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Michele

Liberalism in the Classroom (Long, but I need your opinion)

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I bet there were people beheaded for thinking the world was round (spherical, even tho it's not a perfect sphere)?



"oblate spheroid" is a funny term

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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Michele,

It seems like your professor has clearly acted outside the parameters of his job description and used his lecturn as a bully pulpit. Additionally, he seems to have directed a number of personal attacks at you.

If I was in your shoes, I would write up your account of what happened. do it while it's fresh in your memory. If you have any classmates, who you trust, ask them to read it over for accuracy. Then put it away and forget about it for now.

Go study and do your best on your exams.

Once your grade is posted, decide your course of action. If your grade is acceptable, you may want to let it slide or file a formal complaint. If you think you got a lower grade because of your politics, then find out what your options are.

One other thing you might want to consider is apologizing to your professor. Without get into particulars, you could offer something along the lines of "I thought we had a pretty good relationship and I want to apologize for any part I played in turning it into a confrontational one". If he replies with criticisms... let them slide.

It's pretty amazing how a simple apology can ease hostilities.

Good luck.

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I bet there were people beheaded for thinking the world was round (spherical, even tho it's not a perfect sphere)?



"oblate spheroid" is a funny term



I could see Seinfeld making an episode on 'oblate spheroid'.



They could make one, but I wouldn't see it. I hate that show. Now, Scrubs, is funny.

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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I bet there were people beheaded for thinking the world was round (spherical, even tho it's not a perfect sphere)?



"oblate spheroid" is a funny term



I could see Seinfeld making an episode on 'oblate spheroid'.



They could make one, but I wouldn't see it. I hate that show. Now, Scrubs, is funny.



Ah, Scrubs, yes. However, Cribs is the best. Nothing compares to Cribs. Nothing like spending your time watching a show about people who have things you could have if you stopped watching TV and got off the couch.
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This is college. Academia. It is filled with massive egos. It is filled with people who think they know better than you. It is also about a wide variety of ideas. It is meant to prepare you for the the real world.

Not everybody in life will be the socially adept at disagreeing with you. In colleges, there's a lot more percentage of people who think they know better, or often, do. If you don't like it, ignore it. Turn the other cheek. If it pisses you off, suck it up, shut up, and just do what you need to do to get your 'A'. You never have to see the professor again.

It seems like the biggest concern is that the professor is going to lower your grade. I have never had a teacher who intentionally lowered my grade because he didn't like me. And especially with chemistry, which is an exact science, there's really no opinions on answers. Study for your exams, get your 'A', walk out, and never deal with that professor again. It's simple as that.

And you'll save yourself a lot of time and energy from whining about it. You might even get a better grade since you'll have more time and energy to focus on studying.
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If he wants to teach politics, he needs to change to the political science department - otherwise, he needs to shut up and teach chemistry.



Teachers have free rein, other than grabbing ass or dropping the N bomb. Don't think so, go a round or two with em. The chair and the dept willback them all the way into civil court, admin hearings, etc...

Then go to a univ and fuck with a tenured prof, they are totally galvanized. If you read my post about that prof who used the Mexican Lightbulb Question to explain your grade, and he retired ameritus.

Theoretically, teachers do X, in reality they do A. Theoretically we have no inniocent people in jail/prison, we know different. There is the written world and the real world, quit living in the written world, it'snot real.



Actually, I'd call it the difference between the academic world and the real world.

Check out a book called "The Rape of Alma Mater". Drawing the parallels between the book and the changes I've seen in the educational system from my own experience is illuminating.
Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

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Oh yes they do. As I wrote, WMD = chemicals and how the governments react. Perhaos the usable life of the chems, etc....



Bullshit - show me how religion or politics changes a chemical reaction and I'll cede the point.
Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

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>If he were someones boss spouting this shit all the time, he would
>wind up jobless and homeless.

There are a few people here (where I work) who spout lots of shit. There's one guy here who honestly believes that women should spend their lives raising kids, and will tell anyone who cares to hear about it.

But businesses don't work based on personalities - they work based on what they produce. And the guy is an excellent engineer.

Likewise, if this guy is turning out decent chemists (or more importantly students who score well on standardized tests) then he's likely to be kept and paid the big bucks (well, relatively big bucks; academia isn't known for its pay scales.) If he's the most politically correct Mr. Milquetoast in the world, but he turns out lousy chemists, he's more likely to be fired.

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>(well, relatively big bucks; academia isn't known for its pay scales.)



my sister works for a university - their 401K program matches 2 to 1 (unlike most industries that match 0.5 to 1). And, tenure is an interesting concept also.

But, universities are political institutions, if the guy is PC Milquetoast and sucks, he gets fired. If the guy is some activist, he gets fired if he is in disagreement with the general faculty staff (despite his performance or lack of one). If he's an activist and agrees with the general faculty, then he gets cut a ton of slack.

best for students to just avoid the topics in class and not waste the time. and not feed the jackass.

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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>mm. You have experience with different universities than I do, then.



end, in general, there's not a lot of political diversity at many univerities, so it's not much of an issue

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Here's the harsh reality of the situation. This is college, not elementary school. Do your work and suck it up, cupcake.



It might not be that simple. Granted neither you or I know what actually happened and maybe it is possible that she initiated this. In fairness I don't even know what carbon dating is so I cannot say whether that was a reasonable question on her part or if she was just being the obnoxious student looking for attention. Neither you or I know whether or not his in class response was appropriate or even accurately described in her post.

