DANCE UCLA

We were shocked by the article about (dismissed dance lecturer) Margalit Oved (Dancewatching, May 24), and appalled by the policies of the UCLA Dance Department. Douglas Sadownick’s article described two tragedies, a personal one for Oved and a generic one for future students.

We have always considered the first responsibility of a university to be to motivate and teach students. Now faculty members are selected for the volume of their publications and degrees, never for their teaching ability. Our personal experience at UCLA has shown us that teaching competence has vanished.

It is time for California to stop supporting an institution whose motto is “publish or perish” and establish one whose sole purpose is to stimulate and teach.

FRANCES G. ROSENBERG

JACK ROSENBERG

Pacific Palisades