[MD] The Academy is Evil! Here's what I'd do instead...

[david buchanan]

Sorry, but David Horowitz is a crackpot and his "Academic Bill of Rights" is contradictory, hair-brained, politically-driven nonsense. But you need not oppose his politics to see it as nonsense. His critics come from every part of the political spectrum. I think this example only shows the value of the intellectual level's immune system. It's supposed to keep out the crackpots. 

As Wiki explains so clearly, "The Academic Bill of Rights (ABOR) is a document created and distributed by Students for Academic Freedom, a public advocacy group spun off from the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, a think tank founded by former progressive, now conservative activist and writer David Horowitz. "

"...The Bill (and its drafting organization) have come under sharp attack, however, for using broad-based egalitarian principles and a self-identified "bipartisan" framework to promote what many identify as a highly specific ideological agenda.  ...Pointing to the ideological agenda of the Bill's drafters and supporters, a number of organizations have come out in strong opposition to the Bill, expressing pointed critique of both its aims and its content. The critics come from both the political left and right.
One of the first organizations to come out in opposition to the bill was the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). While agreeing with the underlying principles of freedom, equality, and pluralism in the university community, the association said that the bill "infringes academic freedom in the very act of purporting to protect it." Along with the Santorum Amendment the Academic Bill of Rights is viewed by some individual academics as a threat to academic freedom. Others have suggested that it may allow students to claim discrimination when tested on evolution.
Moderate, libertarian, and conservative critics of the ABOR have asserted that it would open the door to a right wing version of the campus speech code. An article by David T. Beito, Ralph E. Luker and K.C. Johnson in the Perspectives magazine of the American Historical Association warned that the ABOR "could snuff out all controversial discussion in the classroom. A campus governed by the ABOR would present professors with an impossible dilemma: either play it safe or risk administrative censure by saying something that might offend an overly sensitive student." 
The bill has also been opposed by the American Library Association, whose members approved a resolution stating that the Bill "would impose extra-academic standards on academic institutions, directly interfering in course content, the classroom, the research process, and hiring and tenure decisions."
The Academic Bill of Rights has also received opposition from a number of other educational and public interest groups, including the American Federation of Teachers, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), and others. A number of left-leaning groups, including Refuse and Resist, the AFL-CIO, SourceWatch, and more, have also expressed concern and criticism of the Bill, particularly warning against the regulatory oversight that the bill would place upon academic institutions, if passed."


> Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2010 23:23:53 +0000
> From: craigerb at comcast.net
> To: craigerb at comcast.net
> CC: moq_discuss at lists.moqtalk.org
> Subject: Re: [MD] The Academy is Evil! Here's what I'd do instead...
> 
> [dmb]
> > In the real world, I think it would be hard to find an academic professional who did not rate academic freedom as
> > one the their most cherished ideals.
> 
> Here's a real world (Pennsylvania & Colorado) account of academic freedom:
> 
> Normal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4http://www.booktv.org/Program/11834/Reforming+Our+Universities+The+Campaign+
> 
> For+An+Academic+Bill+of+Rights.aspx
> Craig
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