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Teacher Support for the Duke Players
Time ^ | 1/6/07 | PAUL CUADROS

Posted on 01/06/2007 10:46:32 AM PST by freespirited

Now the teachers are going at each other. Shortly after members of the Duke University Lacrosse team were accused of rape last March, 88 faculty members signed an open letter which appeared in the student newspaper sympathizing with the accuser. Now, after the case against the students appears to be falling apart, 17 members of the economics department faculty have sent a letter to the student newspaper expressing their support for the players, and stating in part, "We regret that the Duke faculty is now seen as prejudiced against certain of its own students.y´

The latest open letter comes after a lacrosse team member filed a lawsuit against the university alleging the school and his political science professor intentionally failed him after rape case was made public. The student, Kyle Dowd. was not charged in the case but had to take time out from class for meetings with his attorney. His teacher, Kim Curtis, a visiting associate professor who specializes in political and feminist theory, was one of the faculty members who signed the Group of 88 letter.

Until now, no faculty member at Duke had come out to support the players. Roy Weintraub, an economics professor at Duke, drafted this week's letter. "It was something that had been bothering me for a while, that the Duke faculty was being characterized as being hostile to its own students, especially statements by faculty members that have been construed that way," Weintraub told TIME. "I wanted to make sure that there was some expression that students are welcomed in our class, including lacrosse players, students in good standing."

The university this week reinstated in good standing two of the players — Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann — after rape charges were dropped. They are still charged with sexual assault and kidnapping. One player — David Evans — has already graduated.

As for Kyle Dowd's lawsuit, it alleges that Curtis purposely failed the student after the rape case was made public. Curtis told her students they would be graded on three class papers and class participation, with each counting 25% of the final grade. Dowd received a C-plus and C-minus on two papers before the case came to light. He received an F in class participation for missing the last month of class, according to an email Curtis sent to Dowd. Dowd says he had to miss five classes because he was meeting with attorneys in the case. Another lacrosse player in the class also received an F. They were the only two students to fail Curtis's class. Duke University has now accepted credits Dowd had earned at another university and allowed him to graduate; the school also changed his F in Curtis's class to a D, citing a "calculation error." Dowd and his family want the university to change the D to a P, for passed.

Dowd's younger brother Craig was expected to enroll at Duke last fall on a lacrosse scholarship, but he turned it down and will enroll at Georgetown University this spring. "We didn't feel like we could send him to Duke with everything that was going on," Tricia Dowd, his mother, told a local newspaper. "We love Duke ... but we didn't know what the professors would do."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dukeeconomicsdept; dukelax; gangof88
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To: cpdiii

True -- but here in Kalifornicate, even the sciences are coming under attack by the woolly heads.

I spent a lot of time in the 80's, visiting colleges within a large radius of Silicon Valley - attempting to hire engineering graduates and business majors.. The range of lunacy was shocking....

In Kalifornicate, in the 80's -- by far the most seriously afflicted were Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz...

The most rational and encouraging Kalifornicate schools were Caltech Pasadena and Loyola Marymount University. Out of state - I hired heavily out of Brigham Young, Northwestern and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

I'm pleased to observe - that many of my personal hires went on to join the most senior ranks of management within the company I hired them into - or companies that lured them away over time... The names of these companies, would be known by EVERYONE in the forum..

Science is NOT immune from tinkering --- witness the Global Warming "science" and the "scientists" like Algore and the Hollywood actors who now claim expertise in the earth sciences....

Semper Fi


21 posted on 01/06/2007 12:09:36 PM PST by river rat (You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: patton

The MSM must accept a lot of the blame for this outrage. It has seldom been reported that, when the "victim" was found incoherent and passed out in the car, the police took her in and were going to send her to a treatment program. Her only escape from the treatment center was to cry rape.


22 posted on 01/06/2007 12:10:36 PM PST by Liberty Wins (Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of all who threaten it.)
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To: sodpoodle

noun


23 posted on 01/06/2007 12:13:16 PM PST by sodpoodle (There are more sparrows than eagles!)
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To: outofstyle
Witness the number of accomplished scientists who have willingly tolerated the junk science surrounding climate change.

You are mistaken about this. Those that get on the Global Warming band wagon are those that get the headlines and grants. The media chooses not to give air time to the real scientists. A friend of mine (MIT meteorologist graduate) recently returned from a seminar of meteorologists and the overwhelming consensus was that we have had a very minor warming this century that is in line with past climate variations. They did not support the theory of runaway CO2 induced global warming.

24 posted on 01/06/2007 12:13:56 PM PST by cpdiii (Oil Field Trash and proud of it, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist, Iconoclast)
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To: Proud_USA_Republican
Liberals always knife each other in the back eventually.

Let the Blame Game begin. This is going to be funny to watch!

