three things that distinguish them from other plants . " Forty-two percent of the respondents indicated that they remembered little or nothing about ferns , 40% said that ferns reproduce by spores , and 21% remembered something distinctive about ferns : their fronds ( leaves ) or the fact that they form fiddleheads . Fewer than 10% mentioned anything about free-living haploid gametophytes , diploid vascular sporophytes , swimming sperm , or alternation of generations . The results , although perhaps not representative of all institutions or settings , were not surprising . This level of understanding is what one might expect from someone with only a passing interest in ferns and no formal education @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempts to educate these students ? Did they teach them the wrong thing ? Does anyone really need to know anything about ferns anyway ? <p> It is not surprising that students have such a minimal level of knowledge and understanding , considering that most students do not find plants in general very interesting . In many students ' eyes , plants simply do not do as much as other , more familiar organisms or those that " move around and do things . " Lack of interest in plants may be especially true for ferns and other " lower " plants because they are less important in students ' everyday lives than " higher " plants , such as angiosperms . This lack of familiarity is no doubt reinforced by the difficulties of mastering the high-content biology curricula that confront most students . <p> Given this situation , is it necessary to even attempt to include organisms such as ferns in the biology curriculum ? We contend that it is both necessary and worthwhile because ferns uniquely demonstrate basic phenomena that are absolutely essential for an adequate understanding of many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that can work well in the classroom and provide enough interest to motivate students . In this article , we introduce the use of C-FernTM , a cultivar of the fern genus Ceratopteris , as a dynamic and captivating organism that really does move around and do things in the classroom . C-Fern in the classroom <p> Although C-Fern can be used as a superb example of a plant life cycle and alternation of generations , its potential goes far beyond these uses : It can be used to expose students to many broadly applicable biological principles ( Renzaglia and Warne 1995 , Renzaglia et al . 1995 ) . In addition , C-Fern is useful in a variety of classroom situations , from the traditional laboratory to full inquiry-based approaches and independent student research . Using low-power microscopy , students can observe and discover growth and development from a quiescent single-celled spore , an active sexual process involving pheromonal control of sexual differentiation , differentiation of sexual organs and vegetative structures , release of large numbers of swimming sperm , chemotaxis , fertilization , and early embryo development -- all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . C-Fern can also be used to demonstrate population dynamics and to present basic Mendelian principles in a unique fashion . It is an easy , effective , user-friendly , inexpensive , resilient , reliable organism that can be used at a number of educational levels . <p> C-Fern is a derived cultivar of the homosporous fern Ceratopteris richardii ( Hickok and Warne 1998 ) . According to recent molecular and morphological analyses , Ceratopteris belongs to the family Pteridaceae ( Hasebe et al . 1995 , Pryer et al . 1995 ) , although it was previously placed in the Parkeriaceae ( Lloyd 1974 ) and even the Schizeaceae ( Mickel 1974 ) . Known by the common names of water sprite or triangle water fern , Ceratopteris is an aquatic to semiaquatic plant that is widely distributed in the tropics of both hemispheres and is frequently cultivated as an aquarium plant . <p> Ceratopteris has been used successfully for a number of years in basic research applications ( Hickok et al . 1987 , 1995 ) . These have ranged from studies of the responses of the wild type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Warne et al . 1995 ) to continuing investigations into the nature of the genetic control over sexual differentiation ( e.g. , Warne and Hickok 1991 , Banks et al . 1993 , Banks 1997 ) . Advantages for its use in research include a relatively short life cycle that can be completed under highly controlled conditions ; a rapid differentiation process in the haploid generation , which results in spore germination and development of sexually mature gametophytes within 2 weeks ; efficient mutagenesis and selection techniques ; and simple genetics , which result from the ability of haploid gametophytes to self-fertilize , yielding , in a single generation , sporophytes that are homozygous at every locus . These and other features also make C-Fern exceptionally useful in teaching applications . Major developmental events <p> Major C-Fern developmental events are depicted in Figure 1 . The single-celled haploid spores , which have an average diameter of approximately 120 MUm , are quite large in comparison to those of most ferns and are easy to observe and handle . Dry spores can lie dormant for many years . However , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spore imbibition requires approximately 24 hours and is followed by the initiation of spore germination , which is a light-requiring event that is normally controlled by phytochrome and other photoreceptors ( Cooke et al . 1987 ) . A mutant stock , dkg1 , that does not require light for the initiation of spore germination is also available ( Cooke et al . 1995 ) . <p> Figure 1 . Major C-Fern developmental events . The sporophyte is not necessarily shown on the page at the same scale as the spore and gametophytes . Whereas the spore is approximately 120 MUm in diameter , the sporophyte can vary from actual size shown on the page to many times larger , depending on culture conditions and age . <p> Cultures that are free of contamination are easy to initiate and maintain . Axenic cultures , although not essential for successful growth and observations , allow experimentation without the uncontrolled effects on growth and differentiation that may be associated with fungal or bacterial contaminants . Large numbers of spores can be sown on petri dishes containing a simple mineral nutrient agar ( Hickok @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ easily and rapidly , but presterilized spores are also available commercially . The lack of sugars and other carbon sources in the nutrient medium is an advantage in maintaining uncontaminated cultures for long-term manipulations and observations . Cultures maintained near 28 degreesC under continuous lighting ( **26;609;TOOLONG dot ) msup-2 ( multiplication dot ) ssup-1 ) show optimum rates of development . For rapid development , temperature is more critical than light fluence . This dependence allows convenient temperature regulation of cultures by adjusting the distance between the cultures and the light source . Keeping culture plates within a plastic greenhouse tray covered with a transparent dome helps control temperature ( internal temperature can be more than 2 degreesC higher than external temperatures ) and moderates fluctuations in humidity to reduce culture drying . <p> Under optimal conditions , germination occurs 3-4 days from starting the cultures ( DFS ) . At 4-5 DFS , small green tongue-shaped gametophytes with clear , threadlike rhizoids can be seen emerging from the cracked spore coat . These young gametophytes are sensitive to light . If cultures are grown under adequate light , gametophytes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1 . However , if cultures are placed in the dark following light initiation of spore germination , a dramatic etiolation response occurs . The basal cells of the developing gametophyte grow up to several times their normal length , and the normal expansion of other cells in the tip of the gametophyte is inhibited ( Murata et al . 1997 ) . A mutant stock , det30 , is available that shows a much reduced etiolation response . The distinct responses of wild-type spores dramatically demonstrate the requirement of light for both normal spore germination and early gametophyte development . Interestingly , when older gametophytes are transferred to dark conditions , they do not show the etiolation response . <p> Sexual type is determined at 3-5 DFS , although distinct phenotypic differences are not evident until 7 DFS or later ( Banks et al . 1993 ) . The presence of both sexual types within a population is caused by asynchrony in spore germination . Gametophytes that germinate early and develop first become hermaphroditic , whereas later-developing gametophytes become male . This sexual distinction is regulated by a pheromone ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influences the development of later-germinating gametophytes so that they become male . Although the C-Fern antheridiogen has not been isolated and structurally identified , studies using inhibitors of gibberellin biosynthesis have demonstrated that this compound may share a biosynthetic relationship to gibberellin ( Warne and Hickok 1989 ) . Several mutant lines with altered sexual differentiation responses have been identified ( Warne et al . 