Question:
I (yes... I)... was watching Fox News and came across a report on this. Apparently, the UCLA Bruin Alumni Association is paying students $100 per class (if I'm right on that...need to check to make sure) to basically tattle on professors for being to radical.
What do you think of this? Too radical? An honest attempt at fair studying?
Interestingly, the group does not have any radical republicans on its list.
Source: http://www.uclaprofs.com/
Edit: even the conservative on Fox was ripping on them. Just a quick FYI.
Doesn't sound "fair and balanced" to me.
Answer:
You go to college (among other things) to be exposed to viewpoints other than your own. What sense does it make to tattle on professors for being too radical? If you're stupid enough to buy into everything your professor tells you (when they're making a normative statement, at least), then you shouldn't be in college. Obviously, the classroom should not become a political platform, but the school paper, school clubs, etc, etc can certainly serve that purpose for outspoken professors... and it's likely that that's all that is happening at UCLA, I think.
Answer:
From what I gathered, some profs at UCLA were getting too "liberal" in class, clearly teaching their biases rather than facts. That's what sparked this. I think it's a bit over the top myself.
I agree that college is all about being exposed to different viewpoints, and I am a firm believer taking things with a grain of salt. Every prof I've ever had has been biased one way or another. It's just how things are. But when those biases make it into lectures as "fact," that bothers me, because many of my classmates don't analyze what the prof is saying, but rather accept it as fact.