University Daze

I've recently returned to classes, and that's why posting is liable to be erratic or even non-existent for the next little... year?

However, this really is the home stretch. Final year, classes I like, Profs I know or have heard good things about, all my majors and minors declared... I kind of think something awful must be about to happen.

Actually, it did. The one class I made it to yesterday was supposed to be a pretty interesting one - "Media and Politics." Simple, right? Not so much. Apparently, Carleton's resident professor of Media and Politics is also incredibly conservative.

But let me say this, before I go further: I've actually had a few conservative professors at Carleton University. I've generally enjoyed their classes, even when I disagree with them. What drives me nuts - and this applies to lefty professors too - is when the Professor's politics become the structure around which the course is built. In truth, it has actually bothered me more when lefty professors have done this, if only because I don't usually learn anything from them. Right-wing professors may make me angry, but at least they've got something new.

Now, obviously, if I'm taking a Political Science course, some discussions are bound to intersect with the professor's political views. Fine. But this professor had only spoken for about an hour before he accused CNN of "keeping the race issue alive in their coverage of New Orleans to embarass the Republicans."

Let's consider that for a moment. First off, the idea that the race issue needs to be "kept alive" by the media is ridiculous - the race issue is alive and well in the US (and Canada) without any help from the media. When your poor are disproportionately black, race is an issue.

Secondly, it was hardly CNN that was talking about the R-word. Look at the cover of the Economist this week, and then tell me it's a liberal plot.

Still, even this idiocy wasn't enough to drive me from my seat. Rather, it was when he handed out the reading list, and names like John Stossel and Bernard Goldberg were on it. If you don't know these names, don't bother looking them up. Let's just say that while there are plenty of intelligent conservatives who could make a case against the media, Stossel and Goldberg aren't among them.

So, I've dropped that class like a bad habit. The sad thing is now the replacement course (with a professor I've had before and enjoyed) starts at 8:30 Friday morning. Crap.