Opinion
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NeiJraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chris Hopfensperger.• • • • i.Editor, 472-1766
Dionne Searcey.Opinion Page Editor
Kris Karnopp. Managing Editor
Alan Phelps..Wire Editor
Wendy Navralil. .Writing Coach
Stacey McKenzie ... • Senior Reporter
Jeremy Fitzpatrick.< J...Columnist
Too little, too late
Former UNL professor deserves apology
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The Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee’s decision was „
too little to satisfy former UNL professor Joyce Joyce, and it
came too late for the university to hold on to a quality
instructor.
The Academic Senate committee ruled Sept. 16 that Joyce’s
rights were violated in circumstances stemming from a grade
dispute last spring.
Joyce, who is now associate director of the Gwendolyn Brooks
Center at Chicago State University, wants — and deserves —
more: an apology.
“I have asked for an apology, which I have not gotten,” Joyce
said. “I have asked for an apology from the English department
and from the dean, and I’m not satisfied yet.”
Five students appealed grades they received in Joyce’s 1991
summer pre-session class on Afro-American Literature. Two of
the students were awarded higher grades in the course after going
through an appeals process.
But somewhere along the line, the English department’s
appeals committee forgot to inform Joyce about one of the
appeals.
Helen Moore, who was acting chairwoman of the Academic
Senate committee when Joyce filed her grievance, said that when
English department officials were asked about the incident, they
replied that the student’s appeal was “so hateful that they decided
not to show it to her.”
That was not reason enough.
Joyce came to UNL as a hill professor. She had 17 years of
experience teaching college-level courses under her belt. And she
was a grown woman.
She could have handled a little hostility. \_
Joyce’s rights clearly were violated. NU Board ol Regents
policy states that Joyce should have been given at least a sum
mary of the letter so she would have a chance to testify before a
grade appeals committee.
Instead, her input was neglected. And, after that and a string of
events on campus, she left.
It’s a shame UNL has to lose a quality professor who actually
challenged her students intellectually instead of spoon-feeding
them.
Joyce was well-known on campus for her teaching style, which
had a tendency to make some students squirm in their seats.
Nearly half of Joyce’s summer class complained to the ombuds
man about her style and methodology.
But a professor’s right to teach a class as he or she sees fit is
something that needs to be protected. Some facts are a bitter pill
to swallow, and some students would rather argue with a profes
sor than accept a different viewpoint.
Joyce admits the atmosphere in the pre-session class was
hostile.
‘‘When students challenge your knowledge in a classroom, I
don’t respond by turning the other check,” she said. “I don’t see
anything wrong with telling that student they don’t know what
they’re talking about, particularly when they’re being hostile.”
Joyce shouldn’t be penalized for how she teaches. And she
shouldn’t have had to worry about the university violating her
rights as a professor.
Academic freedom is the right of a faculty member to pursue
teaching and scholarship without fear of arbitrary interference. All
professors should be guaranteed that right, and they should all be
upset until Joyce gets the apology she deserves.
Suff editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1992 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent
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REPU&UCAHUS tNERGEO^ Wft^StTfcS
1
‘Rusty horn’
The “conservatives” continue to
toot their rusty horn in the “Daily
Inkwaste.” UNL a liberal campus?
Whoa! This is a most curious state
ment. Perhaps if Jeff Hankins (“Con
servative on a liberal campus,” DN,
Sept. 17) would visit campuses at
Berkeley, Madison or Ann Arbor, he
might have a different opinion.
Hankin’s unconvincing argument
in favor of “conservatism,’’however,
is the larger problem. Hankins be
littles his readers by purporting to
“understand” al 1 there is to know about
“liberalism” and “conservatism,”
while his readers know nothing.
Hankin’s condescending viewpoint
betrays the weaknessof his argument.
I contend that conservative and
liberal arc meaningless labels. Social
Security, civil rights acts, Head Start,
minimum wage and many other pro
grams arc part of the so-called “lib
eral policy.” Few conservatives would
discard these. On the other hand, few
liberals would argue with the desire
for economic growth.
as ior me conservative agenda,
while the welfare system servicing
the poor of this country needs reform,
the wealthy receive the largest share
of welfare in the form of tax loop
holes, the Reagan tax cut of the 1980s
and various government contracts.
Hankins would have us believe
that any job opportunity available to
the poor is a viable alternative to
welfare. Often poor welfare recipi
ents are undereducated single women
with children for whom many jobs,
especially the service sector jobs cre
ated under Reagan, would hardly pro
vide a living wage. Child care alone
drains most of that income.
