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.
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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
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