1988 , Banks 1997 ) ; these include the her mutants , which show insensitivity to antheridiogen and develop only as hermaphrodites , and a newly identified him mutant , with a highly increased male response . <p> By 10 DFS , hermaphrodites and males are clearly different in a number of features . Males lack a meristem and show determinate growth , whereas hermaphrodites possess a meristem ( called the notch meristem ) and grow indeterminately . Males are thumb shaped , approximately 1 mm long , and are covered by many small round antheridia on their surface . Each antheridium consists of spermatogenous cells ( giving rise to 16 sperm at maturity ) surrounded by a cup-shaped basal cell , a doughnut-shaped ring cell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . By contrast , hermaphrodites are obliquely heart-shaped , 2-3 mm in diameter , and possess both antheridia and archegonia . An archegonium consists of cells that form a short neck that protrudes from the surface of the essentially two-dimensional gametophyte and an egg cell that is located within the gametophyte at the base of the neck . Archegonia are located directly behind the notch meristem , and the few antheridia of hermaphrodites are located initially on the margins and subsequently throughout the body of the gametophyte . <p> Both male and hermaphrodite gametophytes reach initial sexual maturity at approximately 10 DFS . If water is added to a mature culture , many sperm are released from the antheridia and swim about actively in search of a receptive archegonium containing an egg . Sperm show a positive chemotactic response to the cellular contents that are discharged from the neck of a receptive archegonium , typically one per hermaphroditic gametophyte . Large masses of sperm rapidly locate and surround the receptive archegonium . Fertilization results in a diploid zygote , which develops rapidly into a young embryo . By the third day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after a successful fertilization , the notch meristem of the hermaphrodite ceases to divide and dedifferentiates into vegetative tissue . Further cell expansion modifies the shape of the gametophyte somewhat , but no further growth occurs . This dedifferentiation response is very rapid and most likely involves a signaling pathway between the gametophyte and the zygote or young embryo . This signal is effective only within a fertilized gametophyte and does not affect meristem activity or subsequent development in adjacent unfertilized gametophytes within a culture . Embryo development progresses rapidly and continuously to the formation of initial leaves and roots of the sporophyte , during which time the gametophyte gradually senesces and dies . <p> Young sporophytes with well-formed leaves and roots can be easily grown under a variety of conditions -- in a greenhouse , in mini-terraria made from plastic drink bottles containing a commercial potting mix , or even submersed or floating in a freshwater aquarium . Sporophytes show a heteroblastic progression of leaf development , beginning with small entire leaves and gradually progressing to more highly divided leaves that ultimately become fertile . This progression can be modified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The fertile leaves contain sporangia on their inrolled lower margins ; within each sporangium , four large spore mother cells undergo meiosis to produce a total of 16 haploid spores . Viable spores can be obtained from mature sporophytes at 90 DFS or later , depending on culture conditions . At maturity , spore production is continuous . Because C-Fern lacks the persistent rhizome that characterizes many perennial ferns , it is shorter lived and grows more like an annual . Mature sporophytes can be maintained in the greenhouse for well over 12 months , and the presence of small vegetative buds that produce plantlets on leaves allows an individual sporophyte to be propagated indefinitely . Student-based applications for the classroom <p> C-Fern development provides many opportunities to illustrate a variety of fundamental biological principles . It also provides an accessible and dynamic representation of a plant life cycle . The use of C-Fern is especially well suited to an inquiry process , in which students devise questions and seek answers to them without being told the " right " answer ahead of time . Classroom use is enhanced by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . Materials , supplies , and extensive written and electronic support materials are easily available ( see box page 1036 ) . The following examples of specific applications demonstrate the broad utility and flexibility of this plant in education . <p> Development . What controls sexual differentiation in gametophytes ? After students have discovered that there are two sexual types within a population of C-Fern gametophytes , the questions of " Why ? " and " How ? " arise naturally . Figures 2 and 3 illustrate a series of experiments , with representative results , that were designed entirely by students enrolled in an undergraduate course in which C-Fern was used as an unknown organism that students were asked to investigate ( Claudia Melear , Leslie Hickok , Thomas Warne , and John Goodlaxson , unpublished manuscript ) . It is important to emphasize that these experiments were student initiated , with little input from the instructors . The course was a realistic experience in learning the process of science . It took several weeks of observation and testing before the final versions of the experiments depicted in Figures 2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , improve on , and carry out multiple experiments within a short time was a great advantage in this approach . Moreover , in using this approach , the process of discovery was considered by the educators and eventually by the students to be much more important than the ultimate answers . <p> As detailed above , sexual type in C-Fern gametophytes is not under direct genetic control , even though within a large population a consistent ratio of male and hermaphrodites can be observed . Without prior knowledge , how could one distinguish between genetic and environmental control ? One approach is shown in Figure 2 . The multispore culture at the top was the context within which students initially became aware of the two sexual types . Subsequent experiments devised with pair and isolate cultures led them to the conclusion that control of sexual type was not genetic and that it was instead determined by some sort of interaction that was occurring in the populations . That is , because spore isolates always resulted in hermaphrodites , all spores must have the capacity to develop into hermaphrodites ( i.e. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the mixed results in the pair cultures suggested that some environmental variable was important . <p> Figure 2 . Student-designed experiment to determine if control of sexual type in gametophytes is genetic . Multispore ( top ) , pair ( middle ) , and isolate ( bottom ) cultures were established with spores and scored for gametophyte sexual types after 10 days . Gametophytes are represented as obliquely heart-shaped hermaphrodites and smaller thumb-shaped males . X indicates that an outcome was not observed . Relative responses are represented by relative numbers of each sexual type . <p> Figure 3 . Student-designed experiment ( bioassay ) to determine if control of gametophyte sexual type is regulated by a chemical signal . Petri dishes were not preinoculated ( top ) or were preinoculated with a mature male ( middle ) or a hermaphrodite ( bottom ) . After 10 days , the preinoculate was removed and spores were sown . Sexual types were scored after 10 additional days . Gametophytes are represented as obliquely heart-shaped hermaphrodites and smaller thumb-shaped males . Relative responses are represented by relative numbers of each sexual type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ development of the two sexual types , the students hypothesized that it might be a chemical signal -- but from where , and with what specific effect ? Figure 3 illustrates their experimental approach to addressing these questions . Because the cultures were axenic , the signal was most likely coming from the gametophytes themselves . Thus , by pre-inoculating cultures with mature gametophytes , the students could determine if the male or hermaphrodite , or both , was the source of the signal . From these experiments , they concluded that a chemical signal was coming predominantly from hermaphrodites and that it influenced the differentiation of later-germinating spores and young gametophytes so that they developed as males . In essence , these students had developed a rather sophisticated bioassay to test for the presence of this suspected chemical agent . They did not use the term bioassay , nor were they told what experiment to do or how to conduct it . Again , it was a process of pure discovery by inquiry . <p> Population effects and interactions . With the information and understanding gained from these initial experiments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ What effects do density and other environmental variables have on development ? " Representative experiments designed to provide answers are illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 . These