Posted on 06/30/2004 6:14:29 AM PDT by Gefreiter
Enjoy perilous work? Try being a conservative on a college campus in Massachusetts. This is a story of how I was--almost--done in by the politically correct crowd. In April 2000 my career as an economics teacher at Smith College looked bright. Despite my having published only one academic article in four years, my department liked my teaching and "strongly" recommended me for reappointment. I was extremely productive over the next two and a half years, publishing five additional academic articles and a book. In 2002, however, my department voted to fire me by denying tenure. Why? I believe it was because after April 2000 I started espousing conservative viewpoints in op-ed articles.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
The short version: this fellow brought some heat to the lefty mafia at Smith, a prestigious all-women's private college. He also has some concrete ideas about bringing conservative thought to students.
PS- it made sense to include this article in the "crime/corruption" topic, given the nakedly scandalous manner by which lefties run higher ed.
The biggest difference between the right and the left. The left seeks to silence all opposition; the right will take the opposition head-on. The reason for both sides is the same: the right will always triumph over the left when they are placed side-by-side.
later
While I have no doubt that politics plays a role in tenure decisions, one might point out that there are academic departments where five publication over two and a half years would be considered unacceptable.
I am familiar with an academic medicine department where the mantra from the chairman was "three a year, or we see your rear."
John / Billybob
Disgusting. If he values quantity over quality, that's exactly what he will get.
If he was smart, he would have kept his mouth shut until after he obtained tenure.
MC,
Smith, like most any institution, does have alot of good things going for it. Still, I think that if the kids show up reasonably well-adjusted and confident in their beliefs- whatever they are- they will do fine and not be swayed by the PC winds of the moment.
Full boat at Smith, and peer schools (Amherst, Williams, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, etc etc), is just short of $40,000 this year, and will likely crack $40k either next year or the year after. But with generous financial aid from the school and the feds, parents may only have to shell out about $27,000, as you predict!
I spent some time on the Smith campus when I was a student at MIT. There's lesbians on that campus for sure, but trust me, they're not ALL lesbians.
PS- I'm not sure Smith still requires SATs. A few of the small privates have dropped them entirely. Many others no longer require them, but applicants can submit SATs if they wish.
But you must realize that things like standardized tests do not go down well at institutions like Smith, where sufficient diversity and sufficiently influential parents can overcome many admissions obstacles. In fact, applicants have a big leg up the poorer they are- SATs be damned.
Have a look at "Admissions Confidential" by Rachel Toor.
Heh, no they are not. And in considering Smith one must also bear in mind the population of LUGs and BUGs vs. true lesbians.
MC,
FairTest takes a stab at it with an alpha list:
http://www.fairtest.org/optinit.htm#anchor120441
As you'll see, the list includes not only schools that do not require the SAT for admission, but also schools which DO use the SAT for class ranking or other statistical purposes, or for certain programs.
Check the fine print in the footnotes for particular schools. Small privates like Mount Holyoke, Bates, and Bowdoin don't require them but will consider them if included with application materials; Middlebury doesn't require an SAT IF you can produce an SAT II; and the more well known privates like Harvard and Yale are conspicuously absent.
First time I'm seeing this list and it's pretty interesting.
Oh, and:
"There is no important educational result that cannot be obtained at schools that are cheaper and less PC than Smith."
No argument about that, but with Smith, as with any "elite" school, what you're really paying for is the alumnae connections afterwards.
I did, too. Not only are they not all lesbians, some are some of the time. ;-)~
Requirements for All Applicants
Official score reports from the SAT I or ACT, and three SAT II Subject Tests. Harvard College official codes are 3434 for the SAT I and SAT II (the College Board) and 1840 for the ACT. When registering for tests, please use your name as it will appear on your Harvard application.
http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/applying/requirements/
FairTest is run by commies who are upset because different ethnic groups have different medians. They would rather blame the test than deal with reality.
SAT is the single best indicator of college success. The fact that the SATs of Smith are no where near the level of elite schools is telling.
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