Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site usl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!decvax!bellcore!whuxcc!lcuxlm!akgua!usl!jew
From: jew@usl.UUCP (James E. Wilson)
Newsgroups: net.college,talk.rumors
Subject: Re: Accuracy in Academia
Message-ID: <931@usl.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 20-Sep-86 18:44:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: usl.931
Posted: Sat Sep 20 18:44:23 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 23-Sep-86 02:05:23 EDT
References: <15485@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <15492@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <652@midas.UUCP> <171@mn-at1.UUCP>
Reply-To: jew@usl.UUCP (James E. Wilson)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of (SW) Louisiana CACS
Lines: 46
Xref: usl net.college:1216 talk.rumors:24

In article <171@mn-at1.UUCP> alan@mn-at1.UUCP (Alan Klietz) writes:
>In article <652@midas.UUCP>, jeffw@midas.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) writes:
>> In article <2066@sdcsvax.UUCP> cs195@sdcsvax.UUCP (EECS 195) writes:
>> 
>> >    The AIA is worth sponsoring.  It may appear to single out 
>> >    liberal/leftist teachers, but this is not because of their
>> >    political leaning, rather, it is because they are the major 
>> >    source of disinformation on campus.  At least on my campus.
>> 
>> This is a joke, right? 
>> 
>I took a survey course in European History.  The first quarter
>covered the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.
>
>My TA gave our section the following class assignments,
>
>	o Discuss the relationship between European serfdom and
>	  modern rural land practices in Guatemala and Honduras.
>
>	o Identify some of the immediate and underlying causes of
>	  the rise of the Bourgeoisie in the 13th-16th centuries
>	  and their effects on the working class.
>
>	o Compare the role of the Church in the lives of individuals
>	  in the 13th-16th centuries with the role of the state in
>	  a Marxist society.
>
>These were the only assignments given by the TA during the quarter.
>Approximately 30% of class time was spent discussing the events in
>Nicaragua.  We did not cover Da Vinci, the Hapsburgs, New World Explo-
>ration, Rise of Spain, the Protestant Reformation, or anything else.

And what did the department chairman say about this when you confronted
him with it?  Politically-oriented instructors sometimes do abuse their
classroom responsibilities in order to propagandize.  It is not a joke.  
But what the AIA (and some others) forget is that there exist normal 
channels for dealing with classroom incompetence, when utilized.  (And, 
by and large, TA's are sitting ducks.)

I believe, at most schools, the existing channels are sufficient.

                               Jim Wilson

US Mail:  USL P.O. Box 45147, Lafayette, LA 70504; tel. (318)231-6423
UUCP:   {ut-sally, akgua}!usl!jew        ARPA:  usl!jew@ut-sally