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TM e CL ac I c AMAS, PRiNT WEdNEsdAy, 1, 2000 M arc I h Should faculty dictate students' rights? Problems outside the purview of student’s rights should be discussed withyour instructor. Examples of such problems could include, but are not limited to: use of offensive language; ideological and/or reli gious con flicts; con troversial *** JohnThorbum topics. Editor-in-Chief “Con troversial purpose of the change is to rewrite topics.”—What does this mean? Essentially, this means that a stu the Incident Resolution form to re vise die complaint process when the dent only has the right to “discuss” content is of a controversial topic— any objections with the instructor, on when ideological or religious conflicts his own or with the department chair. occur, or when there is an objection to Students would have the right to file a the use of offensive language by an complaint only if the instructor directly instructor. When the idea of recon attacked him or if he felt like his grade structing this procedure was first an was inaccurate. This also means that an instructor nounced, the idea wastoset upasepa- rate form to better filter student com can essentially say anything in class plaints—in simpler words, to deter and face no repercussions unless he mine which complaints were valid. The or she directly attacks a student’s free proposed procedure is an informal one dom ofexpression. with no option to formally appeal ac- This answers the nation-wide de- tions taken as a result ofthe complaint bate of academic freedom for this cam Last week, Jackie Flowers, social pus in one fell swoop. Instructors would be given free science instructor and “point woman” of the group, released what she calls a reign and the only thing that a student could do would be to discuss a prob rough draft of the new process. Current student rights include the lem with the instructor. Is this the direction? Is this the pur freedom of expression in the class room and the protection against im pose? proper academic evaluation. While the recent controversy sur An added paragraph to the exist rounding Dr. Donald Epstein’s Ju daic Studies class has.spawned this ing form reads as follows: A task force of faculty members is attempting to reconstruct the current procedure used when a student files acomplaintagainstafaculty member. According to some members, the From the Editor's desk. i Ktw NO safe DEft&ToiSy PeoPue- b < er . ci S b their remed C ontrol . iVm+A iA/HOL£SbMfe discretion ! , Twe is f J ot x> ta - ke it fro m them , &rr to inkz RM their . ■PISGR-BTIO n J By education ), this is the "TRUE- — THOM AS O e FF e RS o N L Cp Abuses of ,. , Fb VO E.R.. change, the direction of this task force seems to be one of misdirection. In an open meeting between task force members, invited faculty mem bers and students on Monday night, much ofthe discussion reflected not so much a feeling of advocating for students' rights as it did of faculty members’ rights. If, indeed, the purpose is to cre ate a better system, I applaud their efforts. If, however, the purpose is anything but to improve the pro cess, then what the hell do these peoplethink they’re doing? - Why are faculty members decid ing what faculty can and cannot say and what students can and cannot complain about? Faculty members’ rights seemed to be a key part of this debate early this week. If anything, the “Epstein Controversy” has instilled feelings of fear in the minds of some staff members. It’s appalling that this task force feels that it has the right to deter mine students' rights. Yesterday, the issue was brought up during President’s Council—a meeting of association presidents, faculty members and collegeadmin istrators. College President John Keyser at tempted to look at things from the perspective of a student. “I almost get the impression,” noted Keyser, “that we need to take student rights away to protect fac ulty rights.” ASG President James Gould is the only official student representative on President’s Council and the only student present at the meeting yes terday other than Print reporters. How much of a voice do students have on students' rights? HOT The Clackamas Print Online News Opinion Feature A&E Sports ; Advertising Horne Location: | http://depts.clackamas.cc.or.us/print j. ------------------ —-jt ----------------------- -J—...... Q ac I< amas P r I nt Look for us on the World Wide Web We are making waves this 1999-2000 school year! What better way to catch those waves than surfing the net to our homepage? No porn. No spam. GUARANTEED ThE swdENT iDoowfe Oone - ■JHeMSEU/eS AbX> IF u/er THINK. THEM NO1" E nu 6WTEN e D ENOUGH- T& newspaper • See all the latest news on campus on your computer. • Check out how your favorite Clackamas sports teams are doing! • Have you submitted a letter recently? In no time, you can see your name printed for the entire world to read. of CI ac I camas CoMMUNiTy ~ C o FI eqe
