Couple of things
- I'm taking a much-welcomed day off today to catch up on some necessary yard work at the house, so this may not be the most thorough 'Couple of things' you'll ever see ...
- In District Eight news, Athens Grow Green released its scorecards and endorsed Andy Herod. Not to be outdone, former commissioners Ken Jordan and States McCarter endorsed David Hamilton.
- I took a little look at the use of insulting language in political dialogue.
- I also saw The Worst Band In The History Of The Known Universe on Friday night.
- Ladies and gentlemen ... welcome to a non-issue. I have never - never - been in a class when a professor has suppressed a student's political views. I have been in a class where a professor has outargued a student of opposing political views (in fact many times ... sometimes a conservative professor and sometimes a liberal professor). The latter, however, is not the suppression of academic freedom. And another thing ... just because you hear a professor state his ideological positions on some things doesn't mean its the suppression of academic freedom. In fact, I would imagine being exposed to a variety of ideological arguments is, actually, a good thing. Though I do love David Kirby's argument ... 'well, I heard it happened, like, once or twice ... Bobby, who's friends with Jaimie had a guy who said he saw it happen.' For what it's worth, Nicki nails it.
- Speaking of Nicki, she's been dealing with a pretty serious crime problem over in her neck of the woods regarding prostitution and small-time drug dealing. She's got a good post up on it at her blog and is looking for some help.
- Forget the historical building argument in this whole thing ... we want to replace these buildings with 100 townhomes? Really? That's almost a non-starter for me right there seeing how we're, you know, up 1,800 units in this community and feature enough housing to last us until 2013. We could use some office and retail space fellas, so why not take a look at that.
- Ladies and gentlemen, earlier I gave you a non-issue ... now I present the most shallow reasoning in the world by Michael Carter. Says Carter ... 'Her ill-informed assertion is absolutely erroneous. I've had the opportunity to speak to some of our troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and they unanimously support our president's actions in Iraq.' Wow. Unanimously. I'm just going to go on a limb and suggest that Carter's sample features a wide margin of error.
- In District Eight news, Athens Grow Green released its scorecards and endorsed Andy Herod. Not to be outdone, former commissioners Ken Jordan and States McCarter endorsed David Hamilton.
- I took a little look at the use of insulting language in political dialogue.
- I also saw The Worst Band In The History Of The Known Universe on Friday night.
- Ladies and gentlemen ... welcome to a non-issue. I have never - never - been in a class when a professor has suppressed a student's political views. I have been in a class where a professor has outargued a student of opposing political views (in fact many times ... sometimes a conservative professor and sometimes a liberal professor). The latter, however, is not the suppression of academic freedom. And another thing ... just because you hear a professor state his ideological positions on some things doesn't mean its the suppression of academic freedom. In fact, I would imagine being exposed to a variety of ideological arguments is, actually, a good thing. Though I do love David Kirby's argument ... 'well, I heard it happened, like, once or twice ... Bobby, who's friends with Jaimie had a guy who said he saw it happen.' For what it's worth, Nicki nails it.
- Speaking of Nicki, she's been dealing with a pretty serious crime problem over in her neck of the woods regarding prostitution and small-time drug dealing. She's got a good post up on it at her blog and is looking for some help.
- Forget the historical building argument in this whole thing ... we want to replace these buildings with 100 townhomes? Really? That's almost a non-starter for me right there seeing how we're, you know, up 1,800 units in this community and feature enough housing to last us until 2013. We could use some office and retail space fellas, so why not take a look at that.
- Ladies and gentlemen, earlier I gave you a non-issue ... now I present the most shallow reasoning in the world by Michael Carter. Says Carter ... 'Her ill-informed assertion is absolutely erroneous. I've had the opportunity to speak to some of our troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and they unanimously support our president's actions in Iraq.' Wow. Unanimously. I'm just going to go on a limb and suggest that Carter's sample features a wide margin of error.
posted by Jmac at 7:59 AM
9 Comments:
I would start taking surreptitious photos of the seemier side of said activities and start posting them here and at the very least your number of page views should shoot through the roof. And also I imagine it might shame some of those involved in to at least thinking twice before cruising by your house
"I'm taking a much-welcomed day off today to catch up on some necessary yard work at the house . . ."
