[flixxx]

Estrich grates on my like fingernails on a chalkboard (are there any chalkboards even left in school?).

About the only point I agree with is that taping classroom discussions without the knowledge of the professor is inappropriate...though I know that I am being taped for 'noteservice' or other reasons...

I do not see it has a swipe against 'academic freedom'...as usualy she is frothing at the mouth over this.

[Free Dominoes]

Why the hell doesn't someone create conservative universities? There must be a market for kids and parents who don't want to line the pockets of these commies and subject themselves or their kids to this crap.

[goodnesswins]

"Nothing said in the classroom leaves the classroom"

So, says Estrich.....well, ain't that sweet. So, if I want to discuss her lectures with someone else, or a parent, or the Republican Party, she forbids it? My My My, and she considers THAT freedom of speech???? HA.

[RonF]

Estrich needs to read a dictionary and look up the word "censor".

Censorship occurs when a governmental authority prevents the dissemination of information. This involves neither government action nor the prevention of dissemination of information. Therefore it fails on both counts and is not censorship.

Now, if the statements of these professors being made public causes them to be ridiculed, or challenged to back up their assertions with logic and facts, and if they then feel inhibited from voicing opinions they can't support in such a fashion; that's the essence of free speech, the antithesis of censorship!

[RonF]

I have sent the following e-mail as a letter to the Editors at Newsmax:

Ms. Estrich titled her 1/20/06 column "Censoring Liberal Professors". I suggest that she read a dictionary and look up the word "censor".

Censorship occurs when a governmental authority prevents the dissemination of information. The act of taping professors' lectures and publishing them involves neither government action nor the prevention of dissemination of information. Therefore it fails on both counts and is not censorship.

Now, if the statements of these professors being made public causes them to be ridiculed, or challenged to back up their assertions with logic and facts, and if they then feel inhibited from voicing opinions they can't support in such a fashion; that's the essence of free speech! That's how the marketplace of ideas is supposed to work. This is the antithesis of censorship!

It seems Ms. Estrich would hold that the only people who have a right to challenge the ideas presented in a classroom would be the students in it. Why? Why should only the youngest and most inexperienced of us have a right to evaluate and comment on what's being presented to teach the best and the brightest of our youngest generation? Why shouldn't the taxpayers have a right to evaluate what a professor at a state-supported institution have to say? Why should a professor have a right to present their opinions as facts without intellectual challenge from the public?

Ms. Estrich says that the professors' lectures are copyrighted by them and that they cannot be legally disseminated in this fashion. Seems that what she's looking to do is to use government action to block the dissemination of information. Now THAT'S censorship! Perhaps someone should look into this. It seems to me that if the taxpayers pay for these lectures, then the taxpayers own the rights to them, not the professors.

[Flavius Josephus]

Nothing said in the classroom leaves the classroom.

She has "Vegas Rules" in her classrooms, but the complains about people coming back on professors who engage in political hate speech and racism. She so crazy.

[Brucifer]

I give my students permission to tape me if they ask. However, it would be too much of a pain to tape every class regardless of the reason. I think that while the days of the screaming liberal professors are not over, the students are far less inclined to pay attention to them. If you want students to write a certain way for a grade most of them will do it just to get through the class. They do not respect professors that beat them over the head with politics.

Having said that, you have just got to see the look of relief on some of my students' faces when they discover that not only does their hippie English professor vote conservative, he thinks everyone should have an assault weapon and know how to use it. I'm not an ideologue, wouldn't be prudent. We come to my class to learn, not beat people up for various heretical opinions. And to be sure, you can enjoy the subject and learn at the same time. If I do my job properly, and teach them to find the truth on their own, they won't turn stupid or Liberal when the semester is over. Teach a student to fish... well you get it. I'd say more, (and maybe rewrite) but then I'd be late to class. Don't worry about the students so much. From where I stand, I think we're winning!

[longtermmemmory]

students have been taping professors for decades in order take better notes for study.

The comments of professors are not "private" they are PAID for.