A lot, according to the New York Times. They've got an essay contest going in response to a piece penned with the title above. You can find it here. I think the essay smacks a bit too much of the notion that "college was great when I went in the (insert decade here), but now these new kids have thrown it all away"--which I think maybe every generation has felt. Compare the changes in the essay above to, for example, those that happened when the GI Bill turned colleges from institutions of elaborate rituals (like freshman hazing) into places dominated by war vets who wanted to get a degree and get on with their lives, with little patience for such "rules".
Or maybe I'm wrong. Read the essay and let me know what you think.
On a related note, I'd observe that the NYT essay itself and its connection to MTV is an attempt by the newspaper to capture a younger demographic, one that is turning away from newspaper reading. Maybe they are hoping that by provoking students they'll pique their interest, though that presumes they read about this essay in the NYT in the first place--a bit of a catch-22.