examples do not show actual experiments that were designed by students ; instead , they represent generalized types of experiments that could come out of extended student inquiry . <p> Figure 4 . A representative experiment to determine the effect of population density on gametophyte sex ratio ( i.e. , on mating strategy ) . Cultures were established at different spore densities , and gametophyte sexual types were scored after 10 days . Gametophytes are represented as obliquely heart-shaped hermaphrodites and smaller thumb-shaped males . The size of the male and hermaphrodite symbols at right indicate the relative proportions of these sexual types . <p> Figure 5 . A representative experiment to determine the effect of population density on sporophyte growth ( competition ) . Cultures were established at different densities ( as in Figure 4 ) ; after 10 days , gametophytes were watered to produce a population of sporophytes . Gametophytes are represented as obliquely heart-shaped hermaphrodites and smaller thumb-shaped males @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a y-shaped vascular strand ) attached to hermaphroditic gametophytes . Average sizes ( lengths ) of the first leaves at each density were determined 14 days after water was added ( i.e. , after fertilization ) . <p> Figure 4 illustrates an experiment to determine the effect of culture density on gametophyte sex ratio , or , put another way , on mating strategy within populations . By establishing cultures with different spore densities and then determining the resulting proportions of males and hermaphrodites , it becomes evident that high population densities result in relatively more males , whereas lower densities result in a higher proportion of hermaphrodites . The observations can be easily extended to natural situations and to evolutionary considerations . Figure 5 is an extension of the type of experiment depicted in Figure 4 , requiring only that the cultures of different densities be watered to allow fertilizations and to generate populations of sporophytes . This experiment looks at the effect of population density on sporophyte development and illustrates the concept of competition for limited nutrients . In all of the above examples , student data collection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exercises . This hands-on involvement is facilitated by the ability to work with large populations within a small space ( standard density is more than 300 gametophytes in a 60 mm petri dish ) and with minimal equipment . <p> Genetics . To a teacher , basic principles of Mendelian genetics may be simple and elegant , but students rarely feel the same way . The use of C-Fern to demonstrate the principle of segregation and the result of random fertilizations can provide students with a better understanding of a genetic concept as basic as the use of a Punnett square . Because some traits can be observed in both the gametophyte and sporophyte generations , C-Fern can be used in an active exercise that demonstrates a " living " Punnett square . Figure 6 illustrates such an exercise with the cp ( polka dot ) mutation . This recessive mutation results in a visually striking phenotype associated with the clumping of plastids around the nucleus , which gives a distinct polka dot appearance to cells in both haploid gametophyte ( cp ) and diploid sporophyte ( cp/cp ) tissue ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from an F1 hybrid sporophyte ( Cp/cp ) , students can directly describe the gametophytic phenotypes and determine the segregation ratio resulting directly from meiosis in the F1 hybrid sporophyte . The outcome of random fertilizations that produce the F2 sporophyte generation after water is added to the culture can then be predicted . Subsequent analysis of the F2 population ratio , with F1 gametophytes still attached , provides a solid visual exercise in both hypothesis formation and testing . <p> Figure 6 . A " living " Punnett square generated from an F1 hybrid heterozygous for the cp ( polka dot ) mutation . Both hermaphrodites ( obliquely heart-shaped ) and males ( smaller and thumb-shaped ) serve as sperm sources ( top ) ; only hermaphrodites serve as egg sources ( left ) . F1-derived gametophytes show 1:1 ( Cp:cp ) segregation . F2 sporophytes show 3:1 ( Cp/-:cp/cp ) segregation and are represented as single first leaves ( each with a y-shaped vascular strand ) attached to hermaphroditic F1-derived gametophytes . Wild-type F2 sporophytes attached to polka dot F1 gametophytes are heterozygous ( Cp/cp ) . <p> Biochemistry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complete understanding of biology . Yet many students , especially at the introductory biology level , see little relationship between the two except for the required memorization of structures , pathways , and cycles . Figure 7 shows the chemical structures of the stereoisomers L-and D-malate ( L-malate is the common Krebs cycle intermediate ) . Although the concept of stereoisomers and biological relevance can be difficult to demonstrate , the use of the chemotactic behavior displayed by C-Fern sperm can be an effective approach . Using a drop of liquid and a stereomicroscope , sperm can be easily and repeatedly observed to be positively attracted to L-malate , in comparison with D-malate or a control . This attraction can be related to the natural process of chemotaxis that is associated with the chemical discharge from mature archegonia , which can also be shown to elicit a strong positive response . Students can also investigate whether other components of the Krebs cycle also attract sperm and whether pH and temperature are important modifiers of that attraction . <p> Figure 7 . Structures of L- and D-malic acid . <p> Plant growth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cytokinins , exhibit specific effects on development , sexual differentiation , and growth of Ceratopteris gametophytes and sporophytes ( Hickok and Kiriluk 1984 , Hickok et al . 1995 , Leslie Hickok , unpublished data ) . Contrasting and comparing the effects of these growth regulators in C-Fern and higher plants can be an effective approach in exercises dealing with plant differentiation and development . Not just another life cycle <p> The examples in this article illustrate only a few of the ways in which C-Fern can be used in the classroom as a dynamic and interactive system with which to investigate basic biological principles . Many extensions or elaborations of these examples are possible . The ability of students to rapidly gain familiarity with the organism and to easily manipulate it in culture can lead to original thinking and experimentation . Because of its ease of use , simplicity , reliability , and speed , C-Fern can be used to involve students in the processes of science , rather than in only learning the facts and terms associated with " just another life cycle . " Resources <p> C-Fern spores @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , growth medium , and culture supplies are readily available through the Carolina Biological Supply Company , as is the extensive C-Fern Manual ( Hickok and Warne 1998 ) containing detailed culture instructions , illustrations , teaching applications , and a bibliography on the biology of C-Fern . A web page ( www.bio.utk.edu/cfern/ ) and e-mail address ( cfern@utk.edu ) further enhance educational access for both teachers and students . Acknowledgments <p> Supported in part by NSF-DUE grant 9651045 to Leslie G. Hickok and Thomas R. Warne . 
##4000067 Section : AIBS News <p> On 9 July 1998 , AIBS repre-sentatives met with the leaders of two dozen professional societies in the life sciences to discuss their undergraduate education initiatives . The workshop , " Collaborations in Undergraduate Education , " was sponsored by the Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences ( CELS ) through a grant from the Exxon Education Foundation . AIBS was represented by education committee member John R. Jungck , Executive Director Richard O'Grady , and then-AIBS education committee chair ( see article below ) Gordon E. Uno . Participants exchanged information about undergraduate education activities supported by their societies , discussed the types of programs that are well suited to sponsorship by individual societies or clusters of societies , and identified potential coordinating roles for CELS . <p> Jungck , who is also a CELS steering committee member , introduced the participants to a new CELS monograph , Professional Societies and the Faculty Scholar : Promoting Scholarship and Learning in the Life Sciences . Jungck advocates using peer review as a mechanism by which to honor undergraduate teaching as a professional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been the cornerstone for establishing the credibility of scientific research , seems highly appropriate as the review process for legitimating , developing , and assessing pedagogical knowledge production and practices , " he said . He applauded the leadership displayed by AIBS through its regular inclusion of peer-reviewed articles on biology education in BioScience . <p> The workshop participants emphasized the role of introductory biology courses in serving the vast majority of US college students . " A challenge for our faculty is to define what we want our students to know , to value , and to do , " Uno said . " What will help our students acquire scientific literacy ? We need to address content , attitudes , and the constellation of skills that include critical thinking , inquiry-based investigations , data analysis , and interpretations . " <p> Participants also discussed the CELS " Issues-Based Framework for Bio 101 , " which gives guideposts toward biological literacy for an educated citizenry . CELS invited the professional societies to modify this framework by identifying concepts in their own disciplines that are critical for literacy , and also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One suggestion was that CELS coordinate a traveling display of biological and curricular materials that can be exhibited by the professional societies at their annual meetings . The materials would be drawn from the expertise and resources of many professional societies and provide coherence to the diversity of topics in the biological sciences . <p> Workshop participants noted that through member society relationships with groups including BioQUEST , the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study , BIOSIS , the National Association of Biology Teachers , and the Association of College and University Biology Educators , AIBS has sustained a reputation for bringing science educators and scientists together to share their expertise . O'Grady remarked that professional societies have a special responsibility to value the junior , often nontenured , undergraduate instructors who teach biology courses for nonscience majors . " Our professional societies need to encourage and recognize their teaching accomplishments , " noted O'Grady , " lest we lose them and their students from biology . " <p> Professional Societies and the Faculty Scholar can be viewed at the CELS Web site , www.wisc.edu/cels . This 87-page report highlights the contributions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions to improve teaching and learning . The Web site also provides information for ordering bound copies of the monograph and contains the " Issues-Based Framework for Bio 101 . " <p> AIBS is a sustaining member of CELS , a coalition of professional societies committed to enhancing life sciences undergraduate education . For more information about CELS , e-mail Louise W. Liao , CELS program director , at cels@macc.wisc.edu . AIBS EDUCATION COMMITTEE CHAIR APPOINTED <p> AIBS is pleased to announce the appointment of Jean Wyld as the new chair of the AIBS Education Committee . AIBS President Gary Barrett and President-Elect Gregory Anderson appointed Wyld to the position vacated by Gordon E. Uno , who recently became Program Director ( Biology ) of the Course and Curriculum Development Section , Division of Undergraduate Education , at the National Science Foundation . Uno continues to serve as a member of the committee . <p> Wyld received her PhD in systematics and evolutionary biology from the University of Connecticut in 1980 and later spent a year as an American Council on Education fellow in the office of the Executive Vice President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administrator at Colby-Sawyer College in New London , New Hampshire , and since 1993 has been Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Biology at York College in York , Pennsylvania . <p> Wyld says , " It is my hope that the Education Committee of AIBS can help K-12 teachers and college and university faculty gain greater recognition for their creative efforts in the classroom . Working with our member organizations , it may also be possible to enhance existing opportunities for the publication of this kind of scholarship in biology . " <p> Wyld may be contacted at Academic Affairs/Advising , ADM-16 , York College , York , PA 17405-7199 ; 717/815-1231 ; fax : 717/849-1607 ; e-mail : jaw@ycp.edu . Contact information for all AIBS board , council , and committee members can be found at www.aibs.org or in the AIBS Membership Directory and Handbook that members received in July 1998 . NRC report : life sciences training and employment <p> A new report from the National Research Council ( NRC ) , " Trends in the Early Careers of Life Scientists , " examines the changes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and postgraduate life scientist training and subsequent employment . The report finds that the number of people with life science PhDs increasingly exceeds the number of jobs available . The NRC report suggests that universities limit growth in the number of graduate students and refrain from developing new programs . <p> According to the report , between 1975 and 1995 the number of PhD recipients who had permanent positions in academia , industry , and government 9-10 years after receipt of their doctorates fell from 87% to 73% . During the same 20-year period , the number of PhD recipients with permanent positions in those sectors 5-6 years after receipt of their PhDs fell from 89% to 61% . <p> The NRC report refers to the widening time gap between receiving a PhD and obtaining a permanent position as a " holding pattern , " which is contributed to by a 42% increase in PhDs awarded between 1987 and 1996 that was not accompanied by a parallel increase in employment opportunities . The increase in PhDs awarded occurred mainly in biomedical fields , although biologists in nonbiomedical fields are also experiencing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dimensions , Causes , and Implications of Recent Trends in the Careers of Life Scientists , which conducted the study and prepared the report , it is " unlikely that conditions will change enough in the near future to provide employment for the large number of life science PhDs now waiting in the holding pattern . " <p> In response to declining job security and lower salaries , many life scientists have turned to alternative careers , such as law , science writing , science policy , and secondary-school teaching . But the NRC committee is not convinced that alternative scientific careers hold as much opportunity as was once anticipated . Instead , it says , " the challenges for the life-science community are to acknowledge that it is the structure of the profession that has led to declining prospects for its young and to develop accommodations to maximize the quantity and quality of the scientific productivity of the future . " <p> The five primary recommendations made by the NRC committee are : Restrain the rate of growth of the number of graduate students in the life sciences ; Disseminate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; Improve the educational experience of graduate students ; Enhance opportunities for independence of postdoctoral fellows ; and Evaluate alternative paths to careers in the life sciences . <p> The full text of the NRC committee 's report , " Trends in the Early Careers of Life Scientists , " is available on the National Academy Press 's Web site , www.nap.edu . Bound copies are available for $39 ( discounts available when purchased online ) from NAP , 2101 Constitution Avenue , NW , Washington , DC 20055 ; 202/334-3313 . A publication of related interest , Guide to Non-Traditional Careers in Science , by Karen Young Kreeger , is available from AIBS for $29.95 . To order , call 202/628-1500 , ext. 253 , or e-mail : jkolber@ aibs.org . <p> 
##4000466 Section : SYMPOSIUM : The Effects of ; Multiculturalism on Scholarship <p> The papers here presented were originally delivered at the seventh conference of the National Association of Scholars in New Orleans , Louisiana , as part of a panel that convened on the afternoon of 12 December 1997 . <p> Over the centuries , philosophy has been seen in many ways : as a midwife to the birth of ideas , as queen of the sciences , as an owl flying at dusk , as a ladder to be kicked away upon reaching enlightenment , and as a large-scale map relating the small-scale maps of the sciences . The image suggested by philosophy 's role in recent changes in the academy is Typhoid Mary-one who infects others while avoiding serious illness herself . Many ideas that underlie the politicization of the university had their origin in philosophy . Yet philosophy has largely managed to escape politicization . I <p> Let 's begin by distinguishing two kinds of multiculturalism . Diane Ravitch has defined pluralistic multiculturalism as the quest to enrich our common culture , making it more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I am a strong advocate of this kind of multiculturalism . Philosophy has often been conceived and taught as something created by Socrates in fifth-century B.C. Athens and developed over the centuries in Western Europe and North America . That picture is misleading and incomplete . The Buddha , Confucius , and Lao Tzu all predate Socrates. ( n2 ) Though one could argue that none are truly philosophers-none concerns himself primarily with establishing conclusions by careful definition and argumentation-rich philosophical traditions have grown from their work and , indeed , were growing from their work by the time of Aristotle. ( n3 ) Study of these traditions not only expands one 's sense of the questions that can be asked and the answers that can be given but also dispels the quasi-Hegelian sense of inevitability that often accompanies the study of the history of philosophy . <p> In its effects on philosophy as a discipline , however , multiculturalism has