Sentence from college text

[woodsmoke]

Hi
There are multiple posts littering the net about how there is no "left wing bias" in the halls of academe and it is all a black helicopter thing.

There are also many posts about "prove it".
SECOND BELOW is a direct quote from a textbook used at the college whereat I teach.

It was showed to my by a student who was thanking me for being "fair and balanced", and bashing/cheering both "sides", or simply saying "that is not something that is related to this subject and so I will not pass an opinion".

An example of how I, personally, think that college teachers should discuss a controversial topic is the every semester discussion about Pandemics:

Pres. George Bush massively funding for AIDS treatment in Africa.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...123000941.html

Pres. Obama continued funding for AIDS treatment in Africa stating that the funding by Bush was sufficient and increasing other funding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preside...or_AIDS_Relief

Now just WHY is this brought up? It is brought up because it is in the text.

HOWEVER, the text does not extoll either or malign either it brings up the PROBLEM and asks that the student think about it.

HERE is the direct quote from the student's text:

President Obama had recently succeded in shepherding his health care bill through Congress, even though not a single Republican had voted for it.

As a result of the G.W. Bush policies favoring big business, income inequality grew at an alarming rate during his administration.

a) touchy feely term "sheparding" for President Obama.
b) Republicans bad for not voting for it.
c) Pres Bush is not referred to as President even though the term is SUPPOSED to be used for all previous, living or not living, Presidents.
d) "inequality" perjorative term
e) "alarming rate" enflamatory term.

In the Index:

Obama:

affordable, assist, subsidies increased, rights, increase, more opportunities, restoration,
three neutral terms, one "against" concerning war in Libya.

Bush:

abortion, wars, attack, risk, death, faith-based gag, gay marriage,

one neutral and one "pro" Tax-cut.

OH I KNOW....maybe it is a Poltiical Science text designed to invoke "lively debate".

Sad to say it is not a political science text it is:

The Social Work Experience: An Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare
Part of the CORE COMPETENCY SERIES
Mary Ann Suppes, Carolyn Cressy Wells
ed 6, 2011 Pearson.
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educa...205569397.page

[bsniadajewski]

I'd say there's a bit of bias in those texts, and i'm saying this as centrist (more center-left).

[whatthefunk]

All books contain bias. It is the job of a teacher to explain this, offer books that have contrasting view points and teach students to think for themsevles.

[vw72]

I'm not sure that I would use a college student's writing as determining the bias in higher education. College students tend to be young and idealistic (left or right) and somewhat self-absorbed. As such, what they write is not necessarily a reflection of what they are taught, but more a reflection of the values they bring and a glimpse of their world view. As an example, nobody would claim that the "hippies" of the 60s were conservative and yet they are the conservatives of today.

Learning environments that encourage discovery and exploration will always seem to be biased one way or the other depending on the viewer's own perceptions. I once had a history professor refer to the US Civil War as the War of Northern Aggression. Not because he was a southerner or anything, but specifically to evoke a discussion on the subject for something other than slavery. Was it controversial? Yes. Was it biased? No, at least not in the context it was stated. Was it creative and engaging? Most definitely -- of course, I was a chemistry/physics major where creativity in the lab was discouraged as it tend to get you injured.

My point in all of this is that there is a difference between indoctrination and trying to get kids to be critical thinkers. Both use similar techniques, but have vastly different goals. I am quite sure there are professors who abuse their position, however, I am also sure that there are many who do not.

[woodsmoke]

Ok this is just rich...

But, one can connect it directly to the "high english" writing classes in which :

a) one does not write: "I did thus and so..."

One writes "This author did thus and so..."

b) The person's first "paper" came back and even though the journal article which was being critiqued had the sentence:

"irresponsible parents" ....IN THE ARTICLE....

The critique had to have the sentence:

"parents that are irresponsible"

not

"irresponsible parents"

lol

politicalcorrectamundoness! lol

woodsmoke

[woodsmoke]

The lab assistant asked me a question today about a very short sentence buried in the text.

"Aged people and those with AIDs are the two things that affect cost containment in health care."

Notice the word "two"...

I have posted about the AIDs thing, which the elites have tried to sweep under the table because it is not congruent with their world view, but...

Where the rubber meets the road... even in this SLANTED text.... there is AT LEAST some small mention about the reality of the situation.

And.... this is:

a) One of the UNstated reasons why the Dems and Pres. Obama wanted Obamacare.. .... a long term disease, is by definition, something that insurance companies cannot do a risk assessment for..

So....the argument for Obamacare is that:

The assumption being that the cost of a massive government beauracracy will be less than the profit of the insurance company.
The NEED for the government to assume these costs.

b) Why Gov. Romney said in the debate that he "would keep some parts of the law".

And, of course all the nattering nabobs of negativism then took him to task for it.. while all the time knowing exactly why he said it, but he is, by definition evil.

************

I don't have a link for it, but I heard it in a discussion on the telly..... that there is an "under the table" network of hospitals, mostly government run, that are being taken into the "regional" university medical systems to funnel money from the state legislatures (higher education money) through the university medical systems to the "associated" hospitals that are long term/acute care facilities.

And, also, of course, tangentially, the federal government funnels money into the university systems for "research" and that money then goes to the hospitals, where the university is "doing research".

Curiously my former sister in law verified this...she is a heart health specialist who works in the regional hospital that is about fifty miles from me, and that she was called back out of retirement to act as a "consultant" for the program.

The hospitals that are involved can be identified because they are:

LTACH - Long-term acute care hospital

who deal with:

medically complex patients
Chronically ill patients
patients with multiple diagnoses

And for those who don't know, people don't die "from AIDs" they die from the conditions that occur after contracting AIDs.

AND NO. ...I am not dissing people with AIDs or anything else, I'm indicating what neither the President or the Governor can afford to say so that the shouters won't be able to use it against them and also because they both know it is "just something that needs to be done".