Classrooms as Political Podiums
OK, I'll start this off by saying that I believe that going into Iraq was a good idea. There were multiple reasons to do so, and I did believe that there were WMD's and other violations occuring there.
I'm not a fan of President Bush. His science policies have me distressed.
I will always respect the office though. I think the manner that this country treats the President is horrible, especially in light of the offenses perpetrated by our direct representatives.
This isn't about that.
I'm a student, at a pretty good university. I pay serious money to attend, and I hope to learn while I am there. When I taught, I tried to keep commentary out, and encourage critical thinking in my students. When pushed, I gave my opinion, but made sure that my students and colleagues knew that it was my opinion that I was putting forth.
In my last required english class (composition), I was pretty excited. Our first set of books was a biography about a man that stressed critical thinking, and challenging established norms. I was genuinely excited about this class until the professor began spouting her version of political theory and commentary.
The excitement lasted a couple of weeks, until I realized that the commentary was not a rare thing, but was in fact becoming more common. The comments are short, but they're very slanted, and occasionally outright lies.
These are paraphrased, but they convey the point:
"George Bush is worse than Hitler"
"US federal law enforcement is torturing its citizens"
"The US military has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens"
Having been in the military, and worked with federal law enforcement, I take exception to some of these remarks. At one point she made a comment about my previous occupation, and "my" tendencies at infringing on others rights.
I seem to remember missing almost every holiday in the last three years, many birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations for friends and family, on account of attending every protest at our nation's capitol, to ensure that protestor's rights were protected.
I seem to remember helping organize the police detail for a group of KKK guys, where they were out numbered by the "counter-protestors". I remember being called a racist for being at events like those.
Now I'm in school, and I have to put up with it from my professor.
She's made it clear that she is not to be disagreed with. This has even gotten to the point where two of my classmates have "new names", because she chooses to pronounce them her way-- despite being corrected by them.
A fair amount of these kids are looking at another degree after this one. There are at least two other people in the class that consider themselves "Pre-Med" (Including myself). This is a required class, and an average grade can have serious consequences. Ill-considered or ill-timed complaints could have dire consequences.
Now we are getting into our "Healthcare" section of the class. Today I learned that "there is no medicine without politics," and that "politics in this country always corrupts."
In the same breath.
It was this comment that made me want to write this.
When a provider holds a patient's life in their hands, in some rainy ditch on the side of the road, there are no politics.
I recognize that our medical infrastructure is incredibly political. Hell, we spent $1,700,000,000,000 (That's $1.7 TRILLION) on medicine in 2003. There's going to be politics there.
I resent the taint cast on this profession. I resent the implication that healthcare providers seek to take advantage of their patients.
I'm tired of her innuendos, conspiracies, negative comments, and crap political statements-- all on my dime, and while holding my grade hostage.
I might start taping the class. Show the Dean what's happening in the classroom.
I'm not a fan of President Bush. His science policies have me distressed.
I will always respect the office though. I think the manner that this country treats the President is horrible, especially in light of the offenses perpetrated by our direct representatives.
This isn't about that.
I'm a student, at a pretty good university. I pay serious money to attend, and I hope to learn while I am there. When I taught, I tried to keep commentary out, and encourage critical thinking in my students. When pushed, I gave my opinion, but made sure that my students and colleagues knew that it was my opinion that I was putting forth.
In my last required english class (composition), I was pretty excited. Our first set of books was a biography about a man that stressed critical thinking, and challenging established norms. I was genuinely excited about this class until the professor began spouting her version of political theory and commentary.
The excitement lasted a couple of weeks, until I realized that the commentary was not a rare thing, but was in fact becoming more common. The comments are short, but they're very slanted, and occasionally outright lies.
These are paraphrased, but they convey the point:
"George Bush is worse than Hitler"
"US federal law enforcement is torturing its citizens"
"The US military has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens"
Having been in the military, and worked with federal law enforcement, I take exception to some of these remarks. At one point she made a comment about my previous occupation, and "my" tendencies at infringing on others rights.
I seem to remember missing almost every holiday in the last three years, many birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations for friends and family, on account of attending every protest at our nation's capitol, to ensure that protestor's rights were protected.
I seem to remember helping organize the police detail for a group of KKK guys, where they were out numbered by the "counter-protestors". I remember being called a racist for being at events like those.
Now I'm in school, and I have to put up with it from my professor.
She's made it clear that she is not to be disagreed with. This has even gotten to the point where two of my classmates have "new names", because she chooses to pronounce them her way-- despite being corrected by them.
A fair amount of these kids are looking at another degree after this one. There are at least two other people in the class that consider themselves "Pre-Med" (Including myself). This is a required class, and an average grade can have serious consequences. Ill-considered or ill-timed complaints could have dire consequences.
Now we are getting into our "Healthcare" section of the class. Today I learned that "there is no medicine without politics," and that "politics in this country always corrupts."
In the same breath.
It was this comment that made me want to write this.
When a provider holds a patient's life in their hands, in some rainy ditch on the side of the road, there are no politics.
I recognize that our medical infrastructure is incredibly political. Hell, we spent $1,700,000,000,000 (That's $1.7 TRILLION) on medicine in 2003. There's going to be politics there.
I resent the taint cast on this profession. I resent the implication that healthcare providers seek to take advantage of their patients.
I'm tired of her innuendos, conspiracies, negative comments, and crap political statements-- all on my dime, and while holding my grade hostage.
I might start taping the class. Show the Dean what's happening in the classroom.
posted by Static at 5:00 PM
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