not primarily been pluralistic . It has encouraged scholarship on other cultures , but those effects are small compared to the effects of politicized multiculturalism -- or illiberal multiculturalism , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which sees scholarship and the curriculum as a means to political change . <p> I have argued in other places that multiculturalism is a classic bait-and-switch operation. ( n4 ) The arguments are always for pluralistic multiculturalism-unless addressed to the already converted ! -- but the actual goal is the political transformation of the university . One could have guessed this from the comments of two Stanford activists , quoted by D'Souza eight years ago : <p> We 're not saying we need to study Tibetan philosophy . We 're arguing that we need to understand what made our society what it is . Forget Confucius . We are trying to prepare ourselves for the multicultural challenge we will face in the future. ( n5 ) <p> But what does pluralistic multiculturalism in philosophy offer ? Confucius , Tibetan philosophy , and the like ! Now Confucianism and Buddhism are central to the worldviews of much of Asia 's population , and Asian Americans are some of the nation 's fastest-growing ethnic groups . Interactions with Asia are of vital political and economic importance . Studying these philosophies might therefore seem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will face in the future , " if that is what is at issue . But they have no obvious political implications . So , interest in them is limited . II <p> The dominance of illiberal multiculturalism over its pluralistic alternative is evident in patterns of philosophical research . I have examined the number of publications reported in each of the past ten years in The Philosophers ' Index on various topics -- some pluralistic , some political -- to judge the actual effects of multiculturalism on philosophical research . There has been an increase in scholarship devoted to non-Western philosophy , but it has been modest , and , in several areas , there are signs of its being short lived . <p> Consider first issues of quantity : <p> Japanese philosophy : The average number of publications from 1991-1996 was 2.3 times the 1987-1990 average . <p> Buddhism : The number of publications is up 77 percent since 1987 . <p> Chinese philosophy : The number of publications is up 55 percent from 1987 , but is down 32 percent from its 1991 high . <p> Indian philosophy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1987 , but is down 35 percent from its 1991 high . <p> African philosophy : The number of publications is below 1987 , but the high was fairly recent , in 1994 . <p> So much for the philosophical stock quotations. ( n6 ) <p> Issues of quality are harder to judge . Some of the scholarship on nonWestern philosophy has itself been politicized . David Hall and Roger Ames , for example , find Confucian thought remarkably similar to that of " such thinkers as Foucault , Derrida , and the American pragmatist Richard Rorty. " ( n7 ) They take Confucius 's talk of the mandate of Heaven as referring to " the specific environing conditions that set up the viable possibilities in a particular social setting or historical epoch " ( 12 ) . This is the opposite of standard readings , according to which the Will of Heaven is transcendent : the decree of God , the moral order , or , in Chu Hsi 's words , " the operation of Nature which is endowed in things and makes things be as they are . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ construal is something like Arthur Schlesinger , Jr . ' s , citation of the words of the Declaration of Independence , " We hold these truths to be self-evident , that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights , " as establishing the Founders ' relativism . To paraphrase Allan Bloom , people advancing arguments like these must think their audience will believe anything. ( n9 ) But there is more than silliness behind them . Hall and Ames maintain that the mandate of Heaven is purely contingent and context-relative to discredit the notion of rights and to justify the suppression of the democracy movement at Tiananmen Square. ( n10 ) <p> Still , scholarship on non-Western philosophy generally remains solid . Increased attention to non-Western traditions is a good thing , a positive effect of multiculturalism . The number of publications remains small , and key texts often have not even been translated into English or any other modern European language , let alone interpreted . There is historical and philosophical work of real significance to be done . III <p> @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the political effects of multiculturalism . Overall , in 1996 there were 34 percent more publications on non-Western philosophy than there were in 1987 . Compare the following more political topics : <p> Racism : Up 587 percent from the 1987-1990 average . <p> Diversity : Up 1000 percent from 1987 ( even from 1993 ) . <p> Feminism : Up 341 percent from 1987 . <p> Gender : Up 392 percent from 1987 . <p> Moreover , feminism has ten times the number of publications for racism , and more than all areas of non-Western philosophy combined. ( n11 ) <p> Ten years ago , feminism had about as many publications as Indian and African philosophy combined . In 1996 , it had about four times as many as those two combined . Here is another way of looking at it : In 1996 , there were forty-five more publications in non-Western philosophy than in 1987 . There were 148 more publications in feminism . Add in racism , diversity , and gender , and there were 234 more . Politicized , illiberal multiculturalism has had far greater effects than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go far wrong in saying that multiculturalism in philosophy has mostly meant feminism . <p> This is odd . Women do not have a distinctive culture . Moreover , since women do not form a " discrete and insular minority " -- or , in this case , majority -- the effects of past discrimination are not inherited by the next generation of women . It seems a stretch , therefore , to include feminism under the heading of multiculturalism at all . Nevertheless , women outnumber minorities , Sanskrit specialists , Sinologists , and others . IV <p> What is wrong with feminist philosophy ? I can give only the sketchiest answer here , and I hasten to say that feminist philosophy is not all politicized . The earliest philosophers to work in feminism , especially , have done some significant research . But , as I have argued elsewhere , multiculturalism is best seen as a form of mercantilism. ( n12 ) As always , in protected industries , quality declines from a lack of competition . That has happened in feminist philosophy . <p> A great deal of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . The goal is political change , not truth . Now this is not always fatal ; one may have political motivations to seek the truth . It is always dangerous , however , for the same political motivations can lead one to ignore or suppress the truth . What makes it especially dangerous in this case is that feminist research is characterized by a lack of empirical evidence and argument . There is , in fact , a marked hostility to science. ( n13 ) Entire books have been written on child development , family relations , and so on , by people who not only have never done any empirical research on these topics themselves but who also have no familiarity with the relevant empirical research done by others . <p> Much feminist philosophy exhibits what Thomas Sowell calls " the vision of the anointed. " ( n14 ) Researchers display a bipolar view , with dichotomies between oppressor and oppressed , " targets " and " mascots . " There is no sense of tradeoffs and complexities . Social problems are attributed to the heteropatriarchy without any felt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are heralded as " radical reconceptions " of traditional notions . <p> Most puzzling of all to analytic philosophers are wild forms of argument found in feminist and other politicized research . Many of these are not original with illiberal multiculturalists , but have their roots in Marx , Freud , Heidegger , or various postmodernists . <p> Argument from authority : A says that p <p> Therefore : p <p> ( This works only if A is a canonical figure such as Marx , Foucault , Derrida , and Rorty . It is strengthened if the premise has the form " A has argued that p " or even " A has shown that p , " as in " Rorty has shown that truth is relative to an interpretive community . " If A is a target figure such as Locke or Adam Smith , of course , such language is inappropriate , and one may instead conclude Not p . ) <p> Raising the question : A has called p into question . <p> Therefore : Not p <p> ( " Derrida has called into question the assumption @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meaning is impossible . " ) <p> Argument from interests : Asserting that p could serve the interests of someone I dislike ( a " target " ) . <p> Therefore : Not p <p> ( " Saying that women earn less than men because women interrupt careers to have children , work fewer hours , obtain fewer degrees in technical areas than men , and the like of course serves the interests of successful men in the workforce who do not want their own privileges