Noting in the Guardian of London today is an article revealing Conservative and Republican forces, tied to a UCLA Alumni association, paying students to spy on liberal professors. For example, “full notes, a tape recording and a copy of all teaching materials, students at the University of California Los Angeles are being offered $100 (£57)”. Moreover, “lecture notes must make particular note of audience reactions, comments, and other details that will properly contextualize the professor's non-pertinent ideological comments.” If a tape recording is not your type of academic espionage then students may reveal teaching materials, hand written notes or pictures of the professor in pink, red or any other communist related colors.
The alumni group calling themselves UCLAProfs decree their mission as “a long-term project dedicated to exposing UCLA’s most radical professors”. Radical is right! How dare these professors get off topic and try to mentally molest our youth with dreams of equality, free speech, critical thinking, dissent and citizen participation in a democratic process! How dare these egg heads smear the good name of GOP leaders and everything conservative! This is an outrage, a pure and unadulterated manifestation of Darwinian thinking and unnatural questioning of the status quo. Where do these professors think they are living, this isn’t Europe, this is America!
Additionally, students in Dr. Ramona Ripston were outraged by her mean looks and downright dysfunction. Or as Andrew Jones notes, “her disrespect for the intelligence of her students, or an unintentional acknowledgement that many liberal arguments can't withstand scrutiny. Instead of presenting a spectrum of opinion or soliciting student inputs, she ruthlessly controlled the class debate, using the power of her position to dismiss any opposition that might surface.” The young leader of the UCLA republicans just couldn’t stand being out of the spotlight.
My advice, get over it. Find your intellectual balls and work harder than anyone else on the political field. If your hide is to fragile for professors and their pontification then go out and publish or create a new and dynamic force for which to free the world of liberal thoughts. Spying and taking down notes in a spiteful vengeance will only make your intellect smaller and less attractive to other Anglophiles. Professors have the right and the duty to piss you off. They are the last barrier before you enter a world of pure scorn and distastefulness. Not everyone is going to love your ideas.
For example, I graduate with an MA (Political Science) from The University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida( the original Scarborough country). P'cola is a haven for conservative thought and a community known for bombing doctors. It was a challenge and an obsession to thwart my professors and reveal a new and creative side to ANY discussion. Students were blazingly closed minded and professors moonlighted as conservative TV personalities. This did not stop me from graduating or make me a subversive toward my University. It emboldened me to work twice as hard and read twice as more. And I thought Liberals were the ones without a backbone!
1 Comments:
I wondered if you would pick up the scent of this story. I saw the gentleman who represents this group on CNN(of all places), I think he would have been treated better on other networks.
P.S. if you think Pensacola was conservative try living in small town Tennessee. It's down right stone age in here.
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