Bill Seeks Reins on Profs in Classroom

[Kukesa]

What is happening to our state?

Here's an article from this morning's "Dayton Daily News" about a bill introduced by Gary Cates, R-West Chester, and Jim Jordan R-Urbana, which would limit what professors say in their classrooms. Limit, of course, what they call "left-wing bias."

I think I'm gonna scream . . .

Link here:

http://tinyurl.com/6askl

[ladjf]

1. Such legislation would indicate that we are in the final stages

of a full fascist takeover.

[underpants]

2. Step 1:Take over the media Step 2: Attack the intelligencia

:grr:

[ladjf]

4. They have already decimated the public education system,

made serious inroads to replacing science with religious fantasy.
The very act of silencing professors is totally abominable and against
all principles of free thinking. Look what that says about the school administrators. It tells them that they don't have the good judgment
to determine the professor's conduct. It essentially says that the
state will directly call curriculum and conduct shots. Who among the state legislatures is qualified to overrule professional school leaders?

There are so many things going wrong that there isn't time to focus and fight against one horrible thing before an even more egregious
plan rears up.

[pnutchuck]

7. Amen!

I've hardly swallowed the last piece of shit before they serve up another one!

My mother's a teacher and I sent her this thread, she's going to flip out.

I'm so greatful for the DU! Otherwise, slowly they would take over red state by red state and when they finally hit the blue, we'd feel truly sucker punched. At least with the DU community, we can organize and stay informed. :grouphug:

[Kukesa]

9. I hope your Mom does flip out.

Teachers and professors everywhere should be up-in-arms over this.

I'll forward the thread to my son-in-law who is director of curriculum (and a Dem) for a red-state-public-school system and see what he has to say about this legislation.

Silly me, I thought college was a time for opening one's mind to all points of view.

[pnutchuck]

11. Not if there's an agenda of world domination in the works

they need to get all "politically correct", left-wing, liberal views swept out now, so that by the time the chimp's second term is finished, we'll be in a full blown world war and not able to kick his ass out!

[AngryOldDem]

13. They are, Kukesa

More accurately, they are scared shitless.

[fasttense]

3. I had heard about bills like this before.

Right after B*sh stole the election the media was talking about making teachers and professors sign loyalty oaths in order to teach. Has anyone else heard about these bills?

[ladjf]

5. This was happening in Mississippi during the 50's. Fortunately,

nothing was ever permanently legislated. The legislature was trying
to get the head of the philosophy dept. at the Un. of Miss., Dr. Q. Lyons fired for being too liberal. The man was an ordained Presbyterian minister. I was in many of his classes. All he ever said about the law makers attempts to ouster him was "I wish that they would read my book".
He was not fired.

[pnutchuck]

6. Cup of fascism anyone?

Let's just program their minds while they are young so that the pukes won't even have to come up with an excuse to make war. This is the fist step to institutions that created and molded the "Hitler Youth". What next? Only proper Christian women can give birth?

[Coastie for Truth]

8. Poland after the Nazi invasion

exactly.

Just read the Bill. If my Pennsylvania college had been in Ohio I would have complained against my Mech E 101 Prof, who constantly berated non-evanglicals, and moderates, liberals, and progressives during class time and lectured on the End of Days and the Rapture during class time .

[pnutchuck]

10. I thought campuses already had in place an outlet for grievances?

When I was in school, if you had a complaint about non curiculum topics being discussed in class, you could fill out a formal complaint. I know of a teacher deprived of tenure because of too many complaints about religious tyrades in her classroom.

[AngryOldDem]

12. This is NO JOKE -- Academic Bill of Rights

This is the text of the bill. Note that it is OUT of committee and could come up for a vote AT ANY TIME.

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=126_SB_24

My sociology professor spoke at great length about this in class this morning. This will have a very chilling effect on education -- especially liberal arts education -- if it passes. Most at risk are subjects such as sociology, philosophy, religion, biology, and even classes such as economics, where ethics are often discussed. Any kind of personal opinion or thought will be verboten if this "Bill of Rights" gets tbrough. That means no meaningful student-professor discourse, no give-and-take, which are the cornerstones of a liberal arts education.

The prof had a copy of an article that ran in the Columbus Dispatch. There was a quote by someone (I assume one of the sponsors) that said that "80% of professors are Democrats, liberals, and card-carrying communists" who are actively recruiting impressionable young people to their causes. Cited in the article is David Horowitz ("American Son"), the '60s radical-turned-rightwing nutjob who I think has made it his new career to "protect" academic "freedom" from those who might actually make kids think.

