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Opinion
Tuesday, March 10, 1992
The Battalion
Page 9
( *
The Battalion Editorial Board
DOUGLAS PILS, Editor-in-Chief
BRIDGET HARROW, Managing Editor 1 MACK HARRISON, City Editor
BRIAN BONEY, Opinion Editor 1 KARL STOLLEIS, Photo Editor
JASON MORRIS, Night News Editor | SCOTT WUDEL, Sports Editor
The
MORGAN JUDAY, Night News Editor | ROB NEWBERRY, Lifestyles Editor
Battalion
The following opinions are a consensus of The Battalion opinion staff and senior editors.
Thought police
Young Conservatives cross line of authority
Texas A&M is in the midst of a
backlash against the ideology of the
politically correct movement. While
many of the criticisms and actions
against the PC movement have rightly
kept the academic community from
becoming a platform for anti-western
demagoguery, other attacks have
bordered on fascism.
The Young Conservatives of Texas
have gone too far in moving to place
student monitors in liberal arts classes,
not to mention their actions are a direct
violation of university policy, which
states that guests must have
permission from the professor before
attending a class.
YCT has given itself
a mission to seek out
personal bias in
lectures and grading on
campus.
The group has stated
that political bias is a
threat to education.
Unfortunately, the
group seems to be
contradicting itself. The
Young Conservatives
of Texas are politically biased
themselves, only towards the right side
of the political spectrum instead of the
left. We have difficulty believing that
that a conservative group such as YCT
will be willing to look at its findings
honestly, objectively and without its
own conservative bias.
Political bias is inherent to some
degree in almost ^yery teacher and
every student at A&M. Such personal
inclination is the result of years of
thinking, learning, and just living. YCT
seems to believe that political leanings,
specifically those on the left,
automatically makes for a bad
professor. Students should be able to
distinguish between fact and opinion
in a lecture, and they should always be
open-minded enough to listen to an
opposing viewpoint.
The student monitoring plan does
not seem quite fair to teachers. The
monitors can only be present during a
few hours of a semester-long class. The
monitors may show up on a day when
a lecturer gets off the given subject and
onto his own opinions. The professor
may normally be unbiased in his
lectures, and a bad rating would
unfairly and undeservedly taint his
methods.
A more proper means of
determining just who is using a lecture
as a blatant political forum is a
resource already in
existence. Student
evaluations have been
in use for years. By
adding a question or
two about bias, the
university and the
student population
could gain more
accurate information
about a teacher from
his or her own
students than from a
haphazard walk-in evaluation.
But the most disturbing aspect of
the group's actions is that it has
appointed itself the judge and jury on
the subject of political bias without the
student body giving it that right. The
group's members presume to protect
A&M students from bias, although
A&M students have given them no
authority to do so.
Extreme political bias may well be a
problem in some classes, and such
problems should be addressed. But
using student monitors from a
conservative student organization does
little for the university but point out
teachers who are not ultra
conservative reactionaries. Students
should be wary of the results.
Participate
Voting remains foundation of democracy
It is Super Tuesday, and the Texas
Primary is underway
Every student has the responsibilty
and privilege to vote, a responsibilty
and privilege that was fought for by
the founding forefathers of this great
country.
Yet most students consider it a pain
in the derriere, but if Aggies want
changes in domestic policy, then
Aggies need to act and act now.
If Aggies want an improved
economy, a better health care system
or a stronger emphasis on higher
education, voting is the best way to go
about it. Every A&M student has the
ability to choose or pick the candidate
who oest addresses these problems.
Even though choosing a candidate
may seem like choosing the lesser of
two evils, it is not an excuse to not
vote. There will never be a perfect
candidate. There is no candidate that
can ensure every American's wants
and needs. Students need to
concentrate on the candidate that best,
not most perfectly, addresss their
needs. Student's need to listen, learn
and understand about each
candidate's position on issues they
consider vital to the future of this
country.
Although some people feel
America's current leaders are the
worst in its history, the founding
forefathers gave Americans the ability
to change them. The American people
have the power to change and control
our government's policy, something
most people cannot.
If an elected official is considered to
be doing a poor job or not to be truly
representing the interests of the
people, then Americans can vote him
or her out of office. This is what
makes the United States such a great
country.
Go out and vote for the best
Republican or Democratic candidate.
All students living on-campus can
vote at the Memorial Student Center.
Students living off campus who are
not sure of where to vote can contact
the Brazos County Registrar Buddy
Winn at 361- 4490.
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Young Conservatives of Texas
should mind their own business
I was quite shocked to
hear about the student
group that was planning on
making a "political bias" list
of professors. Is it just me,
or does this smack of
McCarthyism? Is this not a
fear tactic to attempt to get
professors to walk on egg
shells while lecturing?
The fact that this
"survey" is being done by a
conservative group shows
that it is going to be biased
(the same is true if it were
being done by a liberal
group.) Why do I have the
feeling that this "survey" is
targeted toward those
professors who aren't
conservative?
Is this group also going to
publish a list of professors
who "preach ideology" with
a conservative slant (of
which there are plenty)?
Though I doubt that they
have any intention of doing
this, I also question their
ability to find the
conservative professors
since those who would
"monitor" them also have a
conservative slant and
cannot perceive it.
