HAPPY TRAILS PROFESSOR JANSEN

Dear Professor Jansen: I recently learned that you will leaving UFS. It will be difficult, if not impossible, for the university to fill the vacuum created by your departure. You are one of those rare individuals who, without question, meet the 'indispensability' test in your field of endeavor. In fact, your departure leaves me with a sense of loss in that one of the very few remaining guiding beacons in education in South Africa will be turned off. I hope your successor will follow your example in attempting to improve one of the worst school systems in the world. The odds are against it in light of the political dynamic that smolders within the Basic and Higher Departments of Education. Although I have from time to time disagreed with your writings, I have, on the other hand, learned a great deal from you. To this end - thank you! Having spent the greater part of my life in the U.S., and familiar with Stanford's cutting edge excellence, you could not have made a better choice. Academic life at Stanford will be a welcome and well-deserved change.