to be challenged . So , those are not the real reasons for women 's reduced earnings . " ) <p> When the revolution comes : p would not change some feature of the status quo , but q would . <p> Therefore : q and Not p <p> ( " Lacan 's understanding of the development of the child 's self-concept in the mirror stage tends to leave contemporary social/sexual roles unchallenged , while Kristeva 's radical reconception of the mirror stage provides the ground for contending that contemporary roles are oppressive . So , Kristeva 's revolutionary account of the development of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reactionary account . " ) <p> Reductio ad anything : X is analogous in some respect to Y. <p> Therefore : X is really Y <p> ( The locus classicus of this is Marx , for whom anything analogous to class struggle is really an instance of class struggle . It appears in Freud , where the reduction is to sexual drives , and in Foucault : " Schools and hospitals are analogous in some ways to prisons . Prisons are means of social control . So , schools and hospitals are means of social control . " Compare the argument in a recent history article : " The dominance of whites over blacks in the slave South has many parallels to the dominance of men over women . So , the phenomenon of slavery is best understood as an instance of sexual oppression , in which Africans were forced into the role of woman . " ) <p> Causes in the air : X is conceptually related to Y. <p> Therefore : X causes y. ( n15 ) <p> ( In Freud , " The rat man 's fear of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his father . So , his fear of rats is caused by his fear of his father . " Or , in Kristeva , " The hostility , fear , and sense of alterity that men have for women is structurally similar in some ways to the sense of alterity the weaned child develops for the mother 's breast . So , weaning is the cause of sexual discrimination . " ) <p> In isolation , these arguments are obviously silly . In context , however , and embedded deeply in layers of nearly unintelligible prose , they are hard to identify and evaluate . It is no accident that much politicized philosophy is written in an intentionally opaque style . That , however , is not the full story . When intelligent scholars make such intellectual moves , one must apply a principle of charity and consider the possibility that they are not advancing arguments at all . Many feminists think of themselves as applying the hermeneutic method , that is , as creating interpretations rather than constructing arguments . If those interpretations do not aim at truth and employ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not clear why the rest of us should pay attention . V <p> Despite the increase in politicized scholarship , the effects of multiculturalism on philosophy have been limited . Philosophy has not gone the way of English ; we have not returned to the cave . There are a number of positive signs . Even at four times its 1987 level , Feminism still has fewer entries in the Philosophers ' Index than God-and less than one-third the number for Logic . Class-related topics are declining . Marxism is the topic of 56 percent fewer publications than in 1987 . Postmodernism is down almost 50 percent from its 1993 high , as is deconstruction . These are the topics of 209 fewer publications than in 1993. ( n16 ) The field 's top journals-The Journal of Philosophy , Philosophical Review , Ethics , Philosophy and Public Affairs , Mind , Nous , and Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , as judged by circulation , acceptance rate , and prestige-publish little or no politicized work . A much smaller percentage of work in politicized fields is in refereed journals ; much more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inroads at top graduate departments . Of the top thirty Ph.D . programs in philosophy , 75 percent have no one on the faculty who lists feminism as an area of specialization . The few politicized Ph.D . programs rank low in national surveys . Politicized job candidates fare relatively poorly . According to American Philosophical Association statistics , ( n17 ) in 1995-96 there were : PREFORMATTED TABLE <p> The only area worse than the politicized areas of feminism and Continental philosophy is philosophy of religion . ( People still write about God , but can not get jobs doing it . ) That logic is near the top , and politicized areas near the bottom , is very good news for the discipline . VI <p> Despite philosophy 's success at containing illiberal scholarship , there are worrisome signs . Politicized works that can not find places in top or even middling refereed journals nevertheless find outlets . Feminists and others have created their own journals . They have come to dominate certain publishers who increasingly offer book contracts before seeing a manuscript . They even actively solicit authors-a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has little market in philosophy itself but a much larger market in English , women 's studies , and related areas . The areas that philosophy has infected are thus reinfecting philosophy . In politicized areas , there is an ethic of lavish praise for other politicized researchers in book reviews , referee reports for publishers , tenure and promotion reviews , and so on . <p> The result , as Barry Smith has pointed out , is that people working in politicized areas can increasingly create sham curricula vitae filled with sham publications-items that would never have been published in more mainstream , respectable channels or , in some cases , that have not yet been written . Promotion files are padded not only with sham CVs but also sham review letters . It is thus possible for people to take paths quite apart from traditional academic evaluation to create the appearance of academic achievement . <p> There are few effective checks on this process . Those who try to point out the sham face the response , " People in that area give the work high marks . Surely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ itself . " This tends to win out in tenure and promotion committees , many of whose members hail from politicized areas of the humanities or social sciences . <p> The fact is that it is much easier to create an impressive-looking CV in politicized areas than in traditional areas of scholarship . This creates perverse incentives for younger scholars , especially women , many of whom gravitate to politicized fields , much to their professional detriment . The path looks easy but , as the job data mentioned above illustrate , the appearance is deceptive . Philosophers who see through the sham realize that effective evaluation of researchers in politicized areas has become impossible ; the safest response is not to hire them in the first place . But graduate students often lack information about the job market until it is too late . VII <p> Why has philosophy withstood the assault of illiberal multiculturalism as successfully as it has ? I can not go into a full explanation here . Part of the story is that contemporary analytic philosophy takes science as a model . Hans Reichenbach , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noted that analytic philosophy has not only frequently taken science as a subject matter , viewing scientific investigation as an epistemic ideal and largely replacing traditional epistemology with the philosophy of science , but also itself stresses precision , mathematical formalism , and argumentation . Philosophy has withstood political attack for many of the same reasons that science has done so . <p> A deeper reason is that , as Allan Bloom noted , multiculturalism challenges the possibility of philosophy . The illiberal multiculturalists are neo-Sophists . Western philosophy was born in Socrates 's struggle against such Sophists as Protagoras . Anything that suggests that there is no truth , or that truth is in the eye of the beholder -- in Protagoras 's words , that knowledge is perception , that man is the measure of all things -- is antithetical to philosophy itself . Without truth , as Protagoras , Socrates , Plato , and Nietzsche alike saw , there is only power-something philosophers notoriously lack . <p> Please address correspondence to Academic Questions/NAS , 575 Ewing Street , Princeton , NJ 08540-2741 ; **25;561;TOOLONG . <p> 
