I have absolutely no idea, why comp-sci courses have switched to java as the introductory language.. Other than making it easier to teach non-computer people how to program, it glosses over some important things about computer programming, namely the computer. The problem that most universities have, is that they want to teach all of the design, and none of the implementation.. So 4 years of java gives you all of the design (basic loops, data structures, algorithms, etc) but ignores teaching how programs actually work. I was fortunate and took courses at all levels, as well as different types of languages, so I feel I atleast know why some languages work better than others..
What I find funny, is that when I took a 1 credit java course, I found it easy.. now some friends of mine still in school are taking the 1 hour C course for java programmers, and are having a tough time..
Moral of the story, stick with C++.. learning C from C++ is easy.. learning Java is easy.. going the other way is sometimes tough..