Posted: 3/9/2004 11:33:16 AM EDT
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[Rant on] No surprise, but the other day, I had my assistant attend a recruiting event at our local university. This was for the College of Arts and Science. Anyway, there was a professor emeritis of music talking to another professor and they were discussing the military. They proceded to bash the Army and their mission in Iraq. Specifically, an engineer unit just returned from Iraq and these two characters were talking about how the engineer battalion spent a lot of time rebuilding infrastructure in the country. They said "if they hadn't been blowing it up when they got there, they wouldn't have to rebuild it now." This went on and on about how we shouldn't be in Iraq, etc. Then they started bashing the president and how bad of a job he is doing. Now I know this is no surprise, especially coming from professors at a University, but a CAS recruiting event is hardly the right forum for this kind of discussion. These two clowns thought they were being sly and talking where my assistant couldn't hear them. Needless to say, they were mistaken. Sorry, but this chaps my hide. Unfortunatley, I wasn't there to hear it myself. Even if I was, I still wouldn't have been able to say anything. If I had been there, however, I'm quite certain there would be an ARFCOM fire mission shortly. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for free speech. But, this sometimes people just don't know when to shut up and keep things to themselves. [Rant off] |
| While earning my MPH (a predominantly liberal course of study, but specific to my career) at UAB (a predominantly liberal public university), I encountered the most left-wing lecture of my educational experience (a BS & two Masters). It was a guest lecturer (not the instructor of the course) in a class on public health policy. The guest lecturer gave his patented "Myths About the USA" presentation, wherin he spent two hours listing everything that is "wrong" with us & how arrogant we are to believe we are the greatest nation on Earth. I was so shocked with what I was hearing that I just sat there amazed - it honestly never occurred to me to get up and walk out. This lecturer, BTW, is an English immigrant who is a naturalized US citizen. You have no idea how badly I wanted to tell him to "go back home" if things here are so awful! In retrospect, I am glad I didn't. He & I have worked together on some projects over the years & I had the glorious opportunity to tell him how offensive, misleading, and one-sided I had found his entire presentation - not as a whining student, but as a peer & a professional not so easily dismissed... |
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I am a professor of chemistry at a (very) small Christian college. I earned my Ph.D at the University of Georgia while simultaneously teaching at said small college. I was amused at how on any given day I could say something in public earshot at one college that would get me fired at the other! If not fired, hated for life! Anyhoo, there are alot of conservatives in higher acedemia. They simple choose to be quiet- a conservative trait in and of itself. When I say alot, i mean alot! You have an amazing way of finding out who each other are in secerecy. It is almost like drawing a curve in the sand- how early Christians identified themselves to one another (the christian fish) |
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Hardshell, I spent three years in England. Nice people there. As an American I was always treated with the utmost courtesy. But, in the three years I was there, I never once heard America given any credit for anything more innovative than inventing the concept of "sell by" dates on yogurt packaging. To them, we will always be the loud mouthed, rough and dirty cousins, who ran away from the motherland to go and establish and live in an uneducated, unsophisticated, violent and dangerous society. Most, but not all of the Blokes I met there were polite; but would then spend the next 10 minutes telling me how misguided we were and everything that was wrong with American society. Other than that they love us, and are not picking on us specifically. They are just as hard or harder on the Frogs. I really enjoyed my three years there and would love to go back sometime. |
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Quoted: Anyhoo, there are alot of conservatives in higher acedemia. They simple choose to be quiet- a conservative trait in and of itself. When I say alot, i mean alot! You have an amazing way of finding out who each other are in secerecy. It is almost like drawing a curve in the sand- how early Christians identified themselves to one another (the christian fish) Yep. There are a few conservatives at the lab where I work, but they are few and far between. You have to feel each other out subtly. |
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Quoted: While earning my MPH (a predominantly liberal course of study, but specific to my career) at UAB (a predominantly liberal public university), I encountered the most left-wing lecture of my educational experience (a BS & two Masters). It was a guest lecturer (not the instructor of the course) in a class on public health policy. The guest lecturer gave his patented "Myths About the USA" presentation, wherin he spent two hours listing everything that is "wrong" with us & how arrogant we are to believe we are the greatest nation on Earth. I was so shocked with what I was hearing that I just sat there amazed - it honestly never occurred to me to get up and walk out. This lecturer, BTW, is an English immigrant who is a naturalized US citizen. You have no idea how badly I wanted to tell him to "go back home" if things here are so awful! In retrospect, I am glad I didn't. He & I have worked together on some projects over the years & I had the glorious opportunity to tell him how offensive, misleading, and one-sided I had found his entire presentation - not as a whining student, but as a peer & a professional not so easily dismissed... I bet it really peeves those people at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) to be surrounded by one of the most conservative/right wing/evangelical populations in the United States. On the topic of liberal professors, I’ve met some champs. My favorite was a professor at UCF (University of Central Florida) who tried to give us a guilt trip about the clothes and shoes we were wearing because they were made in Asian sweatshops with slave labor. |
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Quoted: I am a professor of chemistry at a (very) small Christian college. I earned my Ph.D at the University of Georgia while simultaneously teaching at said small college. I was amused at how on any given day I could say something in public earshot at one college that would get me fired at the other! If not fired, hated for life! Anyhoo, there are alot of conservatives in higher acedemia. They simple choose to be quiet- a conservative trait in and of itself. When I say alot, i mean alot! You have an amazing way of finding out who each other are in secerecy. It is almost like drawing a curve in the sand- how early Christians identified themselves to one another (the christian fish) The Gun Owners of America Bumperstick that is on top of my monitor, and facing the door of my office helps me locate like minded colleagues. TRG |
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Quoted: I bet it really peeves those people at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) to be surrounded by one of the most conservative/right wing/evangelical populations in the United States... Absolutely! (Not that there aren't any conservative students & faculty there - let's just say there is a "palpable liberal atmosphere.") The entire time I was attending UAB's School of Public Health (highly respected but VERY left-leaning), I made a point of wearing sweatshirts & button-downs with various gunmaker logos & polos from the various NRA Annual Meetings. Given the typical "Public Health viewpoint" on guns, you can imagine the initial reactions I got. I became known as the school's "Token Conservative" in no time - I still graduated with honors, but it made for some very interesting class discussions... [:D] |