Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Anti-Semitism looms large in NYC

This is just sad.
I can't believe (well, actually, unfotunately, I can) that something like this would happen in such a prestigious university. And that it would be so wide-spread and (it seems) part of the institution. It's not just one professor, or one class...it's the whole system. That's just sad.
Being a professor is a hard job. That's why they get respect and a decent ammount of money - especially at such a high level. But with the job comes a lot of responsibility. Having a deeply held opinion is one thing, but when you teach a class you should at least make the effort to be even-handed. And you should never yell at your students. Especially in class. Some one-sidedness is to be expected, and professors should be free to shout their opinions at the top of their lungs, outside of class. However, in class, espcially during lectures, they should make every effort concievable to be even-handed.
I realize that I'm not a professor and that I don't know how hard it is to teach...especially when you're an expert, and you feel that your opinions are so well considered and researched that they have become fact, but that doesn't give you an excuse.
When people ask me questions I often give long-winded answers. There are good reasons for this. One is that I have a very nice sounding voice. The other is that I try to give an unbiased background for the topic, before I go into my opinions. And I try to label my opinions as much as possible...especially if the topic is contentious. (like Isreal and Palestine) And I'm not even that well educated yet, and if I can do it, then people with much more intelect that I have should find it easy to say "this is agreed upon fact. This is my opinion about that fact"

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