61 CHRONICLESnPlayboy rights for the bUnd have nownbeen upheld by a Federal judge inn(where else?) Washington. Last August,nU.S. District Judge Thomas F.nHogan ruled that Librarian of CongressnDaniel Boorstin had violated thenFirst Amendment by dropping Playboynfrom the list of 36 magazines publishednin Braille at taxpayer expense bynthe National Library Service for thenBlind and Physically Handicapped.nBoorstin’s decision was “viewpoint oriented,”nthe judge complained, andntherefore constituted “a type of censorship.n” Boorstin pointed out that he wasnonly following the clear “sense of Congress”non the matter: Last year Congressncut $103,000 from the library’snBraille budget—exactly the amount itncosts to publish Playboy in Braille.nThe Librarian of Congress is obviouslyntoo busy—or too intelligent—tonread the newspapers. Anyone who followsnthe press knows that on everythingnfrom grade-school texts to deficitnreduction, the “sense of Congress”nmeans only that we’re still waiting fornsome Federal judge to hand down annedict. And on “censorship” issues,nevery schoolboy knows where thencourts stand. Compared to some of thenpublications protected by judicial fiat.nPlayboy is almost puritanical. Besides,nblind subscribers to Playboy were thenonly ones who could honestly use thenold line: “I only subscribe because ofnthe articles.” Whether it is a goodnthing for Federal judges to force decentnAmericans to subsidize a financiallynailing dirty magazine is another matter.nFrom now on, the “visually impaired”nwill be able to let their fingersndo the wallowing at our expense. Thisnis what comes of picturing justice as anblindfolded playmate.nCulture shock among freshmen maynbe reduced if proposals now before thenIllinois Board of Higher Education arenadopted. Here in the Prairie State (asnin most states), college freshmen andnsophomores must take many of theirnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSncourses not from professors but fromngraduate Teaching Assistants. Thatnmight not be so bad if many of thesenTA’s—especially in subjects like physics,nengineering, and chemistry —nwere not Iraqis, Sri Lankans, or Braziliansnwhose knowledge of English barelynsuffices to order a meal or fill out anfood stamps application.nHeaven knows American studentsnneed more foreign language exposure,nbut perhaps not while trying to masternthe Lorenz transformations or the synthesisnof esters. Besides, the languagesnof the Third World do not open thendoors to many literary or scientificnmasterworks. It’s not as though annarmy of modern Aristotles or Copernicusesnwith difficulty speaking Englishnhad taken over our lecture halls.nAnd it must be positively maddeningnto understand nothing from a foreignnphysics instructor except the “D’s” andn”F’s” he marks on your quizzes.nApparently a lot of undergraduatesnhave been complaining to their parents.nLast summer, Illinois’ CeneralnAssembly tried to force the hand of thenBoard of Higher Education by passingna law requiring “all persons providingnclassroom instruction” in state collegesnand universihes to be “proficient in thenEnglish language.” But Governor “BignJim” Thompson vetoed the measure,ncomplaining that the bill “would sacrificenconcepts and facts for clarity ofnpunctuation and grammar.” After all,nEinstein and LaFayette spoke with accentsnand James Madison “sufferednfrom a major speech impediment.”nBoth the sponsors of the legislationnand the struggling undergraduatesncould understand the Governor’s logicnabout as well as they can understandnsome of the foreigners now lecturingnon differential equations and liquidnchromatography in Illinois classrooms.nPerhaps the good Governornfeared that if undergrads ever figurednout what was going on in their mathnand chemistry classes they might startnthinking intelligently about local politics,nmaybe even voting.nnnAnyway, the Illinois Board of Educationncan still enact a measure beyondnthe Governor’s veto. Admittedly,na requirement that classroom instructorsnspeak English might leave somendepartments shorthanded, but thingsnmay yet work out. The Board is alsonstudying a recommendation that allnprofessors actually teach some undergraduatencourses.nCultural Conservatism is becoming ancatchword in Washington circles. It isnlikely to remain nothing more, if wencan judge from the fate of conservativenscholars nominated to positions innFederal institutions of culture. Thencase of M.E. Bradford is the bestknownnexample. “A gentleman and anscholar” in the highest sense, Bradfordnhas been unable to dispel doubts in thenclouded minds of Washington politicians,npolitical appointees, and propagandists.nHis views are too “controversial”n(read conservative) for GeorgenWill, although he has received ringingnendorsements from people on thenother side, e.g., Eugene Genovese.nSome of Bradford’s friends are privatelynhappy to see an honest man kept outnof the cesspool of government. Othersnare tempted to view his case in morenapocalyptic terms as the symbolic rejectionnof the conservative mind bynconservative politicians.nIt looks like Bradford is going tonhave some company, now that threenconservative scholars have failed tonreceive Senate confirmation for thenNational Council on the Humanities:nE. Christian Kopff, Charles Moser,nand Anthony Bouscaren. Kopff, a classicalnscholar and contributing editor tonChronicles, has piled up a remarkablenset of honors and distinctions for an40-year-old humanist.nThe charges against Kopff, containednin three letters sent to the Senatenby left-wing feminists, included:nhis connection with Chronicles and anlack of sympathy with Marxists, feminists,nand homosexuals. Kopff pleadsn