Believe it or not, in the
real world you are going to
have to interact with people
who have differing biases
than you. You may even
have a boss who had
different political ideas than
you do, and now is the time
to learn how to deal with
that.
You have to learn how to
interact with different
people, even different
people who are your
"superiors", and you won't
learn this valuable lesson by
avoiding professors who are
biased differently than you
are.
Kenneth Brobst
Class of‘93
The Young Conservatives
of Texas need to wake up
and realize why they are in
college. The whole purpose
of an education is to learn
how to think. Exposure to
different ideas and being
constantly challenged from
all points of view is the only
way to learn to analyze and
decide for yourself what is
the correct ideology.
A&M is a world class
university, and as such the
faculty must be prepared to
present different points of
view. I am not saying that
to present a purely Marxist,
or politically correct view is
right, but the student must
learn these views or they
will not be recognizable in
the future.
YCT is on a witch hunt
for professors who do not
follow their line of thinking
(shades of Lenin)? By his
own admission, Mr.
Keetch's group does not
have a clearly defined idea
of what they are looking for.
We are supposed to believe
that they will know bias
when they see it?
In reference to the
comment that no opposition
from students or professors
is necessary, that is a
standard taken from any
repressive authoritarian
regime. Is that how you
want your group to be
thought of Mr. Keetch?
Give me a break people, it
sure sounds like you are
trying to vindicate a poor
grade that was earned in a
particular class.
Wade Burton
Class of ‘93
I really got a laugh out of
the article about the Young
Conservative student
monitors in the Friday issue.
First, if anyone has the right
to monitor for professor bias
it is certainly not the Young
Conservatives. By the name
alone, we can already tell
how biased they are. Sure
they will uncover bias in the
classroom, but you can be
certain it will only be if the
professor has liberal
tendencies. Do you think
students so far on the right
are going to complain about
conservative bias? No way.
Secondly, every college
student knows that
professors have their own
political views. We don't
need this group to tell us
that. Everybody has
preferences, and those are
going to show in teaching.
There is nothing wrong with
that. The Young
Conservative obviously
have their own political vies
that they bring into the
classroom. That is the only
reason they notice
professors whose views
don't coincide with their
own.
Thirdly, you might as
well not complain about
subjectivity in grading. In
classes like English and
political science, student
participation and essay
exams are an essential part
of testing students. Those
things are from their
viewpoint when grading. If
the Young Conservatives
don't like this kind of
unavoidable subjectivity,
they should take those
classes at a junior college
where you get a boring
lecture and multiple-guess
tests.
Dolores M. Sarli
Class of ‘94
Why is that your group,
the Young Texas
Conservatives, are so self-
centered as to believe that
what you take as truth
should determine what the
rest of society should take as
truth.
I quote "Education
should be a search for truth,
not a search for political
bias" and "All that we are
doing is looking for honesty
in the curriculum." You are
absolutely right that
education is the search for
truth, but that truth should
be determined by the
individuals themselves, not
some self-appointed "watch
dog" group that will
determine the truth for the
rest of the student body.
It seems to me that a few
of your group has had their
precious beliefs called into
question. Maybe even a few
received poor grades, not
because of their political
inclination, but because they
failed to support their
political inclinations with
reason. I have taken classes
where the professor and I
have been diametrically
opposed in ideology. I
supported my beliefs
reasonably and logically.
The grades I received
reflected my ability to do so.
Wake-up and smell the
coffee!! You might have to
try a little harder if the
person you are attempting
to convince is not
sympathetic to your
ideology (that is truth). You
can't just claim that Reagan
was the greatest man that
ever lived without some
support of that claim.
Leland B. Franke ‘87
Graduate student
Political Science
In five years here at Texas
A&M I have never been
more shocked by the actions
taken by a campus
organization such as those
of YCT. I have attended
classes taught by professors
from all points on the
ideological spectrum, and I
have never once had my
grade affected by agreeing
or disagreeing with a
professor's point of view.
This reeks of fascism!
The thought that police from
YCT will sit in the
designated classroom,
unannounced, and monitor
the lecture given by that
professor. Monitor it for
what? Answer: "political
bias." But what is "political
bias?" Mr. Keetch claims his
organization's , "standards
for measuring classroom
bias have not yet been
explicitly defined." This is
the classic "I can't define it,
but I know it when I see it"
defense.
Let's clarify those
standards. Since this is a
Republican organization,
anything not politically
favorable to white
Conservative Christians will
probably be deemed biased.
Joseph Goebbels would be
proud.
Mr. Keetch intends to
compile and publish his
group's results in order that
they may be, "used during
the add/drop period for the
Fall of 1992." Used! How?
And by whom? Will
students receive a list that
states this professor has
socialist, libertarian,
homosexual, atheistic or
feminist views? Why
should it matter? I always
thought the "search for
truth" involved examining
every side of an issue and
not blindly accepting dogma
of any kind.
Apparently Mr.
McCarthy (oops! Mr.
Keetch) and his group have
the one true objective
interpretation of these very
subjective courses. If you
want to avoid
"indoctrination" take some
time and examine your own
indoctrinated values. As
Ayn Rand advised, let Atlas
shrug, think for yourself.
Anthony Cutola
Class of‘91
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J