thoma@reed.UUCP (Ann Muir Thomas) (08/25/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH A RADICAL RIGHT-WINGER *** I would like to know what people out there think of the new group "Accuracy in Academia". If you don't already know, AinA is supposedly going to be a "watchdog" group that will investigate the "accuracy" of what professors are saying in America's Universities. In reality, this group is closely connected with one of the big right-wing "think tanks". A representative of AinA (who, unfortunately, resembled 'Yoda' from _The Empire Strikes Back_ in looks, if not in philosophy *8-)) appeared on the MacNiel- Lehrer Report (no spelling flames please!) last Friday, along with the president of the American Association of University Professors. My general impression is that AinA believes that the universities are dominated by Marxists, and thus represent a grave danger to the "American Way". As the AAUP president pointed out, something like 2-3% of university professors are avowed radical left-wingers, and a similar professor are radical right-wingers. He also said that the present "internal" system of control is adequate for college professors. This seems like a good topic for discussion. Ann-Muir Thomas ...tektronix!reed!thoma
GMP@psuvm.BITNET (09/09/85)
In 1962 I worked at Washington State University. It was the time of the
infamous John Goldmark trial, the first wahoo of the John Birch Society, and I
was being watched by the Christian Anti-Communist Crusade of Kellogg, Idaho, an
apparent progenitor of the Aryan Nation. They had people recording my lectures
and playing them back. I was a registered Republican, a member of the minis-
terium, and an associate of the notorious (but then academic) S. I. Hayakawa.
I was pushed out of WSU, denied tenure, and picked up by a man named Oliver,
ghost writer to Synghman Rhee and relative of Revilo Oliver of Illinois, the
guiding guru of Robert Welch. Since then, I lost my conservative cast, became a
union president. During the Viet Nam days, I was a "haven for the hopelessly
overhung," drug educator, radical organizer, organizer of light shows, and such
like stuff. It hasn t been bad. I am grateful whenever anyone watches college
professors, friendly or not. We are interesting people and hardly anyone pays
attention to us. We are the Rodney Daingerfield's of professional life. I have
a grad student now from Liberty Baptist College. I hope he reports me to Falwe
ll. I have a grad student from Capetown. I hope she reports me to Boethe. I
want to be watched so send in my name. Call gmp at psuvm
devinney@sunybcs.UUCP (George DeVinney) (12/11/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE ***
I had first posted this only to our local net but was encouraged to
post it elsewhere. I felt that those at other Colleges ought to be
aware that these activities could be taking place on their campuses.
I am also advised that the person who has created this group was one
Reed Irvine who also founded Accuracy In The Media. The general idea
is that students make reports to an organization (in Washington?)
who then distributes names and information via a national news-letter
and (presumably) attempts to adversly effect the careers of certain
faculty.
Although it would seem not likely to effect the Computer
Science department or faculty, I feel compelled to comment
on the recent disclosure that students have been taping lec-
tures by 'liberally biased' professors for a group known as
Accuracy in Academia.
This alleged call for accuracy in teaching can only lead to
censureship and deprive us of the academic freedom so impor-
tant to free thought.
Any student not able to develop his own opinion of what he
hears in a lecture ought to consider if he belongs in col-
lege at all, much less in a major University. Do these peo-
ple think that we listen to lectures and simply regurgitate
what we hear? Hearing and exchanging views is how we all
learn. If faculty are lecturing with a fear of reprisal for
expressing their views, then we may as well skip classes and
learn only from those texts that some group deems fit for
our eyes.
I agree 100% with any persons right to challenge what he
hears in a classroom. However, we should disagree openly and
express these opinions in an forum for all to hear.
As a student of this University during the so called radical
70's, I found those classes where faculty were openly chal-
lenged to be the most interesting. No one seemed to feel the
need to report ultra- conservative professors to a self pro-
claimed monitor of academia.
It is a thousand times more important that we preserve
academic freedom than it is to become protective of what can
be discussed in classrooms.
My intent is not to have these people ejected from campus
but merely to show that at least some people see these tac-
tics as reminiscent of the McCarthy era. I do hope that
administration will never take seriously nor act on the
advice of groups who operate this way.
George DeVinney
Insert usual disclaimer that these views are my own. FBI/CIA agents
feel free to contact me for details.
