The Northern Light

With the upcoming vote, the controversial war in Iraq and the other political events facing our nation, political discussion naturally occurs in classes around campus.

College is a time for many young men and women to find themselves, their beliefs and their values. The problem is that some students feel as if their opinions cannot be shared during class discussion for fear of being looked down upon or ridiculed by their professors.

Last week, our Seawolf Snapshot question was, "Do you vote?" Shortly after one of the interviews, one of the students came into the office and asked that we not publish her comment. Her reasoning: She knows that her professor has a differing opinion and thinks her grade would suffer because of it.

A November 2004 report, "Politics in the Classroom," reveals that nearly a third of students at 50 top U.S. universities thought their grades were affected by political bias on the part of professors, according to the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

The report found that 29 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, "On my campus, there are courses in which students feel they have to agree with the professor's political or social views in order to get a good grade."

While research of this sort has not been conducted at UAA, the situation has the potential to become a problem.

In politically focused classes, it is understandable for students to have varying views and opinions. In fact, good debate is a necessary component for learning in these classes. But what about English, history or even math classes where politics get brought into the picture?

Some of The Northern Light's staff members have seen what could be considered political discrimination on campus, such as a liberal arts professor who made his political views perfectly clear, explicitly saying that conservative students don't really belong in his class. Or a history professor who continually went off on tangents ridiculing a political party, and if a student who identified with that party tried to make a reply, that student would get a sarcastic rebuttal, a criticizing speech and a quick return to the actual lecture. Or an A student who suddenly got a C after writing something against the professor's political view.

At Duke University, a history professor on the first day of class made a joking remark about having prejudices against Republicans, not even considering that some of his students might take offense, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Feb. 13, 2004, article goes on to mention that many conservative students feel a kind of isolation and discrimination on campuses that seem dominated by professors with outspoken liberal views.

Even if professors' personal views don't influence their grading of students, it is easy to see how students could get the impression that their political views may affect their grades.

A recently published letter to The Northern Light from John H. Roberson III, a student government senator, expressed his concerns about political bias in the classroom.

"I have had it with politically biased professors at UAA," he wrote. "In an upper-division political science class, students spent an hour bashing Gov. Frank Murkowski. At the end of class, I said, 'This is ridiculous, and even worse, it's not educational.' The professor replied, 'I thought it was educational.'"

If a professor brings a political conversation into discussion, especially in a class where such a topic is not specifically relevant, all students should be entitled to their own opinions without fear of repercussions.

Discussing an issue in class should be a learning experience for students in which all sides of an argument can be fairly represented without fear.

It should not be an exercise in political indoctrination by professors who consider their classes a personal soapbox.

We are paying to sit in class and learn. We are not paying to have our professors scare us into conformity in an effort to get a better grade. Our grades should reflect the work we all do for our classes, not how well our views mesh with our professors'.

Even though most professors will say they don't let personal views interfere with students' grades, continually bringing up one's political views in class will certainly give the appearance of political bias, which can only have a stifling effect on students' self-expression.

Again, this is not a widespread problem at UAA €" yet. But we live in politically volatile times, and there are strong opinions on all sides of the issues. To keep it from becoming a problem, professors prone to spewing partisan digressions should keep to the lecture at hand and leave their political speeches and jokes at home.

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