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2004-01-19 Home Front

Colorado State Senator Attacks University Bias

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Posted by CrazyFool 2004-01-19 4:31:06 PM|| || Front Page|| [10 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 In part, the bill is meant to ensure that professors do not use the classroom to indoctrinate students to their particular viewpoint, that an intellectual array of speakers are invited to campus-sponsored events and that hired faculty, curricula and reading lists reflect all viewpoints of a given discipline.

They'll just start the indoctrination at an earlier point. My ex-roomate's kid (age 10) told me that the teacher in his class was talking about Global Warming&trade. Yeah, like that's going to seriously be on the mind of a 10 year old.

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2004-1-19 6:17:53 PM|| 2004-1-19 6:17:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 I teach at a community college and am probably one of only a handful of conservative teachers. I'm constantly having debates with other liberal instructors about liberal vs. conservative viewpoints and they often resort to yelling at me and namecalling. I've finally given up even having a political discussion with them. In the classroom urge my students to look at both sides of any issue and often point out discrepancies in what they have heard. In some classes they have to do a project about a social issue and MUST point out both sides of the issue.

We had a faculty member fired last year because she wasn't doing her job (she was on probation). Instead she was using the classroom to indoctrinate her students especially against the war. Many students complained especially as it had nothing to do with the course topic. She's now suing for wrongful termination.

My son is in high school and he often tells me of a teacher who tries to teach liberal ideas as fact in the classroom. He's lucky in that when he tells me what has been said I tell him the other viewpoint and often the facts. He's also lucky in that he has had some teachers that have been quite honest that the books they have to use are biased and sometimes downright wrong.

Unfortunately, many students (I see them every day at school) have not had parents who teach them otherwise or have only had the broadcast news as their sole basis of news.

I'm lucky in that I'm at an institution that doesn't hold it against me that I'm a conservative. I do my job and that's all that matters. But if I were elsewhere I doubt I'd have this much liberty.

Students are beginning to wise up though. That's why we seeing things like in Colorado happen.

Posted by AF Lady 2004-1-19 6:53:37 PM|| 2004-1-19 6:53:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Hey all. I go to a college that is thought of as very liberal, in a politically liberal city (Boston). While I am a democrat, I am a moderate to conservative one, and found that I have gotten more conservative during my time here on many issues. I have also at one point or another debated with many professors on political topics where they were much further to the left than I was (the war in Iraq for example, which I supported). Sometimes these debates happened in class, and I never once thought that my views put me in any danger of not doing well in a certain class. While most of my Professors tend to be more liberal, they dont push their views on you, and have always been open to healthy debate on said views. Maybe this isn't widespread, but I think as a whole Professors arent going to be overly aggressive with their views.

Posted by Anonymous 2004-1-19 7:32:46 PM|| 2004-1-19 7:32:46 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 CF: Your comment regarding someone being physically threatened sounds just like a case at a local high school. The president of a conservative student group must be escorted to every class as a result of physical threats. A high school fer cryin' out loud. Police have been called to break up some serious disturbances as a result. I thought the Libs were all about "inclusiveness", "free speech" and let's not forget ..."tolerence". Did I miss a memo somewhere?

Posted by Rex Mundi 2004-1-19 8:00:53 PM|| 2004-1-19 8:00:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 "There are a lot more important issues, specifically, how are we going to be able to keep Colorado colleges and universities from going bankrupt.â

By revoking tenure. Market-based solutions at their finest!

Posted by Raj 2004-1-19 8:22:08 PM|| [http://angrycyclist.blogspot.com] 2004-1-19 8:22:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Eventually the market will begin to provide conservative alternatives to the annoyingly liberal indoctrinators. Students will begin to vote with their feet. Sucessful capitalist alumni will begin to withhold donations. Most of the successful administrators keep a wetted finger in the air and will begin to leash the real kooks once ballot initiatives begin to appear.

Posted by Super Hose 2004-1-19 9:37:33 PM|| 2004-1-19 9:37:33 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Revoking tenure is one option. Having school Vouchers for public K-12 schools is another.

Posted by CrazyFool 2004-1-19 9:53:02 PM|| 2004-1-19 9:53:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 This is from a Curmudgeonly posting on 1/15 about Chapel Hill (It's not France but it could be) and frogistan (which is a read itself):

"This doesn't surprise me at all. I almost got thrown out of my Anthropology class last semester for calling "bullshit" on the instructor when she started lauding Chomsky and Charlie Rose(!) as pillars of modern thinking. Academia is rife with these folks, and they are ceaseless and shameless in their pursuit of the liberal agenda.

Side note: I just started a Contemporary Lit class the other day, and the instructor gave a quiz:

1) What it the only country who has ever exploded an atomic weapon in anger?

2) Which country possesses the most WMDs?

3) Does Islam recognize the Christian God?

4) When is the last time the US declared war?

There were six more, along the same lines, but I was so effing pissed off I can't remember them. This kind of shit in a LITERATURE class!"

Steve

Posted by Anonymous2U 2004-1-19 11:29:23 PM|| 2004-1-19 11:29:23 PM|| Front Page Top

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