I can't say it enough. This could kill liberal arts education. Note that the bill does not specify what is "personal speech" and what is not. Therefore, that means professors will always be on their guard, and if a student has an ax to grind, professors could possibly lose their tenure, their jobs, and their reputations. This has been going on in other states. This is, in effect, an invitation to a witchhunt that could ruin lives.

Call, write, or e-mail your senators about this bill.

A perfect example of why professors need to have the freedom to speak was starkly illustrated this morning. As the prof was explaining this bill, someone raised her hand and asked, "Why should we care?" By the end of class, she knew why. If that bill had been law, the topic would never have come up.

We are losing our rights slowly, one by one, and most of us are asleep at the wheel. What a rude awakening most of us will have!

[Kukesa]

14. Hooray for your Soc professor.

I remember mine -- he used to encourage the class to argue with him when he stated that Hitler did some good things for Germany; was he really a monster?

And then he'd bring up the theory that Communism is the best form of government for some societies -- more arguments.

My favorite was his question about rape: if a young girl is repeatedly raped by her step-father and then shoots and kills him, should she go to jail?

Ahh, the good old days.

[AngryOldDem]

15. In some classes

you need debate to learn. Textbooks can't and/or don't do it all.

This bill will put a chill on any kind of classroom discussion -- I don't see how professors will be able to teach, unless they get up and read from the texts for an hour or hour and a half. Which means you'll have a bunch of book-smart kids, but nobody who can think critically, as well as think for themselves -- two goals of a liberal arts education, or so I thought.

[cattleman22]

17. I agree the bill is horrible. However, I do not see it as a free speech

issue. The right to free speech does not mean that an employer can not limit what an employee says while performing duties related to the job.

[eddiebrowns]

16. Unfortunately, this bozo is my state sen.

Jordan is a bonehead, who will never cease to be elected by the people of my county, unfortunately, because he was a champion wrestler. People around here just ignore certain facts about him-he blathers on about public education while his kids were home schooled-he was a big proponent of allowing home schooled kids the opportunity to participate in extra curriculars at the public schools-when that wasn't well received, he dropped it and enrolled his children in public schools. This guy is a severe waste of space.
Here's a good quote from the president of our local university regarding this piece of :puke: legislation:
"What's new? he asked, saying that institutions have grievance procedures for faculty & students. "It makes me wonder whether the authors (of the bill) have any knowledge as to what is actually in practice."
BINGO!
This guy, Jordan, may even be responsible for a very important county project geting dropped completely from the list of ODOT list of highway projects. Rumor has it that his bitching and moaning about taxes and tax money(sounds good to the voters, ya know, no new taxes-remember how well that one's worked in the past?) has turned the state off so much that they decided to pay him back by cutting funding for Jordan's district first. Thank you very little, you big idiot! Thanks for letting me vent here-wish I could say that I was done, but I have a feeling that this is gonna be an all weekend rant. :wtf:

[realisticphish]

18. what county are you in?

it sounds suspicously like one of my county's reps


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[eddiebrowns]

19. Champaign

where are you?

[realisticphish]

20. perry

it sounded like larry housefucker, that's why i was asking. the shit had his kids in catholic school while he tried to rape our schools

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[A Brand New World]

22. I live in Champaign Co. too and your opinion of why the Rt. 68

bypass was dropped sounds plausible. Now of course he's supposedly trying to come to bat for the project. We'll see.

[NEOBuckeye]

21. Good God, what's next? Internment camps?

This is insane! The Neo-Conservatives are DESTROYING everything in this country. Free Speech, Health Care, Social Security, Higher Education, Public Education, Amtrak, The Constitution. All going, going, and nearly gone. What's left? AND WHERE IS THE PUBLIC OUTRAGE?

Do these people really think they won't end up in defeat and disgrace like Hitler and the Nazis did for pulling this shit on Germany and the rest of the world? Do they really think that China and the EU won't pull the financial plug on the US when they make their move to take on Iran? The founding fathers would be turning in their graves today if they could know that the Republicans (and spineless Dems) have literally shredded the Bill of Rights. The Neo-Conservative Republicans are literally destroying the United States of America.

I'm a Social Studies teacher, so this is very personal territory for me. Let them pass whatever anti-truth garbage legislation they want. I'll still make sure that every one of my kids knows what's really going on and can THINK and THINK CRITICALLY for themselves.

I'll never, ever give in to these bastards!

[A Brand New World]

23. My question is will the reverse also be true. At a conservative or bible

college, such as Cedarville College, will be professors be banned from discussing their conservative political views? I think not. I'm sure that will be fine and dandy.