Under conservative leadership,
welfare rolls have increased. The in
dustrial sector has continued to de
cline as jobs have gone to Mexico and
elsew here. Though conservatives con
stantly rail against big government,
under Reagan and Bush the federal
government has grown faster than at
any other time in our nation’s history,
and the national debt has tripled.
It appears to me that the only agenda
the conservatives have is the exploited
fear of “monolithic communism.”
Now they have turned to welfare
mothers, homosexuals, lawyers and
anyone considered anti-family.
Thank goodness a history of free
thinking, pragmatic, liberal readers
have acted to promote social justice
and the nation’s general welfare.
Brian S. Butler
graduate student
history
Veil of Christianity
I didn’t know Jed Smock was
thrown in the fountain, but I’d like to
put my bit in.
If Smock’s personal life was so
great, he would be at home having one
instead of trying to impress a bunch of
college students. I believe his actual
goal is to anger enough people to get
thrown into the fountain. “Oh poor
little preacher, poor little persecuted
Christian, don’t you have a right to
speak?”
Of course he has the right to speak
— he may even have the right to
tenaciously antagonize a large group
of people, and for that the conse
quences are self-evident.
Is Smock preaching? Christianity
is not a persecuted religion in the
— it
If Smock’s personal life
was so great, he would
be at home having one
instead of trying to
impress a bunch of
college students.
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United States. Fascism, under a thin
veil of“Christianity” is unacceptable,
and for good reason.
This Christian’s rhetoric is similar
to the mind-set that led to the death of
6million Jews in World Warll.andof
100,000 Musiims in Bosnia presently.
Should we have tolerated Hitler? Is
ethnic cleansing a point of view?
Where is this law that tolerance is
always good? This is a rigid point of
view, un-Saul Alinsky. It is time to
wake up from the conditions of the
’60s and sec the world right now:
threatened by fascism and
scapegoating.
1 am a Christian and a proud Ameri
can. I am losing sympathy for people
who abuse and insult these concepts.
If someone wants to insult the public
and slap a woman to boot, he must
have a lot of faith in other people’s
tolerance.
Nicole Montagne
sophomore
pre-forestry
Lincoln Christian
I am a respected business woman
and member of the Lincoln Christian
Church. I wanted to personally re
spond to the recent articles and adver
tisement about my church because I
was once in the same shoes as the
students of this campus, and I made
the wrong choice.
Many limes over a period of seven
years I was invited to a related church,
but I listened to scare rumors and
would not go near it. During those
years I compromised the morals my
parents instilled in me, and my life
degenerated into empty partying. Oh,
I had good grades, an office in my
.1 '
h
sorority, a good job at graduation and
later graduate school — everything
most students would define as suc
cess. By my friends standards I even
looked extraordinarily moral. Still, I
attended churches the whole time,
and none ever confronted my drink
ing problem or helped fill the empti
ness I felt.
After seven years, full of suspi
cion, I went to a Bible Talk. I was
deeply moved by what I heard, under
standing for the first time what Jesus
did for me on the cross. It took a long
time for me to set aside my suspicions
and join the church, but I did. I can’t
tell you how often I’ve wished I had
joined when I first was invited. There
was a lot of pain and shame in those
years. Worst of all, I found that the
rumors that kept me out for so long
were lies.
I urge everyone concerned — stu
dents, parents, reporters, administra
tors and friends—to look more closely
at what you have been told. I believe
well-meaning people are accepting
and passing on rumors today, as I once
did, because they haven ’ t real ly looked
into the facts. Students are being urged
to be careful consumers of religion; I
would urge everyone to be careful
consumers of information. Serious
attention has been given to wild and
irresponsible rumors. *
Parents, I understand your con
cerns. Of course the charges, both
printed and spoken, are going to scare
you. Take the time to check out both
sides of the story before you form an
opinion; it is easy to assume the worst
is true, just in case.
Reporters and administrators, do
your job. Be sure what you say is true.
There are numerous false statements
in the articles and administration pro
nouncements I ’ ve seen that you could
discover if you checked them out
thoroughly. Too much is at stake here.
People I care about afe being slan
dered and harassed because of this
carelessness, and others who would
join us are staying away as I once did.
Students, this is part of your uni
versity education. You should already
be learning that good people can be
mistaken, newspapers arc fallible, and
the majority is often wrong. Now is
the time to develop you own convic
tions based on fact — and stand on
them. That’s what a university is all
about.
Since I joined the church eight
years ago, I completed my MBA with
a 3.8 grade point average — better
than my undergraduate average. I have
won two highly prestigious awards
for my work. The church has spurred
me on to greater, not lesser accom
plishments.
Katie Neuschacfer
Lincoln
