-Caveat Lector- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- LINDA SEEBACH: Closed minds in the academic world Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Scripps Howard News Service DENVER (March 22, 1999 10:49 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - I passed a pleasant Saturday earlier this month with members of the Colorado Association of Scholars, whose first all-day conference, held at the University of Denver on March 13, took as its theme "Prejudices of the Professors." The attendance was small, because one common prejudice among professors is never to associate with people whose opinions challenge their own. If an organization is considered politically incorrect, and this one is, people fear their careers will suffer if they join it or attend its meetings. In a more innocent time, this used to be called "McCarthyism," and universities deplored it. The Colorado group is a chapter of the National Association of Scholars, whose motto is "for reasoned scholarship in a free society." That's far too radical for many academic types, whose philosophy of education is more accurately described as "for political activism in the service of social change." The organization honors a quaint academic tradition, now all but forgotten on most campuses, of inviting speakers with differing and sometimes controversial views. For the protection of our distinguished speakers, therefore, I must emphasize that their appearance at the conference in no way implies their endorsement of the group or its views. Would anyone suggest it did? You bet. Guilt by association is big on campus these days. Not that Dick Lamm would care. The former governor, now director of the Center for Public Affairs and Contemporary Issues at the University of Denver, has seen the decline in academic tolerance first-hand. Lamm joined the faculty at that university in 1969, "a yeasty time," he said in his lunchtime address. "When I came back in 1987, it was vastly different." He invited Charles Murray, whose book "Losing Ground" he calls "a profound critique of the Great Society" to speak at the center (this was before the appearance of Murray's book, "The Bell Curve," which caused an entirely different war). "Instead of a debate, we had consternation," he said. There were pickets; the chancellor and the provost wouldn't speak up. Lamm acknowledges there may be some things you don't want taught as part of the curriculum - Holocaust denial, for instance - but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be debated. Yet there are many subjects he finds no one is willing to debate. "You can't find any example in the world where diversity is working - Malaysia, Indonesia, Belgium, Quebec," he said. "Cultures come apart." Lamm reminded the audience he signed Colorado's first affirmative action executive order, in 1975. "You can't run affirmative action without quotas, but I didn't know that in 1975," he said. Lamm, as a former governor with great prestige and a well-earned reputation for iconoclasm, can say things like this and still be chosen to head a university center (though probably not at a public university). An ordinary professor would be headed for obscurity if he got a job at all. But Lamm understands that professors are often picked for their political views "they won't hire you if they disagree," he said. Even more effective than intimidating people who hold dissenting views is shunning them. The Murray debacle brought press coverage, and administrators hate that, because it attracts the attention of parents, alumni, trustees and other outsiders. So when he invited Lawrence Harrison, author of "Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind: The Latin American Case," Lamm said, "No one came." I've unfairly neglected other excellent speakers, who testified to the rigorous orthodoxy imposed on their campuses. So I'll give the last word to Hank Brown, former senator and now president of the University of Northern Colorado. "The marketplace of ideas doesn't come naturally to people," Brown said. And for the most part, universities today do nothing to teach their students why they should value one. Linda Seebach is an editorial writer for the Denver Rocky Mountain News in Colorado. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- This is a good example of how the sytem has worked. rockerfeller set up the american historical association. using the money availlable through the rockerfeller foundation he(they) was allowed to place his approved historians into the leading universities. Preference is given to the court historians so they get the 'best books' out quicker than non court historians. they are then given publicity and book reviews in the press. They then write the standard works which are then taught in the lesser universities. Eventually the system creates uniformity of thought which only outsider or insiders who have a change of mind (AJP Taylor, John Toland)dare challenge. It is only a cranky man who will charge at windmills... And at this stage the seed money that the Rockerfeller foundation used is forgotten, as the system is self perpetuating. John DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
