It has been almost 30 years since my only college accounting class, and I readily admit to not remembering much that went on in the class. I do remember that it clinched my decision not to study business and that all the stuff on the left-hand side of the ledger had to equal all the stuff on the right-hand side. Even today accountants seem to me to speak with FORTRAN tongue. It must be that only the pure in heart can understand accruals.
The class was hard. The accounting problems were tedious, and a small math error could perpetuate itself into hours of work - like some malignant cell that goes unnoticed for years only to be fatal when it has grown too large to be controlled.The professor's enthusiasm masked the difficulty of the course at first, but in the end accounting was accounting underneath the exciting professorial veneer. Despite an energetic package that included motivational and humorous stories from the lives of famous people, accounting was, in the end, beyond both my reach and grasp.
There is no accounting for the likes of me.
The professor spoke often of Winston Churchill. He was a student of the life of Churchill and would quote anecdotes from his life.
The connection between Churchill and accounting was a bit fuzzy for me, but the stories were interesting and inspirational. I suppose that the professor was trying to lighten up a difficult course with the Churchill anecdotes.
I had almost decided I couldn't account for beans, but I still plugged along in the course and became more interested in Churchill. I asked the professor if he could give me some of the references that he had found and was quoting in class and tell me which ones seemed to be the most interesting. I wanted to learn more about Churchill, if not accounting. The answer jolted my esteem and clinched my exit from accounting. "I had to look these up myself and you will, too. It is part of getting an education for yourself. You students expect teachers to do your work for you. You won't appreciate it unless you find it yourself."
My first reaction was to wonder it the professor was right; maybe I expected too much. I also wondered if I had been bemused by borrowings from Bartlett rather than inspired with ethical intellect. I then wondered again if the professor was right.
A recent experience has convinced me he was wrong. I was doing some reading for a philosophy lesson on the problem of evil.
I wanted the class to consider ways to vindicate divine justice in the face of the existence of evil. In philosophy this is called theodicy. I knew that there was an essay on the subject by Kant but could not find it in English. I called the BYU philosophy department to ask where I might be able to find the text and was given to James Faulconer, whom I have still never met.
He checked the CD ROM in his computer and couldn't find the essay in English. He said that it was only a few pages long and that he would translate it for me if I could wait a while. He said that he was glad someone else was interested in this and that he had some notes that he would include. We chatted small talk for a few minutes on the phone asking each other about courses, texts, and the meaning of life like philosophers are wont to do. In a few days Kant's "On the Failure of all Attempted Philosophical Theodicies" arrived in the mail with a reference and library call number so that I would be able to locate it in the library. I have asked myself each time I use this in class why a colleague I have never met would do this for me. I have also asked myself if I would be willing to do the same thing for someone I may never meet.
My conclusion is that he didn't do the favor for me but for the good of the cause, education. He was acting on the principle that it is the work of the scholar to share as much as possible that the next generation may build rather than rediscover. He must understand that better philosophy at Snow College means better philosophy in a better world. He must also know that he can call a colleague on almost any campus in the world with an interesting and difficult problem and find help. He must know that we stand on the educational shoulders of previous generations and sense that I will help the next student who asks me about Kant or even Churchill.
- Roger G. Baker is Associate Professor of English/education at Snow College.