What is of concern is the apparent fact that he seems to not want to let the issue go. There are procedures in each university for discipline and if he feels that there should be some long term consequense to her for whatever transpired then he should go through the proper channels. Deciding that he will block her out for the rest of the semester is not acceptable. She is a good student and his conduct can have a serious negative effect on her grades and subsequent application to other programs. If she fears that he will screw with her in the long run then it does not hurt to at least bring that concern to someones attention so that if it does happen then at least she is on record, and she is not going to come across as a student who is simply pouting because of a bad grade. If she cannot go to his office for help and other students can then she is being put at a significant relative disadvantage to her classmates and that is unnacceptable on his part. If I was in a position of authority over you and I was making it hard for you to advance out of some personal rift, and nothing you did seemed to change that then you would not be satisfied to "suck it up cupcake".

She should try to talk to him in a non-confrontational manner to seek resolution but if that fails then she may need to seek help from someone in the institution. How successful she is as a student should be dictated by her ability, not by him. Again she may have been in the wrong (I don't know) but she has the right to be given a fair chance at progressing as a student, or at least a fair hearing.
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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Religon, Christianity and politics have no correlation?


Not to chemistry, Lucky...

Ciels-
Michele



Of course they do.

Trying to discredit biochemistry, environmental chemistry, genetics, molecular biology and paleontology is job #1 for the whacko right.

Tomorrow a House committee is holding a hearing on administration interference with federal scientists' research. Should be interesting now that the GOP can't whitewash it.
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>mm. You have experience with different universities than I do, then.



end, in general, there's not a lot of political diversity at many univerities, so it's not much of an issue



Rubbish.
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Trying to discredit biochemistry, environmental chemistry, genetics, molecular biology and paleontology is job #1 for the whacko right.


Sorry, I wasn't clear. What I meant was that at the level of chemistry I am at (the most basic level; consider it Chemistry for Dummies), there isn't much of a place for discussion of the political aspects of it. I am willing to hear about it - and indeed ask about it, but it has no bearing on pH factoring, how to read the Periodic Table, and molar mass. Again, this is basic chemistry...

I don't shy away from the political/religious aspects of GW, WMD, evolution. But nor do I expect to be browbeaten from the lecturn about my personal politics or my (lack of) knowledge on topics that are not directly related to the topic at hand. Nor, frankly, was the conversation about the relations between chemistry and the above (excepting peripherially the carbon dating thing). It was about how Bush stole the election in '00, and how he stole it again in '04.

Is there a place for the political stuff? Absolutely...but not at this level.

Ciels-
Michele


~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

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>mm. You have experience with different universities than I do, then.



end, in general, there's not a lot of political diversity at many univerities, so it's not much of an issue



Rubbish.



Rubbish?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15606-2004Nov26?language=printer

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The great secret is out: Liberals dominate campuses. Coming soon: "Moon Implicated in Tides, Studies Find."

One study of 1,000 professors finds that Democrats outnumber Republicans at least seven to one in the humanities and social sciences. That imbalance, more than double what it was three decades ago, is intensifying because younger professors are more uniformly liberal than the older cohort that is retiring.

Another study, of voter registration records, including those of professors in engineering and the hard sciences, found nine Democrats for every Republican at Berkeley and Stanford. Among younger professors, there were 183 Democrats, six Republicans.

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>mm. You have experience with different universities than I do, then.



end, in general, there's not a lot of political diversity at many univerities, so it's not much of an issue



Rubbish.



Rubbish?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15606-2004Nov26?language=printer

Quote

The great secret is out: Liberals dominate campuses. Coming soon: "Moon Implicated in Tides, Studies Find."

One study of 1,000 professors finds that Democrats outnumber Republicans at least seven to one in the humanities and social sciences. That imbalance, more than double what it was three decades ago, is intensifying because younger professors are more uniformly liberal than the older cohort that is retiring.

Another study, of voter registration records, including those of professors in engineering and the hard sciences, found nine Democrats for every Republican at Berkeley and Stanford. Among younger professors, there were 183 Democrats, six Republicans.



About what I'd expect for well educated folks trained in critical thinking.:P
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One other thing you might want to consider is apologizing to your professor. Without get into particulars, you could offer something along the lines of "I thought we had a pretty good relationship and I want to apologize for any part I played in turning it into a confrontational one". If he replies with criticisms... let them slide.


NC, thanks for that. You're right...and I went ahead and emailed him a moment ago. Here is what I sent over...

"Hi, Professor:

Friday's episode has been bothering me, and I wanted to take a brief moment to email you this morning. I thought we had a pretty good relationship and I want to apologize for any part I played in turning it into a confrontational one. It wasn't (and isn't) my intent to have a confrontational relationship with anyone, and again, I am sorry for any part I played in developing that.

With that, I am back to studying, and I'll see you this afternoon.

Regards-
Michele"

If he responds, I'll post it up. If not, well, we'll see what happens this afternoon in class.

Thanks again for the wording, and for the suggestion. Let's see how this goes. And now, I have to review pH factoring and buffer identification...[:/]:|

Ciels-
Michele


~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

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>mm. You have experience with different universities than I do, then.



end, in general, there's not a lot of political diversity at many univerities, so it's not much of an issue



Rubbish.


Apparently, conservatives don't go to college.

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Apparently, conservatives don't go to college.



Who said anything about conservatives and liberals?
The data was about Dems and Reps - big difference.

Apparently Reps don't make a career out of going to college.

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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