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UUCP : {cmcl2,hao,harpo}!seismo!rochester!rocksvax!sunybcs!devinney |
...{allegra,decvax,watmath}!sunybcs!devinney |
CSNET : devinney@buffalo |
ARPA : devinney%buffalo@csnet-relay |
BITNET : devinney@sunybcs |
------------------------------------------------------------------------jeffw@midas.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) (09/09/86)
I can't believe all the fuss about this posting here! > The AIA is worth sponsering. It may appear to single out > liberal/leftist teachers, but this is not because of their > political leaning, rather, it is because they are the major > source of disinformation on campus. At least on my campus. Allow me to clear up a few mistakes and ambiguities, OK? > The AIA is worth sponsoring. It may appear to single out > liberal/leftist teachers, but this is not because of the AIA's > political leaning, rather, it is because the AIA is the major > source of disinformation on campus. At least on my campus. There. Is that better? Jeff Winslow PS to the Real Rich Rosen - your article made it here. Before anything it referred to did!
alan@mn-at1.UUCP (Alan Klietz) (09/11/86)
In article <652@midas.UUCP>, jeffw@midas.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) writes: > In article <2066@sdcsvax.UUCP> cs195@sdcsvax.UUCP (EECS 195) writes: > > > The AIA is worth sponsoring. It may appear to single out > > liberal/leftist teachers, but this is not because of their > > political leaning, rather, it is because they are the major > > source of disinformation on campus. At least on my campus. > > This is a joke, right? > > [Jeff Winslow] I took a survey course in European History. The first quarter covered the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. My TA gave our section the following class assignments, o Discuss the relationship between European serfdom and modern rural land practices in Guatemala and Honduras. o Identify some of the immediate and underlying causes of the rise of the Bourgeoisie in the 13th-16th centuries and their effects on the working class. o Compare the role of the Church in the lives of individuals in the 13th-16th centuries with the role of the state in a Marxist society. These were the only assignments given by the TA during the quarter. Approximately 30% of class time was spent discussing the events in Nicaragua. We did not cover Da Vinci, the Hapsburgs, New World Explo- ration, Rise of Spain, the Protestant Reformation, or anything else.
ilacqua@bucsb.bu.edu.UUCP (;-) (09/11/86)
In article <1061@kontron.UUCP> cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes: >> > The AIA is worth sponsering. It may appear to single out >> > liberal/leftist teachers, but this is not because of their >> > political leaning, rather, it is because they are the major >> > source of disinformation on campus. At least on my campus. >> > - Roger Bly Jr. >> >> This person should not be allowed to breed! > >Your ideas on eugenics have been tried before -- fortunately the >Allies won the war. ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) Good lord! Do you mean I have to fill sarcastic mesages with smilies for people who can figure it out for themselves. ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) There, understand now? -- +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | I never make mistakes. I thought I did once, but I was wrong. | |UUCP: ...!harvard!bu-cs!bucsb!ilacqua | |ARPANET: ilacqua@bucsb.bu.edu | |CSNET: ilacqua%bucsb@bu-cs BITNET: engemnc@bostonu | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
henry@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU (Henry Mensch) (09/12/86)
You only tell part of the story here. What did *you* do about this injustice? Did you complain to department chairpeople or curricula committees? There *are* places to take care of these problems before outfits like Accuracy in Academia. By the way, I'm still waiting for the material that I requested from them. When I get it, you'll see a summary here in net.college. Follow-ups will go there, too. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Henry Mensch | Technical Writer | MIT/Project Athena henry@athena.mit.edu ..!mit-eddie!mit-athena!henry
WDMCU@CUNYVM.BITNET (09/15/86)
In article <171@mn-at1.UUCP>, alan@mn-at1.UUCP (Alan Klietz) says:
>
>I took a survey course in European History. The first quarter
>covered the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.
>
>My TA gave our section the following class assignments,
>
> o Discuss the relationship between European serfdom and
> modern rural land practices in Guatemala and Honduras.
>
> o Identify some of the immediate and underlying causes of
> the rise of the Bourgeoisie in the 13th-16th centuries
> and their effects on the working class.
>
> o Compare the role of the Church in the lives of individuals
> in the 13th-16th centuries with the role of the state in
> a Marxist society.
>
>These were the only assignments given by the TA during the quarter.
These sound like very well thought out assignments. They give the students
a chance to do extensive research, to think about and compare medieval and
modern society, to consider what changes have occurred over the years and
in what ways societies have remained the same or similar.
>Approximately 30% of class time was spent discussing the events in
>Nicaragua.
That still gives us 70% of the time unaccounted for...what was discussed then?
>We did not cover Da Vinci, the Hapsburgs, New World Explo-
>ration, Rise of Spain, the Protestant Reformation, or anything else.
First: This was a survey course: not everything gets covered.
Second: What happened to independent study and intellectual curiosity.
Three: The assignments mentioned above would, if done properly, give one
a broad understanding of both the era in question AND a chance to see how
different historical eras connect; how history effects us today , etc.
Draw your own conclusions as to who was the more dogmatic: you or your TA.
