(no subject)

[electricland]

On the Academic Bill of Rights (horrible name) via bookslut:

Consider the statements of Dennis Baxley, a Florida legislator who has sponsored a bill that - like similar bills introduced in almost a dozen states - would give students who think that their conservative views aren't respected the right to sue their professors. Mr. Baxley says that he is taking on "leftists" struggling against "mainstream society," professors who act as "dictators" and turn the classroom into a "totalitarian niche." His prime example of academic totalitarianism? When professors say that evolution is a fact.

...

Scientific American may think that evolution is supported by mountains of evidence, but President Bush declares that "the jury is still out." Senator James Inhofe dismisses the vast body of research supporting the scientific consensus on climate change as a "gigantic hoax." And conservative pundits like George Will write approvingly about Michael Crichton's anti-environmentalist fantasies.

Think of the message this sends: today's Republican Party - increasingly dominated by people who believe truth should be determined by revelation, not research - doesn't respect science, or scholarship in general. It shouldn't be surprising that scholars have returned the favor by losing respect for the Republican Party.

Conservatives should be worried by the alienation of the universities; they should at least wonder if some of the fault lies not in the professors, but in themselves. Instead, they're seeking a Lysenkoist solution that would have politics determine courses' content.

Hey cretkid! If this kind of thing gets around, you could get sued for teaching that the Earth is more than 6,000 years old! Wouldn't that be fun?

Read The Whole Thing.

Comments

[lietya.livejournal.com]

GRRRRR!!

Why is it that these people squawk so loudly about totalitarianism while trying to subjugate the rest of us to their will?!

[electricland.livejournal.com]

It's all very creepily Orwellian...

[metawidget]

Propagation of willful ignorance on this scale in minors should be included in the definition of child abuse.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Nonono. Marking their papers with a red pen is child abuse. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/fairoriana/527069.html) That's the teachers' fault too.

[metawidget]

eep.

Crazy world out there!

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

*head*

*deak*

I swear, you post these things on purpose just to make me insane.

[cretkid.livejournal.com]

I swear, you post these things on purpose just to make me insane.

a noble cause, I'm sure.

heeeeeeeee!

yeah, let my students sue me. They're paying somewhere on the order of $150 an HOUR for the honor of sitting in my class. They are PAYING me to teach them evolution of the earth, not evolution according to the Bible. Hee! (and that's not even counting the lab time they spend fretting over rocks!)

I was once asked to put geologic time in the span of formation of the earth according to Genesis. And I did. Each 'day' was close to 250,000,000 years long. that particular individual stopped asking questions after that.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I bet his/her feelings were REALLY HURT, you mean person.

*chortle*

[cretkid.livejournal.com]

when you've got geologic evidence to not only support the destruction of the Temple (earthquake studies) and Noah's Flood (Black Sea), it's kinda hard NOT to mess with their minds.

that, and throw in that time is relative... :D

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I don't! I don't! Or, at least, only on the "misery loves company" plan.

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

You totally do it on purpose, you're just as bad as FBF--using me for your own base amusement. *sniff*

[kernezelda]

Ooh, can I use you for my base amusement, too?

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

gods. *headdesk*

*multiple headdesks*

really, if i say anything i'll end up ranting. ack.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

yep...

[kernezelda]

This goes right along with the red-pen idiocy and the growing trend away from competition in some schools. Everyone's okay, everyone's got something to offer - that's fine, but some people can't read, can't do math, can't comprehend standardized tests. These kids don't need support and encouragement, they need to crack their books and study, and their parents need to suck it up and help them.

/rant

Sorry.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Sing it, sister.

I mean, YES everyone's opinion is valuable, YES you should be able to give your opinion in class without being ridiculed (although if you start saying 2+2=5, I may make an exception). But saying "if I don't like or agree with something you teach me in class, I'm going to sue you" -- not productive. You are there to be educated and to be exposed to points of view other than your own, children. This is something that ought to be handled with academic codes of conduct.