Posted on 05/22/2002 5:09:31 AM PDT by unbiasedtruth
Edited on 05/25/2004 2:46:37 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
They disagree on who is at fault. They blame each other.
The professor, a black woman, banned Gardner, a white graduate student, from the class in February and compared him to a white supremacist. The university backed the professor.
Gardner is still fighting the decision, nearly two weeks after final examinations.
(Excerpt) Read more at dmregister.com ...
The last sentence rings true, "there is no free speech in many classrooms," especially in colleges and universities. But I don't believe professors should have free reign to make charges against an entire race or culture and not allow opposing points of view.
Thoughts...
A make work class for clueless professors.
I chuckle at this student, who did practically the same thing I did that long ago. But in my day, at least we were entitled to an opinion, even if it meant a rotten grade or a reputation as a "troublemaker." I remember telling "Radio Mouth" Jack Shelley that I thought Ben Bagdikian was a communist and Marshall MacLuan was an overrated windbag. I also speculated that Benjamin Bradlee and Katherine Graham were simply thugs with a pen, and Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were their assassins.
Not exactly endearing comments in the heyday of the Washington Post, with Watergate fresh on the country's mind and pretentious Midwestern journalism professors crowing about The Press as though that institution was anything but a cathouse full of second-rate whores.
Let's look at it from the other perspective. Are there ANY university schools of journalism that DON'T have a "decidedly leftist cant"???
"Hi, my name is Ms. White, and I'm a lesbian.."
I was writing down her name, and I tossed the pen in the air and went "HEY!!!"....
needless to say I was known as the "angry white man" for the rest of the semester. I passed the class too. : )
First of all, with a title like that, how could the class turn into anything but a "racial battleground"? The professor appears to be lamenting the fact that someone presented views contrary to hers in what is clearly a non-academic (read: opinion based) course. As for keeping students from learning, learning what? Courses like this abound throughout American universities, and though they purport to "teach", they are merely exercises in spin. Their intention is not to expand or provoke thought, it is to marginalize conservative views and squelch independent ideas.
We ran into a similar situation with my daughter. She called crying. She had been given an assignment to compare two pieces of "literature" in her intro to literature class when she was a freshman. Both were offensive and bordered on filth. After reading the list of books that the class was to cover during the semester, I became furious!!!
This was no more an intro to literature 101 class than "feminist studies" is an intro to economics. I made an appointment with the Dean. I heard the standard mantra.
"We believe that the "life experiences" of the Professor should reflect and do reflect what they choose to focus on.
My answer was, if white male bashing and pornography is the only "life experience" of this professor, she should never have been asked to teach Intro to American literature. She should have been put in "feminist studies.".
Dean: "The students need a broad range of education. We realize that sometimes this is offensive to Conservative Christian parents, but is part of education.
My answer: "Don't even go in that direction. Whether I am personally offended by the nature of the pornographic material covered by the Professor is not the issue. The issue is "Truth in advertising." This class should never have been titled "Intro to American Literature". It should have been titled "Intro to feminist authors who hate men".
He stated that parents no longer have input into the college system. Just students.
I stated that just because my daughter is away from home, she is only 19 and I was footing the bill. By cashing my check each month, they had entered into a contractual agreement to educate my daughter. This gives them the responsibility to ensure that the class is not bogus.
I then pulled out a list of materials used by other colleges for the same class, and showed him hte difference. Instead of my daughter getting a broad view of American Literature, she was getting a narrow view of feminist hatred.
I complained that professor was difficult to understand because of her accent, and the very least they should hire professors that have a good command of the English language to teach English. "hello" - who ever heard of non-English speaking people teaching English. I showed where 40% of the gradw was to be grammer, and the professor had made 22 grammatical errors in the class expectations.
We have to allow the professors to teach the class the way they want to, he said.
I ended with, "Maybe you should add to her "life experiences" by requiring her to read some more American Literature besides feminist hate mongers. Maybe you should give her diction lessons to broaden her "life experiences". Maybe you should send her to a remedial grammer class to give her more "life experiences" As a long as your university accepts my tax dollars, then you have the responsibility to ensure quality education. "Maybe the professor needs to get out in the real world and work for private indidustry so htat she can broaden her life experiences." I will be going to the Higher Education commission about this. Maybe I can broaden your life experiences by doing that.
Anyway, I got to read lots of what my mom would call "dirty books," but they all seemed to showcase how unfulfilling sex was for a woman- at least until the female protagonist tripped over someone with two X chromosomes, no morals and an operable tongue. It kind of ran contrary to what I'd seen of the world, but I suppose it's not far-fetched for academia. That particular professor subsequently converted to vagitarianism, but I'm sure she had a good explanation for hubby and the kids. She and the hyphenated shoulder chip in the story are just part of why I don't want my kid to go to any of Iowa's state universities.
Assistant Professor Tracey Owens Patton holds a BA in both Speech Communication and German from Colorado State University, an MA in Speech Communication with an emphasis in rhetoric from Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. in Communication with an emphasis in Intercultural Communication and Communication Education from the University of Utah. She teaches Intercultural Communication and Interpersonal Communication. Dr. Owens Patton's research has been published in Howard Journal of Communications, Communication Theory, and she has co-written 2 educational videos that deal with issues focusing on body image and racism and interracial friendships and relationships. Dr. Owens Patton has also presented competitive research papers at leading communication conventions sponsored by the National Communication Association (NCA), Western States Communication Association (WSCA) and Colorado Speech Communication Association (CSCA). Dr. Owens Patton's research interests are intercultural cultural communication with a largely domestic focus that examines class, ethnicity, gender, media, policy, race, racism, sexism, and white supremacy. Her interest in Communication Education examines how the aforementioned issues can impact the classroom, education, and the university campus. She is particularly interested in university diversity requirements and whether they impact diversity or if they maintain the current status quo. Dr. Owens Patton is a member of the graduate faculty.
This class just sounds like can of worms. Teacher can't support her PoV, so she kicks out the student with differing views to continue her indoctrination of the class.
The college classroom should be a place for the exchange of ideas not indoctrination.
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