Posted on 08/22/2006 9:55:15 PM PDT by SandRat
The University of Arizona started class Monday amid questions nationwide about whether college professors are too Liberal.
This year and again next year Arizona legislators say they'll try to tame what they see as left-leaning professors at state universities.
Among the Conservatives' moves:
Lawmakers tried, but failed, to pass a bill that would allow college students to refuse assignments they find sexually offensive.
Republican representative Russell Pearce wants to introduce an "Academic Bill of Rights" next year aimed at keeping Liberal bias out of classrooms.
A law passed last spring requires schools to display the U.S. flag and constitution in every classroom.
At the University of Arizona, junior Michael Huston says, "It's very clear that the majority of professors are more left-leaning than right-leaning."
But Huston says that doesn't bother him, even though he's Conservative and cochair of the Arizona Federation of College Republicans.
Huston says, "I don't have a problem with that as long as the professor is considering alternatives and providing the class with an opportunity to discuss other viewpoints."
Huston does not believe Arizona needs law to tame Liberal professors.
He says, "I think that you would be entering a very slippery slope."
UA librarian Robert Mitchell agrees. He's UA Faculty Vice Chair.
Mitchell says, "It would create an unholy, if I can use that expression, mess from the faculty perspective."
Mitchell asks, "Where would you draw the line? If somebody wanted to be a Biology major, but they said they didn't believe in evolution, would you therefore be obliged to set up a curriculum that taught Creation Science?"
The UA has 37,000 students. Mitchell estimates one or two a year complain about course assignments.
Mitchell says, "The way the UA's dealt with that is to pass a syllabus policy that simply asks professors to put down in writing what it is the students are going to have to read, watch, do."
Then, he says, if they object, they can drop the class.
Mitchell says, "There's no reason to spin a cocoon around students in the 18-to-22-year-old age bracket and insulate them from reality."
But UA faculty acknowlege it could happen as Conservatives nationwide push laws to stop Liberals from having what they consider unhealthy influence on young minds.
This shold be fun in a mid-term election year leading up to the Presidential Race.
In AZ IMHO, this is a non-issue. It won't affect the election here one way or the other. Especially because the State is becoming more Democratic by the minute. (mostly because of an influx of liberal and minority voters).
"questions"???
A person buying an education product has a right to an education product, and not have a tenured professor use his position to go off on political diatribes unrelated to the class material. That's a reasonable restriction to put on what a professor may do. If a doctor or laywer performed their jobs as poorly as most lefty professors do, they would not be allowed to continue their practices for long.
They're not liberal - Universities show every side: Leninism, Stalism, Trotskism and Maoism. What else is there?
Islamism
Here's an idea that the Conservative representatives in Arizona may not have thought of. Put conservatives in the University's administration, then you may start getting more conservative leaning faculty. Oh, never mind, that's right the old addage is those that can do and those that can't teach, and since most liberals can't they teach, LOL.
Bump for later
lol
Well, if they even had to ask the question they have lost the war before the first battle.
Imagine, PhDs too stupid to even see what's happening before their own eyes. They have to ask questions and have surveys.
Here, I will save the taxpayers a lot of money in wasted trips, surveys, meetings and waste of time and money in this wonderful pursuit...THE ANSWER IS....Y E S !
"There's no reason to spin a cocoon around students in the 18-to-22-year-old age bracket and insulate them from reality."
Oh yeah, like college professors understand reality!
Seriously, though, DH. I am a conservative college professor. I can imagine that an academic bill of rights will be used to silence ME, while my liberal colleagues will keep on spouting on tripe without check or balance.
They don't play by the rules. Only conservatives get hurt by more rules.
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