orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) (09/25/86)
Michael Stein writes: > > Sadly, not everyone teaching today has such high standards. Many > times I have taken classes from people who teach the material > as defined in the course catalog. All you get from these types is > a balanced look at the entire subject material. Often during the > entire length of such classes, I never once heard the professor's > personal opinions on the environmental effects of nuclear weapons, > the biological effects of ionizing radiation or even the professor's > personal political beliefs. Instead these second-class profs only > deal with the subject material and provided a fair in-depth look at > the material as described by the catalog description of the course. > There you are paying 20 - 40 dollars per class hour and you don't > get the opportunity to hear any of the professor's personal biases > or intutitions on any and all endeavors of the human race. Kind of > makes it all seem like a waste of time... > Yes, Mr. Stein, I know very well about the "balanced" presentations in many of our educational institutions. For example, to graduate from high school in Florida, all students are required to take a course called "Americanism vs. Communism". I had to suffer through this spate of propaganda taught by a 300 pound ex-marine with a microphone. (As if his own booming voice was not enough to effectively bowl over any dissenters with his sheer windpower, he also had a microphone!) Of course I wound up debating the instructor practically every day. But, on the other hand, is this not what education is about? I had the courage to challenge the propaganda being shoved down my throat courtesy of the state of Florida. I did it on the basis of learning something on my own about the issues discussed. Are conservative students so weak and wimpy that they cannot stand up for their beliefs with rational arguments and evidence to back up their arguments? Are they afraid to learn anything which challenges their ingrained prejudices? What is to prevent them from reading *on their own* about New World exploration or the other issues they felt were skimped and incorporating these into their papers or discussions? Moreover what is so awful about learning something about Marxist analysis? I took plenty of courses (actually enough for a minor) in bourgeois free-market economics which I think gave me a better understanding of economics from any point of view. Not a single one of my Economics professors was a Marxist. Does that mean they should be fired? Should they be censored for teaching what is quite obviously a biased approach to economics? I don't think so. Do you, Mr. Stein? tim sevener whuxn!orb