/*--------------------------------------------------------------------*/
/* Bill Michtom - work: (212) 903-3685 */
/* */
/* WDMCU@CUNYVM (Bitnet) Timelessness is transient */
/* BILL@BITNIC (Bitnet) */
/* */
/* A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking. */
/*--------------------------------------------------------------------*/
jeffw@midas.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) (09/15/86)
In article <171@mn-at1.UUCP> alan@mn-at1.UUCP (Alan Klietz) writes: >In article <652@midas.UUCP>, jeffw@midas.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) writes: >> In article <2066@sdcsvax.UUCP> cs195@sdcsvax.UUCP (EECS 195) writes: >> >> > The AIA is worth sponsoring. It may appear to single out >> > liberal/leftist teachers, but this is not because of their >> > political leaning, rather, it is because they are the major >> > source of disinformation on campus. At least on my campus. >> >> This is a joke, right? > >I took a survey course in European History. The first quarter >covered the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. > >My TA gave our section the following class assignments, > > o Discuss the relationship between European serfdom and > modern rural land practices in Guatemala and Honduras. > > o Identify some of the immediate and underlying causes of > the rise of the Bourgeoisie in the 13th-16th centuries > and their effects on the working class. > > o Compare the role of the Church in the lives of individuals > in the 13th-16th centuries with the role of the state in > a Marxist society. > >These were the only assignments given by the TA during the quarter. >Approximately 30% of class time was spent discussing the events in >Nicaragua. We did not cover Da Vinci, the Hapsburgs, New World Explo- >ration, Rise of Spain, the Protestant Reformation, or anything else. So? I don't see any inaccuracy or disinformation there. Or are you now going to complain about teachers who don't present the subject matter you expect as well? Sounds to me like the TA, having encountered any number of classes of bored students, merely tried to liven things up by relating events in that period to events in this. And, given the capacity of the net to generate high volume tangential discussions like this one, it doesn't surprise me in the least that 30% of class time ("class" being what the TA taught, which was half or less than the total with the lecture, right?) was spent discussing as controversial a modern issue as Nicaragua. I'm sure now that it was a joke. Jeff Winslow
hh1@mruxe.UUCP (H Hottmann) (09/15/86)
>In article <652@midas.UUCP>, jeffw@midas.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) writes: >I took a survey course in European History. The first quarter >covered the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. >[he goes on to state that his TA's assignments were >leftward-leaning in nature and focussed more on current events >in Central America than on European history during the Middle >Ages...] OK, so you didn't get out of the class what you bargained for, at least not from your TA. What about the prof? Was his treatment of the subject any more focussed on the subject at hand (European History)? Whatever your answers to these questions, did you ever consider going to the prof to complain about your TA (I'll admit this would not work as well if the prof were teaching the course much as you described your TA doing.)? And what good would Accuracy in Academia do in this instance? I'm sure the History department has its own internal procedures for dealing with TA problems (of course you may feel the entire department is infected with leftward-leaning syndrome :-). In all of your story, aside from pointing out that you weren't taught what you had expected to be taught, you didn't say you were taught opinions in the guise of knowledge. Rooting out such teaching is (or so I gather from the many postings on the subject) the job AIA has taken upon itself to do. So WHAT GIVES!?!? hagen (as in -Dazs) mruxe!hh1
hh1@mruxe.UUCP (H Hottmann) (09/16/86)
Sorry about that, Jeff Winslow. I had mistakenly attributed the European History class story to you when it was Alan Klietz's story. hagen (as in -Dazs)
rjn@duke.UUCP (R. James Nusbaum) (09/17/86)
In article <171@mn-at1.UUCP> alan@mn-at1.UUCP (Alan Klietz) writes: >In article <652@midas.UUCP>, jeffw@midas.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) writes: >> In article <2066@sdcsvax.UUCP> cs195@sdcsvax.UUCP (EECS 195) writes: >> >> > The AIA is worth sponsoring. It may appear to single out >> > liberal/leftist teachers, but this is not because of their >> > political leaning, rather, it is because they are the major >> > source of disinformation on campus. At least on my campus. >> >> This is a joke, right? >> >> [Jeff Winslow] > >I took a survey course in European History. The first quarter >covered the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. > >My TA gave our section the following class assignments, > > o Discuss the relationship between European serfdom and > modern rural land practices in Guatemala and Honduras. > > o Identify some of the immediate and underlying causes of > the rise of the Bourgeoisie in the 13th-16th centuries > and their effects on the working class. > > o Compare the role of the Church in the lives of individuals > in the 13th-16th centuries with the role of the state in > a Marxist society. > >These were the only assignments given by the TA during the quarter. >Approximately 30% of class time was spent discussing the events in >Nicaragua. We did not cover Da Vinci, the Hapsburgs, New World Explo- >ration, Rise of Spain, the Protestant Reformation, or anything else. This appears to be in support of AIA, although it is not explicitly stated. This however provides an excellent example to show how this kind of situation should be handled. Mr. Bly would have you report the professor of the class to AIA. AIA would then print his name up in their list as a 'bad' professor. The correct way to handle this (and if you didn't try and correct the problem, then you have no business complaining) would be to: 1. First talk to the TA. Express your concern about material that does not match the course description. 