25 posted on 01/06/2007 12:14:54 PM PST by vox humana
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To: Cicero
The problem is that they are all liberal! If you go to an institution like Duke a student cannot take any values other than liberal ones with them. If one makes the mistake of not conforming then the grades will suffer. Most of these so-called professors (well educated but without common sense) want to use papers because the grading is subjective and not easily challenged. That is why one always hears about the "BAD" practice of using objective tests. Thus the bias against SAT etc. The introduction of the writing sample was not to improve the test but allow graders to skew the result based on content and area from where the student was tested. Thus insuring better results for "minorities". If one looks at the correlation between scores on writing sample versus the objective portion of the test the clear skew can be validated.
26 posted on 01/06/2007 12:16:42 PM PST by georgiarat
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To: river rat

River Rat, see my post 24. There is some sanity left.


27 posted on 01/06/2007 12:16:49 PM PST by cpdiii (Oil Field Trash and proud of it, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist, Iconoclast)
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To: Cicero

Unfortunately, in many cases students have no choice but take some courses such as these, as they are requirements for any degree and all of the faculty members are stark raving leftist moonbats. In those cases, the student has a choice to make - keep his/her mouth shut, regurgitate the left wing propaganda and get out with the easy A, or challenge the professor and resign himself/herself to a lower grade, or even a failing grade.


28 posted on 01/06/2007 12:17:17 PM PST by CFC__VRWC (AIDS, abortion, euthanasia - Don't liberals just kill ya?)
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To: Cicero

Maybe he took the class because some girl was taking it. I've done that. Homework can be fun.


29 posted on 01/06/2007 12:20:41 PM PST by RobbyS ( CHI)
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To: freespirited
Kim Curtis, a visiting associate professor who specializes in political and feminist theory

It's amazing the stuff people can manage to get paid for.

30 posted on 01/06/2007 12:22:28 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
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To: pieceofthepuzzle

If there were some way objectively to measure outcomes, probably many less know schools provide better instruction than the Ivies etc. The students at the Ivies probably have more natural talent and they certainly profit by mingling with other talented, well-connected kids. But the best students at many other colleges certainly can compete with most Ivy School graduates. Still, the old school tie means a lot.


31 posted on 01/06/2007 12:25:47 PM PST by RobbyS ( CHI)
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To: CFC__VRWC

That happened to my son in his first year Political Science class; despite being warned by me in advance to keep his thoughts to himself, he evidently had enough the day the professor spend the entire period telling these students just how to apply for aid since they were all so poor and had no income, never mind their parents were footing the bill!

F.


32 posted on 01/06/2007 12:27:04 PM PST by Howlin (Not voting GOP was like being thirsty but not drinking since the glass is only 75% full ~~SoCalPol)
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To: Republican Wildcat

She's been a visiting professor for TEN YEARS.

What does that tell you?


33 posted on 01/06/2007 12:27:57 PM PST by Howlin (Not voting GOP was like being thirsty but not drinking since the glass is only 75% full ~~SoCalPol)
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To: freespirited


...only now are they coming out in support of the students? Only now that it won't cost them anything?

If I was one of the players I'd tell these a$$hole$ to stick it - where were you 9 months ago WHEN I NEEDED YOU?


34 posted on 01/06/2007 12:30:24 PM PST by Tzimisce (How Would Mohammed Vote? Hillary for President! www.dndorks.com)
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To: river rat

Global warning science is about on the same level as astrology. Act the premise, and a whole complex of theories can be constructed.


35 posted on 01/06/2007 12:32:08 PM PST by RobbyS ( CHI)
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To: pieceofthepuzzle
. . . university education will be challenged very strongly by electronic / Internet curricula.

Good point. In the best of all capitalist worlds, people will purchase the superior product. Remember that in Adam Smith's time the students paid their professors directly, with no administrative middleman in between.

36 posted on 01/06/2007 12:35:38 PM PST by Liberty Wins (Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of all who threaten it.)
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To: Republican Wildcat

"Kim Curtis, a *visiting* [contracted-not a permanent staff member signs a petition] associate professor who specializes in *political and feminist theory* [specializes in far-left educational thought/perspectives]


37 posted on 01/06/2007 12:43:30 PM PST by Goldie Lurks (professional moonbat catcher)
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To: Howlin

I clicked your link, read the professor's "excuse", and was disgusted. An academic should be ashamed to blame society's ills on innocent men because of their skin color. BTW, calling the black dancer a "hooker" is perpetuating a stereotype, isn't it?


38 posted on 01/06/2007 12:51:17 PM PST by ZOOKER ( How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?)
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To: freespirited

What right did the teacher's have to judge before the trial anyway?


39 posted on 01/06/2007 1:13:13 PM PST by Hildy (Words are mere bubbles of water...but deeds are drops of gold.)
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To: freespirited
Research on "Professor" Kim Davis:

A Google search reveals that this monster supported Bill Clinton's sexual harassment of women (because of all he allegedly did for the womens movement he deserved a pass) AND denounced efforts to blame 9-11 on muslims... that the US government was somehow responsible.

A typical Stalinist moonbat of the worst sort, and a thug in the classroom full of poor students required to take her preposterous mandatory PC courses.

Official photo of this beast from Duke faculty pictures:


40 posted on 01/06/2007 1:18:44 PM PST by FormerACLUmember
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