Education: New American Dream

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Ignoring the old U.S. proverb about shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations, an ad appearing in U.S. papers last week pictured a new American success story. It now runs from muck to academic glory in four. Educators, used to being caricatured as impractical theorists, would probably be surprised to find the cap & gown now the symbol of American achievement.

The Beech-Nut Packing Co. calls the ad part of "an altruistic campaign to make Americans conscious of their country." Beech-Nut's President Clark Arkell had once been annoyed by a German-born servant who told him that "it was better in the old country." Arkell is plastering the ad all over foreign-language papers in the U.S. to extol his version of the American way.

Unlike the successful man in his ad, Arkell, a graduate of M.I.T., has never received an honorary degree. But then, he's only a third-generation American.