##4000467 Section : SYMPOSIUM : The Effects of ; Multiculturalism on Scholarship <p> The papers here presented were originally delivered at the seventh conference of the National Association of Scholars in New Orleans , Louisiana , as part of a panel that convened on the afternoon of 12 December 1997 . <p> In the past fifteen or twenty years , a massive shift has occurred in the attention of literary scholars . Scholarly effort has increasingly moved away from traditional areas of study to the literature of Latin America , the Caribbean , Sub-Saharan Africa , and the Indian subcontinent , with some attention to the literature of the Islamic world and Asia in general . This body of work is often grouped together , somewhat misleadingly , under such rubrics as " Third World " or " postcolonial " literature . In surveying this development , it is hard not to form the impression that many critics are turning to non-Western literature just to get away from Western . This brand of scholarship often seems linked to politically correct developments in the curriculum , such as the imposition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I will refer to as postcolonial scholarship often seems rooted in an animus against Western culture and specifically its literary classics . Postcolonial critics seem to operate with the assumption that if a work is non-Western , it must be good , and the less Western the better . These critics seem particularly attracted to works that articulate anti-Western views , that question the values of Western civilization and champion non-Western alternatives . This attitude explains the specifically postcolonial element in this critical project , the focus on literature from areas formerly colonized by European nations . This literature often takes the form of attacks on European imperialism , turning the tables on the old colonial masters in a motif that has come to be known , somewhat facetiously , as " the Empire Strikes Back . " ( n1 ) Critics are especially interested in works that rewrite classics of colonial literature , which seemed to embody a sense of European superiority . A good example of this kind of work would be Salman Rushdie 's Midnight 's Children , which among other things rewrites Rudyard Kipling 's Kim . @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ critics from the West . Much of postcolonial criticism is explicitly or at least implicitly Marxist , centering on the concept of exploitation . Third World literature is viewed as primarily expressing the reaction of postcolonial peoples to having been exploited by their former European masters . This approach turns the field into a branch of Oppression Studies , the dominant mode of radical academics today . Third World authors are often championed as the ultimate voices of the oppressed , exploited in terms of race , class , and gender , with the added twist of having been subjugated by colonial masters . At the same time , the Third World often supplies critics of Western civilization with an imaginary site for the kind of anti-Western utopia they dream of . Everything the First World does wrong , the Third World supposedly does right . It is socialist rather than capitalist , communitarian in spirit rather than individualistic . Particularly in the case of ecologically sensitive areas like rainforests , the Third World purportedly respects the environment , rather than trying to dominate it as the West does . The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ produced new forms of barbarism in the West , will be cancelled out in the non-Western world , and humanity can return to , or at least finally achieve , the harmony with nature that Western rationality , in its Faustian quest for power , fatefully disrupted . In short , many postcolonial critics use the Third World and Third World literature as a more or less blank screen on which to project their hatred of the West and their desire to see its civilization subverted and somehow repudiated . In this sense , much postcolonial criticism is in fact monocultural rather than multicultural . It advances a simple and single-minded anti-Western view that it tends to impose uniformly on all Third World literature . <p> Despite all these problems with postcolonial criticism , I want to argue that it does not have to be automatically and unthinkingly anti-Western . And just because the majority of practitioners in the field are currently misguided does not mean that the field itself is illegitimate . It seems to me that literary scholars who oppose the radicalization of their discipline are making a serious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the academic left . Properly rethought and reformulated , the study of literature from the Third World could serve as a powerful counterweight to some of the most harmful trends in contemporary criticism . And the fact that all non-Western works are not automatically good does not mean that none of them are good . In fact , much of the best literature in this century has come from outside Europe and the United States . The so-called boom in Latin American fiction is probably the best-known example of this phenomenon . One need only cite the names of Jorge Luis Borges , Gabriel Garcia Marquez , Mario Vargas Llosa , Julio Cortazar , Alejo Carpentier , Guillermo Cabrera Infante , Carlos Fuentes , Jose Donoso , and so on , to give some idea of how much Latin America has contributed to world literature in roughly the past half century . But similar contributions could be cited from writers in Africa , Asia , and Australia . Traditional literary scholars should be alert to good and great writing no matter where it comes from . We must not act like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ telescope . If new stars are shining in the literary firmament , we should be among the first to spot them , not the last . <p> And there are reasons why we should in fact expect to find superior literature being written under new regimes around the world . In many ways , the literary tradition in Europe and the United States shows signs of being played out , of having reached a kind of postmodern impasse . Authors in Europe and the United States often display a strong sense of being latecomers on the literary scene , of coming at the very end of a long literary tradition that stretches all the way back to Homer in ancient Greece . Acutely self-conscious about their authorial roles , Europeans and Americans often get wrapped up in convoluted literary strategies , focusing on their own concerns and problems as writers . " Another novel about a novelist struggling to write a novel about a novelist struggling to write a novel " -- that has become the sad refrain of the contemporary literary scene in Europe and the United States . <p> @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ self-absorption of contemporary European and American authors . Third World writers often view themselves as coming at the beginning of a literary tradition , rather than at the end . This is true even in a country like India , which has a literary tradition that stretches back farther than that of any European country . It is precisely the postcolonial situation that gives Third World authors a sense of freshness about what they are doing ; national liberation becomes a form of artistic liberation as well . Here the classic text is again Rushdie 's Midnight 's Children , which correlates its own genesis as a narrative with that of modern India on 15 August 1947 , when the country achieved its long-sought independence from Britain . <p> Another reason writers like Rushdie or Vargas Llosa seem more energized than their European or American counterparts is that they are taken seriously by the communities for which they write . European and American authors often seem to have retreated into the academy ; even if they do not earn their living from university positions , they write with academic critics in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . Third World writers generally have a greater sense of their social responsibility , often seeking out a role in building a new cultural identity for their people in a postcolonial situation . Being taken more seriously by a community sometimes carries a fearful price tag , as Rushdie has learned , but it also gives greater vitality to writers ' work , as they deal with issues of more than merely personal and artistic significance . <p> This situation leads to a paradox in the contemporary critical scene . Often the same people who complain about the empty gestures and easy nihilism of postmodern literature in the West also complain about postcolonial literature , even though it offers an alternative to postmodernism . To be sure , many critics have argued for a connection between postmodernism and postcolonialism , and many postcolonial authors , like Rushdie , clearly have learned and adopted much from the techniques of postmodern fiction . But postmodernism and postcolonial literature are in many respects at odds , if only because the situation of postcolonial authors demands that they seek out subject matter other than themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sterile postmodern self-reflexivity. ( n2 ) As the Rushdie affair showed with unusual clarity , postcolonial authors are confronting issues that truly matter to people around the world , issues that engage their deepest passions . Who ever cared enough about anything Thomas Pynchon wrote to want to threaten his life ? <p> Thus the study of postcolonial literature may offer a way out of the impasse of postmodern criticism . Though many of the most prominent postcolonial critics would identify themselves as postmodernists and poststructuralists , the way they treat non-Western as opposed to Western authors suggests otherwise . When critics today deal with Western literature , they tend to proclaim the death of the author ; they aggressively disregard what an author might have intended in his work , and instead substitute various forms of reading against the text to bring out meanings the author never intended . But these critics read texts from the Third World in the opposite way , as shown by the return of the concept of " voice , " so much despised by Jacques Derrida and his deconstructionist followers . Third World @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oppression of their people and to " voice " their opposition to a hegemonic Western culture . Somehow in contemporary criticism non-Western authors are allowed what is denied to their Western counterparts , namely their own voices . Postcolonial critics treat Third World authors as having intentions and carrying them out successfully in their works . That is what it means to talk about the empire striking back or writing back ; it implies the return of the author , often with a vengeance . When Rushdie is said to rewrite a Kipling work , he is being credited with having a conscious literary strategy . We should be exploiting this contradiction in contemporary criticism , the fact that traditional works are approached with untraditional methods , which deny the principle of authorial intention , whereas untraditional works are often approached with traditional methods , which indeed focus on the Third World author as occupying a definite " subject position " and expressing his distinct subjectivity . <p> Moreover , an open-minded confrontation with postcolonial literature will reveal that the image of it fostered by postcolonial critics is distorted and misleading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not programmatically anti-Western in their books ( their public pronouncements on specific political issues may be a different matter ) . Some of them , like Rushdie , demonstrate a complex understanding of how Western culture has contributed to non-Western . Rushdie is particularly fascinated by the way encounters between East and West have created hybrid cultural phenomena , richer and more complex than any one nation could have produced on its own. ( n3 ) By the same token , some postcolonial authors have proven to be among the most incisive critics of postcolonial regimes . The Nigerian author , Chinua Achebe , for example , has produced a series of novels , from No Longer at Ease to Anthills of the Savannah , that indict the corruption and cynicism of dictatorial governments in Africa with unparalleled insight and authority . Reading the novels of Rushdie and Achebe , one does not encounter what many postcolonial critics would lead one to expect : neither kneejerk condemnation of Western culture nor uncritical celebration of non-Western culture . Rather these authors offer a thoughtful examination of the problematic interaction of Western and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and negative aspects of both sides . <p> In that sense , writers like Rushdie and Achebe offer examples of true multiculturalism . It is a sad commentary on much of postcolonial criticism that Rushdie and Achebe , and even more so Vargas Llosa and V.S. Naipaul , have fallen out of favor and are now more likely to be condemned than praised by scholars in the field . Because these authors do not tell the story of the Third World many postcolonial critics wish to promote -- because they do not support the myth of a non-Western world unequivocally superior to the Westsome scholars dismiss them as inauthentic , not true representatives of the Third World but rather paid lackeys of the West. ( n4 ) That is why it is imperative not to abandon the field of postcolonial studies to academic radicals , and thus allow them to construct and perpetuate a false image of literature around the world in accord with their anti-Western agenda . Postcolonial criticism has paradoxically blinded itself precisely to the multiculturalism of authors like Rushdie , Achebe , Vargas Llosa , and Naipaul ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their way between conflicting cultures . Fortunately there are signs that the field is finally opening up to an appreciation of the genuine multicultural possibilities inherent in the postcolonial situation . I would cite the brilliant book by Michael Valdez Moses of Duke University , The Novel and the Globalization of Culture ( New York : Oxford University Press , 1995 ) , which does the best job I know of charting the interplay between Western and non-Western elements in the writings of authors such as Conrad , Achebe , and Vargas Llosa . <p> Thus I find myself in the odd situation of someone who generally supports the traditional canon but who also advocates multiculturalism in literary scholarship , but only if it is real multiculturalism and not the sham that prevails in most postcolonial criticism today . I am in favor of studying literature from all over the world , provided it measures up to genuine aesthetic standards and is not praised simply because it is non-Western in origin . In fact , viewed dispassionately , the best literature from Latin America , Africa , and Asia will stand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . Sometimes we must recognize that non-Western authors are dealing with different circumstances or facing different artistic problems , and we must adjust our criteria accordingly . For example , Rushdie 's novels do not have the linearity of many European narratives , but that is not the result of his inability to tell a straightforward story from start to finish . Rather , the cyclic patterns in his fiction reflect the cyclic structures of Hindu myth , which he must in fact employ if his novels are to mirror the distinctive consciousness of his Indian characters , who are influenced by their Hindu heritage . Moreover , Midnight 's Children in effect stages a debate between Western ideas of linear progress in history and Eastern ideas of historical cycles ; the tension between linear and cyclic patterns in the narrative is thus entirely appropriate . If one fixates on the principle of linear narrative as the only criterion of merit in fiction , Rushdie 's novels will be found wanting . But if one appeals to a more basic aesthetic principle , recognized since Aristotle , namely the principle of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ narrative in Rushdie will be found to be an aesthetic success . Many of what may at first appear to be odd aesthetic principles within the work of non-Western authors turn out to have parallels in the work of canonical Western authors . Joyce and Beckett , for example , adopted cyclical forms in their fiction as well , and often for the same reasons that Rushdie does . <p> Only if we allow for the possibility of such cross-cultural comparisons , of applying the same broad standards to products of different cultures , can we keep the study of postcolonial literature genuinely multicultural . Many postcolonial critics want Third World authors to serve as simple spokesmen for their nations , to give expression to some kind of authentic native culture , preferably uncontaminated by contact with the West . The last thing such critics want is any suggestion that Western culture has contributed to non-Western . And yet the very existence of postcolonial literature is evidence of the fruitful interchange between Western and non-Western cultures all around the globe . After all , many of the best postcolonial authors have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Spanish . This has often been a controversial decision ; some authors , like the Kenyan novelist and playwright Ngugi , have argued passionately in favor of postcolonial authors writing in their native tongues . But his arguments have been ably countered by authors like Achebe and Rushdie. ( n5 ) They defend their writing in English because it gives them access to a wider audience , even within their own countries . Moreover , Achebe and Rushdie argue that they are not surrendering to their old colonial masters by writing in English because they do not write the King 's English . Rather , they create a hybrid tongue , mixing native vocabulary and speech rhythms with English . In their hands , English thus becomes something genuinely multicultural . But let us recall that English has always been a richly multicultural language . Ever since the days of the Norman Conquest , it has mixed an " imported " French with a " native " Anglo-Saxon and has always been willing to adopt elements from other languages , including Latin and Greek . In the nineteenth century , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ delights in pointing out how many of our seemingly ordinary English words have Indian origins : bungalow , thug , mogul , pundit , loot , verandah , dungarees , cummerbund . The list goes on and on. ( n6 ) The history of the English language is a good reminder that culture fundamentally is multicultural ; one culture is always assimilating elements from another . But that means that trying to deny the Western contribution to non-Western culture is a futile and self-defeating gesture . <p> In sum , even as a staunch supporter of the traditional literary canon , I welcome the study of Third World literature and the development of postcolonial criticism . All I ask is that this field become genuinely multicultural in its approach . That would involve recognizing the true complexity of how cultures operate and develop , and above all refusing to straitjacket postcolonial authors as the simple spokesmen for , and hence the captives of , hypothetical pure native cultures . That in turn means allowing for the possibility that Third World authors may be critical of the native cultures they supposedly represent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Western culture , which in many cases is at least one of the sources of their own brilliant achievement as writers . <p> 