2. If (1) fails, talk to the professor. There is a chance that he has no idea what the TA is doing. 3. If the professor is aware of the material being discussed and does nothing about it, then talk to the department head. Express your concerns in an adult, constructive manner. 4. If all else fails talk to the administration. Ask them to let you drop the class and give you a tuition refund. Please note that I believe that the issues that were discussed in your class were important and certainly should be discussed in some class, perhaps one entitled 'Perspective on Politics in Central America'. It appears that there was a problem in your class, maybe with a TA who was letting his politics get in the way of his job, but that is no reason to involve agencies which use blacklisting and humiliation tactics. Jim Nusbaum -- R. James Nusbaum, Duke University Computer Science Department, Durham NC 27706-2591. Phone (919)684-5110. CSNET: rjn@duke UUCP: {ihnp4!decvax}!duke!rjn ARPA: rjn%duke@csnet-relay
jew@usl.UUCP (James E. Wilson) (09/21/86)
In article <171@mn-at1.UUCP> alan@mn-at1.UUCP (Alan Klietz) writes: >In article <652@midas.UUCP>, jeffw@midas.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) writes: >> In article <2066@sdcsvax.UUCP> cs195@sdcsvax.UUCP (EECS 195) writes: >> >> > The AIA is worth sponsoring. It may appear to single out >> > liberal/leftist teachers, but this is not because of their >> > political leaning, rather, it is because they are the major >> > source of disinformation on campus. At least on my campus. >> >> This is a joke, right? >> >I took a survey course in European History. The first quarter >covered the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. > >My TA gave our section the following class assignments, > > o Discuss the relationship between European serfdom and > modern rural land practices in Guatemala and Honduras. > > o Identify some of the immediate and underlying causes of > the rise of the Bourgeoisie in the 13th-16th centuries > and their effects on the working class. > > o Compare the role of the Church in the lives of individuals > in the 13th-16th centuries with the role of the state in > a Marxist society. > >These were the only assignments given by the TA during the quarter. >Approximately 30% of class time was spent discussing the events in >Nicaragua. We did not cover Da Vinci, the Hapsburgs, New World Explo- >ration, Rise of Spain, the Protestant Reformation, or anything else. And what did the department chairman say about this when you confronted him with it? Politically-oriented instructors sometimes do abuse their classroom responsibilities in order to propagandize. It is not a joke. But what the AIA (and some others) forget is that there exist normal channels for dealing with classroom incompetence, when utilized. (And, by and large, TA's are sitting ducks.) I believe, at most schools, the existing channels are sufficient. Jim Wilson US Mail: USL P.O. Box 45147, Lafayette, LA 70504; tel. (318)231-6423 UUCP: {ut-sally, akgua}!usl!jew ARPA: usl!jew@ut-sally
chelsea@dartvax.UUCP (Karen Christenson) (09/22/86)
>>We did not cover Da Vinci, the Hapsburgs, New World Explo- >>ration, Rise of Spain, the Protestant Reformation, or anything else. > >First: This was a survey course: not everything gets covered. >Second: What happened to independent study and intellectual curiosity. >Three: The assignments mentioned above would, if done properly, give one >a broad understanding of both the era in question AND a chance to see how >different historical eras connect; how history effects us today , etc. > >Draw your own conclusions as to who was the more dogmatic: you or your TA. >/* Bill Michtom - work: (212) 903-3685 */ >/* WDMCU@CUNYVM (Bitnet) Timelessness is transient */ >/* BILL@BITNIC (Bitnet) */ I agree that it is a good idea to try to relate the past and the present. However - The Protestant Reformation is on my list of the top ten most significant events of history. The Exploration of the New World is in around the top fifty or so, and the Rise of Spain is not real far after that (without the Rise of Spain, you see, the Exploration would have been real different). DaVinci is a personal favorite, but I suppose you could get by without talking about him. The Hapsburgs were a major influence in the shaping of Europe, but you can mention the kings without discussing the clan. Any course on early modern Europe that doesn't cover the Protestant Reformation has got one huge, gaping hole. This is not just dogma, this is a matter of strong historical influence. For instance, without knowing about the Protestant Reformation, you can't really understand the settlement of New England and many of the ideas that we have inherited from the first settlers, like the concept of the "City on the Hill." Karen Christenson "Mostly harmless." ...!dartvax!chelsea Have an adequate day.