The Academic Bill of Rights

No one has yet responded to one point I made in the previous thread.
Is not this whole Bill of Rights an insult to the students themselves? It seems to subsume they are all maleable little robots prime for indoctination and, consequently, in need of protection from nefarious professors with a political agenda to program them with leftist ideas. However, those of us actually involved in academia seem to readily recognize that it is the proponents of this bill who have the political agenda. Yet another instance of the tried-and-true neo-con ploy - accuse the other side of what you are in fact doing yourself.This message has been edited by EZscience, 06-10-2005 07:08 AM

Yes, and we are still waiting for some evidence of unfair grading practices linked, I might add, to conflicting political or religious beliefs. No, they don't. They have ample time to judge the professor and drop the class before they get graded on it. I have dropped courses, as many students do, based on an early evaluation of a professor and the quality of the curriculum. The student is paying for his/her education and has some degree of control over what courses to take in order to satisfy degree requirements. Come on Faith. No professor would do that. It just doesn't happen. You can get just as good marks on an essay taking either of two opposing viewpoints. Grades are much more based on 'how' you argue your case, 'how' you access and utilize available resources and literature, than on 'what' particular viewpoint you take. The emphasis is always on teaching a process of reasoning and critical thinking, *not* on teaching a point of view. That would be dogmatic and run counter to what virtually everyone's concept of higher education is.Let's not confuse the stating or revealing of personal opinions with 'intimidation', indoctrination' and all these other irresponsible terms that Horowitz has been throwing around. He doesn't give enough credit to the students themselves. They are not impressionable little babes. College campuses have always been the hotbeds of political dissent - and this is usually more a function of student opposition to the status quo than it is any kind of faculty movement.(added in edit) Actually, in the vein of "Bush, the war criminal", this reminds me of the overt protests against the start of the Iraq war on KSU campus. The signs put up by activist students opposing the war were much bigger and more prominent than any political cartoon on a professor's door.This message has been edited by EZscience, 06-10-2005 08:38 AM

This relates back to a reported complaint about a 'left-wing' professor who assigned an exam question purportedly asking students to explain why Bush is a war criminal.

Sour grapes that the neo-conservative movement has few competent academics within their ranks capable of competing for faculty positions on the basis of scholarly merit alone.