Diversity of Everything but Thought

I don't think this piece from the WSJ has been posted. If it has, apologies. If it hasn't, here's a bit more grist for the mill.

Excerpts:

Quote:

Some moderate voices are raising the alarm over the problem. A Nov. 9 staff-written editorial in the Columbia Spectator, the mainstream student newspaper at New York's Columbia University, called for a greater range of views on campus. "In all other areas of campus life, students do not hesitate to call for diversity," the editorial said in pointing out the complete absence of conservatives from history, philosophy and humanities departments. "It should be self-evident that a faculty that speaks with unanimity on some of the most divisive issues of the day is not fulfilling its duty. Students across the ideological spectrum must demand that Columbia address this need."

The Spectator editorial comes at a time when several Jewish students are charging that they have been intimidated by anti-Israel professors. Several of the students told their stories in a new 25-minute film, "Columbia Unbecoming," produced by the Boston-based David Project. Student Ariel Berry says that Prof. Joseph Massad told students that "the Palestinian is the new Jew, and the Jew is the new Nazi." Columbia alumna Lindsay Shrier said Prof. George Saliba told her, "You have no claim to the land of Israel. You have no voice in this debate. You have green eyes. You're not a Semite. I have brown eyes. I am a Semite."

Such incidents have led both the New York Sun and Rep. Andrew Weiner, a Brooklyn Democrat, to call for dramatic reforms on Columbia's campus. This month, Lee Bollinger, Columbia's president, asked the university's provost to investigate the claims made in the film, partially backpedaling from a statement he had made in May supporting the findings of a university committee that found no evidence of "systematic bias" in Columbia classrooms.

and

Quote:

Furthermore, a new national study by Swedish sociologist Charlotta Stern and Santa Clara University economist Daniel Klein found that in a random national sample of 1,678 responses from university professors Democratic professors outnumber Republicans 3 to 1 in economics. 28 to 1 in sociology and 30 to 1 in anthropology. Their findings will be published in Academic Questions, the journal of the National Association of Scholars.

The whole piece is here:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005928

For example, if there is a group on campus that should really be complaining about being afraid to express their political opinions, it's conservatives, who are routinely mocked and belittled by professors and students alike (I, for one, love to mock them).

(Question: Isn't Rosenthal a Jewish name?)

Letters to the Editor
November 12, 2004

Editorial Unwisely Suggests Political Litmus Test

To the Editor:

Eric Foner, the only "leftist" member of the faculty mentioned by name, and I talked over the editorial in which you blamed the Columbia University History Department for not including any ideological conservatives ("A Call For Conservatism," Nov. 9). We agreed that you must have a miraculous degree of knowledge of the political opinions of the more than 50 faculty members who make up the Columbia and Barnard departments. We ourselves do not subject our colleagues to political tests; we cannot even guarantee to you that no one voted for Bush.

We also wondered why you do not investigate the political coloration of, say, the Business School, whose new dean is an outspoken supporter of the president.

The difficulty you experienced in thinking of good historians who are, in American terms, conservative, should have led you to ask why that was so. Is it possible that serious scholarly study of history tends to lead a person towards the left?

Professor Foner and I have been involved in making very many appointments in this department over the years. We can state categorically that no job candidate has, in our time, been subjected to any explicit or implicit political test (though we can both remember that, when we first came here, some right-wing faculty did attempt to do precisely that).

Professor William V. Harris

Columbia Spectator, the mainstream student newspaper

moderate voices

When the voices, however minority, are broad based and consistent, don't you think it's worth some thought and attention by somebody?

How exactly do we "KNOW" the voter registration of university professors?

Those who are conducting the studies call them up or send them written questionnaires and ask.

Only for those who already have their minds made up ehBeth.

Which article do you give greater credibility to, Lola? The one that talked about more than the David Project and cited yet another presumably scientific study. Your article didn't cite other than Rosenthal's opinion including a borderline anti-Semitism.

That one does not feel discriminated against or has other outlets is normally not a valid argument for the Left. That I do not experience racial discrimination, for instance, is given no credibility as proof that racial discrimination does not exist. If I have never been bashed because I am heterosexual does not prove that discrimination against gays doesn't happen. That thousands of commercial airline flights take off and land safely doesn't mean that we don't need to look at the causes of the very occasional crash.

... Deciding to forward an argument that this is true has been the move that really takes this from the realm of opinion and seeks to codify it as fact. This is the purpose of arguments, isn't it? To try to Prove something. To use this proof as a moral basis for the enactment of change.
I agree with this paragraph except for your choice of the word proof. I think we cannot prove anything for certain without assuming at least one thing that we cannot prove for certain. Consequently, I recomend you substitute the words persuasive evidence for the word proof.

Nothing has been proven at all with the information given, other than the fact that surveys have shown that there are more Liberal(Democrat?) professors in Colleges these days than there are Conservative(Republican?) professors.
I would say: Persuasive evidence has not been provided "with the information given, other than the fact that surveys have shown that there are more Liberal(Democrat?) professors in Colleges these days than there are Conservative (Republican?) professors." But that's merely my opinion.

This in no way proves the main argument. The 'Anectodal Evidence' is immaterial to the argument as it doesn't support it in any way other than to confirm that some people believe that Conservative thought is punished on Campuses.
I would say: "This in no way" constitutes persuasive evidence "of the main argument." "The 'Anectodal Evidence'" presented thus far is not sufficient support to the argument as it only confirms that a relatively few "people believe that Conservative thought is punished on Campuses." If a far greater amount of anecdotal evidence were to be provided, it might persuade me. But that's merely my opinion.

So what is there to discuss? Someone's opinions on the topic? We know we're going to disagree, so what's the point when there is no argument being forwarded whatsoever?
I interpreted your prior post on this as inviting such discussion. Are you no longer interested in such discussion?

I disagree that "there is no argument being forwarded whatsoever." Surely, you agree that George Will and David Horowitz, to name only two have provided considerable argument. I think your real problem is that you are not persuaded by their arguments any more than I am.

Cycloptichorn

Should we meet again at a more intellectually fertile thread? ehBeth? Glitterbag? Lola? Setanta? KelticWizard? Cycloptichorn?

Sorry that I missed that and can't find it on the previously given links - could you give the link for that again, please, Foxfyre?