Sweet. The joys of a University job.
Darren
Lemme get this straight: The Snow Is Really Piling Up in Chicago is not a refutation of global warming, but It Never Happened to Me So It Never Happens Anywhere to Anyone is a refutation of allegations of Lefty academic bias.
I will hand it to you: you have made it virtually impossible to win an argument with you.
... you have made it virtually impossible to win an argument with you
Well, there are other reasons for that, such as my keen intelligence, masterful debate skills and quick wit ... but no matter.
My personal example was not intended to be the end-all, be-all to the argument, though I think a personal example in this instance is vastly different than, say, an instance of cold weather which can logically and reasonably explained within the parameters of global warming. I mean you're not even comparing apples to oranges here ... you're comparing apples to Audis.
So, let's flesh this out a little more ...
If you notice, my other contention was a lack of evidence from those who contend there is academic bias going on. David Kirby, who is cited as the student expert for this particular article, said he never experienced any of this and that he had only 'heard' a few second- or third-hand stories from other folks, but failed to produce any damning proof.
Other conservatives, including Jeff Emanuel, comment that they've never experienced such oppression.
Furthermore, what is 'academic bias' in this context? Are we talking about professors handing out lower grades based on political beliefs? If so, that's wrong, but it's also already covered under the University of Georgia's ethics code.
Are we referring to merely a professor stating his political beliefs in class? Is that so wrong? Is not the free exchange of ideas and beliefs a positive thing? If I'm a young up-and-coming progressive, wouldn't I want a seasoned conservative to challenge my beliefs so I can either re-evaluate them or formulate better counter-arguments?
This type of legislation is merely a step closer to enabling our government to be our 'thought police' ... and that's a bad thing.
Regarding academic freedom -
Riight.. just because it hasn't happened to Jonathan McGinty means that it never happens at all.
I'd appreciate the ability, now and then, to process a logical, thought-out argument and articulate an appropriate response.
I mean, I don't think I'm asking too much.
And there's a 'h' in my name fella.
Anyone who thinks that UGA is anywhere close to domination by liberal professors should simply cite a few of who these professors are and what reasons they have to think the professors are dominating.
The student body at UGA is not only overwhelming conservative socially, but it's the mindless kind of feel-good conservatism that has no sense of bearing with where conservatism stands traditionally, generally and specifically in the South. To think that these students need protection from their professors is as ridiculous as thinking that these students are equipped to be conservative in the first place. If the GuardDawg represents anything of the conservative voice on campus, the lamentations should not be for suppression or oppression, but for mental laxity. As I have said many times before, the problem is not so much that the conservatives are dwarfed by liberal giants, but that the conservative youth today are dwarfed and intimidated by their own tradition.
And so they drown the guilt in cocaine and alcohol. If social conservatives truly want to effect a great redemptive change in our society to reflect what is great and noble in the tradition, especially the Southern one, then get the kids off the smack and the drink. Maybe then they'd pay more attention in class rather than look forward to Thursday and Friday nights.
Beer pong has done more damage than Derrida or Roosevelt ever did.
This issue is just another example of idiots being idiots. People are so incapable of creating original thought, that we must protect them from the big, bad professors that might damage their pea-sized brains with opinions. People should be exposed to different thoughts and experiences... that's called EDUCATION! Otherwise, why bother? You already know everything you are going to know.
I think people who need to be protected by this bill should all be forced to where a scarlet letter... be it D for Dumb**** or I for Ign'antAss or something along those lines... because those of us that are able to use our own brains instead of regurgitating retread talking points need to be able to identify you. That way, we can steer clear of you.
And, like Jmac said, there is a University appeals policy in place for these types of instances. All this will do is add more paperwork and cause more government interference where it doesn't belong. Plus, with a written policy addressing the situation, it may give professors what we call "loopholes" where their asses are covered enough to opine all the day long without recourse.
People are so dumb it hurts.
er, "wear" me thinks.
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