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Show A5 WWW.NETXNE^S.NET '• TUESDAY • JULY 25 • 2006 A freedom so essential it's academic Teachers, leavethose kids alone Why dangerous ideas need protection <*& Institutions have the right to limit teachers' rhetoric David Gillespie Opinions Writer . • £' ! ' - V In recent months, the nation and our community alike have seen educators come under attack for opinions and arguments made in the classroom and in public. Two cases have been highly controversial: one on the local level and one national. Jeffrey Nielsen was a part-time philosophy teacher at BYU when he wrote an opinion editorial condemning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their stern stance opposing gay marriage. "I believe opposing gay marriage and seeking a constitutional amendment against it is immoral," he said. His comments landed him on the unemployment list as the Church-owned school said they wouldn't rehire him. On the national level. Jay Bennish, a popular Geography teacher at Overland High School in Colorado was put on paid leave for comparing statements and actions of President Bush to Adolf Hitler's. SaidBennish: "My job as a teacher is to challenge students to think critically about issues that are affecting our world and our society." Both teachers caused a stir among > " • i '•:'•} fcfc:' those bent on having academic freedom for instructors. While the First Amendment protects our freedom of speech, it doesn't protect us from our employers or the public. In 1978, the Supreme Court explained academic freedom means a university can "determine for itself of academic grounds: 1. Who may teach 2. What may be taught 3. How it should be taught and 4. Who may be admitted to study." Teachers need to "challenge students to think critically," but they mustn't waste valuable learning by giving outrageous spiels on how President Bush is equivalent to one of the worse mass murderers in history. Furthermore, the teacher need not be surprised and offended by a firing, after he/she contradicts school policy and demeans their employer. The Supreme Court ruling aforementioned, simply states BYU, Overland High School and other educational institutions have the right to limit the academic freedom permitted to their teachers.- pfe:- in order to even things out. To our knowledge Nielsen has never vocalized specific changes, at least not in his editorials or in the forums he has participated in. Instead his words hang more like nebulous threats, pointing out that his conservative buddies in the state legislature The best way to ensure balance in the classroom is for students and faculty members to speak their minds without fear of reprisal... Free speech should only be countered with more speech. Teachers need to ''challenge students to think critically/' but they mustn't waste valuable learning. i R ecently, community member Norm Nielsen once again wrote an editorial, this time published in The Daily Herald, calling for greater political balance at UVSC. Nielsen is a long time friend of the college, serving on various committees offering his advice and his experience. In the school's current climate of transition from state college to a university people like Nielsen, who are willing to take time to offer assistance, are greatly appreciated. Nielsen as of late has been a vocal critic of what he calls "a cabal of faculty members bent on turning [UVSC] into the Berkeley of the Wasatch." In the tradition of such concerned citizens as Kay Anderson, Nielsen fears that this ambiguous pack of svengalis will hypnotize impressionable youth with their tales of moral relativism and quotes from the communist manifesto. Nielsen says he does not wish to stifle free speech or academic freedom, in fact he claims to be adding more discussion to the table. Without a doubt balance, equality, and fairness are all excellent goals for an institution. The notion that a university can be a marketplace of ideas, where all sides have a voice in the debate, is nothing short of an exciting Utopian vision, with limitless growth and possibilities. But how do we go about achieving this? How can we ensure that all views have an equal chance to be heard? If there is indeed an "alarming drift to the left" ar UVSC as Nielsen suggests then how do we go about righting the ship? Nielsen suggests that the school needs to make serious policy changes will be unwilling to support UVSC becoming a university if the college doesn't "adhere to community values." Nielsen has also claimed that some professors have used their positions to preach their particular liberal philosophies and ridicule the views of their conservative students. Again he has never given specific examples of professors at UVSC abusing their position. It is also interesting that in a school year that saw very little in the way of controversy Nielsen still felt it necessary to flex his literary muscles by writing yet another editorial calling our liberal, activist professors to repentance. We feel that the best way to ensure balance in the classroom is for students and faculty members to speak their minds without fear of reprisal. This path is a two-way street that requires mutual respect and open-mindedness from all sides of the political spectrum. This paradigm requires no change in policy, no quotas, and no supposed academic bill of rights. Free speech should only be countered with more speech. >.' * E-Mail letters to uvscopinions@hotmail. corn * The NetXNews room is located on campus inSC220. - * All letters become property of NetXNewS and may be edited for content, specifically clarity, length or other concerns at the discretion of the Opinions Editor. * Letters between 50-250 words axe encour•,j;,aged and those letters marked by their suc.' cinctness are more likely to be published. * Letters must be accompanied by full name, address, and phone number for verification I i purposes (contact information will not be • * - , . • ' - " |