Links, hollywood and political

[yendi]

Ginger Snaps 2, the trailer (big and SLOW):

Mark Evanier on the potential for a new Hollywood Writer's Strike, and the various issues that make both sides rather fucked up.

Time Magazine on the current state of prescription drugs, and why things suck so much (full story only viewable if you subscribe, but it's worth buying the current issue for this story).

The New Yorker on the "State of the Union" address (quotes mine, since he rarely stayed on topic): But “Mars,” “the moon,” and “space” are not the only words missing in action from the State of the Union. So are “unemployment,” “AIDS,” and “the environment.” 

And over in Colorado, they apparently think that college students are really really really really stupid and unable to think for themselves.

Anyway, off to lunch.

Comments

[dwivian]

Having had to petition a dean for redress after a teacher harshly graded my work which was correct and valid to the course but not keeping with his politics, I think the bill in Colorado has some strong merit. Inappropriately introducing controversy into a class, and grading accordingly, violates academic integrity. What is sad is that Colorado thinks that college professors are really really really really really idiotic and unable to maintain professionalism. Too bad that a few problem instructors color the whole profession so badly.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. Having sat through a "history" class that turned into an anti-abortion pep rally more than once, I'd prefer to have some recourse in those situations. I did fine in the class, but I kept my mouth shut and thought about my D&D game, others weren't so restrained, and didn't seem likely to get all the academic credit they deserved at the end of the semester. The bill does shine a bad light on university professors, but it's probably not undeserved. There's good ones out there, but it only takes a very few to ruin a lot of college experiences.

Going out on a limb

[gythiawulfie.livejournal.com]

It is sad that any legislature has to do this.. but I have had 4 separate teachers pull stunts that cause the issues to come up. I also filed formal charges. I didn't care if they were tenured or not.

I had a poly-sci teacher try to convince my I was ultra liberal... ummmm anyone who knows me knows that I am a moderate conservative, but he insisted that ALL musicians were ultra liberal. So when I turned in a paper based on my viewpoint, he gave me an F... dropped class filed charges. (He was fired 2 years later, hmmm wonder how many kids he did that too.)

That was just one example, but ya know... if a teacher asks you for your opinion, you should be allowed to give your opinion ESPECIALLY if you can back it up with documentation.

Re: Going out on a limb

[dwivian]

My point, exactly. Sad that it takes legislation to make professors professional.

Not only from the liberal slant, either -- I had a history professor that was a STRONG conservative, and had he chosen to enforce his views on the class, it would have sucked. He was pretty good, but I know it was because he was watched closely, as colleges don't like the right-wingers too much....

Re: Going out on a limb

[yendi]

As for this, which does address the bill, I see the biases as essential parts of a good education (and I don't think people should be in college if they can't process what they hear and recognize the differences between opinion and facts). I had very left and right wing poli sci professors in college, and I got more out of them than out of the ones who simply gave us facts. Most fields (certainly on the liberal arts/social sciences side of things) are about ideas. And ideas require opinions and the ability to reason and argue. Cutting those out of the field castrates the knowledge gained.

Re: Going out on a limb

[dwivian]

Read the notes about the law, though.... ideas that allow for reasoning and argument are probably germane to the material covered. That's not being prohibited, at all. It's profs that teach chemistry talking about womens abortive rights that get a little weird....

Re: Going out on a limb

[gythiawulfie.livejournal.com]

You are probably right there. However, the college I last attended was very multicultural, and if you were white... you were always wrong. If you were in liberal arts, you were always wrong. And if you spoke english, gods forbid you asked someone to repeat themselves because you could not understand their accent, and that was at a STATE university... in a predominately WHITE culture. Last I saw 68% was white and the rest was a conglomeration of everyone else.

I had started taking a Women's Study course and I left because the did nothing but bash white males. Needless to say, I dropped the course.

[yendi]

See, that strikes me as something totally different. A teacher who grades unfairly isn't doing their job. Then again, the university should also have an appeal system which works (and it sounds like it does), and beyond that, there is an accreditation system in place to ensure the university upholds certain standards. I don't see any reason that there needs to be a law on top of that.

[dwivian]

The law is needed because I was the ONLY one that took it to the dean. Other people said there was no point, and that a tenured prof isn't going to get any heat....

....I'm just contrary enough to push the system. It took six months, which was about three times longer than it should have taken, to get my grades corrected. Dunno how many others were inflated or reduced beyond mine.

The need for a law exists when people stop self-policing. Apparently there is a problem in some Colorado colleges.

[clawfoot.livejournal.com]

Yay! Ginger Snaps 2!! :)

Ginger Snaps is still my pick for "Best Werewolf Film Ever." :)

[yendi]

Have you seen Dog Soldiers? I quite liked that one.

[clawfoot.livejournal.com]

Nope! I'll have to look that one up...