[wcarss]

I feel that the perception is in fact material to the reality, because if people do go to university not to become academics, and do leave it not as academics, and do feel it has met its purpose in those cases, then clearly it is not presently there solely for that cause.

But I think we actually agree -- I would just amend your statement to be an aspiration rather than a description: "A university should be there to create new academics."

I feel saddened that in practice (in great part due to the reasons we've each outlined), it is not.