In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Congress increased funding for the Title VI subsidy program to area studies in universities by 26 percent. The lawmakers stated their intent to boost language study, particularly where “Islamic and/or Muslim culture, politics, religion, and economy are a significant factor.” We all know what that means: more Arabic. Thanks to the windfall, federal funding for Middle East centers is at an all-time high. Berkeley has just such a center, continuously subsidized under Title VI for the last forty years.

So you have to shake your head at reports that Berkeley has actually been cutting its introductory Arabic offerings for four years running, regularly leaving more than a hundred undergrads stuck on a waiting list. Why? Budget reductions. “It’s a disaster, it’s a tragedy,” the head of the Near Eastern studies department says. “Instead of growing, we’re pulling back at a time when Arabic is vitally important.”

Well, maybe scandal is a more apt description than disaster. Why hasn’t Berkeley poured its increased Title VI subsidy into the gap left by university budget cuts? What does Berkeley do with our Title VI tax dollars that’s more important than meeting undergrad demand for Arabic? That a university can bag a windfall Title VI increase, cut its Arabic instruction year after year, and face no consequences, is more proof if more were needed that Title VI just isn’t working. Academe’s lobbyists sell Title VI to Congress as a language program. As I’ve shown before, that’s a false bill of goods.

The federal Department of Education should send a sharp warning to Berkeley, and publicly lay down this rule: at universities hosting Title VI centers for the Middle East, no potential Arabic student should be left behind. And Congress should get moving on an advisory board for Title VI. It’s a provision of HR509.

I’m back from my travels to Jordan, Egypt, and the Gulf. I was collecting insights for a project, not for Sandbox, so I won’t be reporting on what I heard. Many thanks to those who gave me their time on this circuit, and also to Tony Badran, the formidable blogger from Across the Bay, who took over the Linkage feature of this website in my absence. His astute selection of interesting links kept readers coming back for more.

While I prefer not to mention the people I met, I’ll make this one exception. In Cairo, I had dinner with the blogger who writes anonymously and perceptively about Egyptian affairs at a blog called Big Pharaoh. I mention him for one reason only: he told me there are those who’ve claimed that he can’t really be an Egyptian, because his English is so idiomatic. Why anyone would think an Egyptian incapable of mastering idiomatic English defies my comprehension. In any case, I’ve met him, and I can vouch for him. He’s as Egyptian as… the pharaohs.

I’m heading out again for two weeks of travel to Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf. I don’t expect to post here during that time. But there’s a guest linker: Tony Badran, author of the irreverent weblog Across the Bay. Visit Linkage at the homepage for his personal selection of links, updated daily. (Thanks, Tony, in advance.)

If you haven’t done so already, explore the news feeds on the Sandbox page. No other single click provides as quick an overview of up-to-date Middle East news.