Spring Break
Students discuss the effects of political bias in the classrom
Jim Sojourner
Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: News
Many in the room admitted they had written papers with positions they personally disagreed with "just to get a good grade."
Others said students should be allowed to voice their opinions, but said many do not because professors try to embarrass dissenters in front of their peers.
Kristen Jones, a senior speech communications major, who spent two years at the CU-Boulder, said, while at CU, one of her papers was graded down because her moral opinions differed from her professor's. She said, ultimately, the experience prepared her for life in the real world.
"Especially when I was at CU-Boulder, I got blasted, but it was good because it prepared me for later in life," Jones said about her more conservative opinions.
Ultimately, students agreed politics should only be discussed in certain contexts.
"If (the class subject) is not discussing political matter at all, it doesn't need to be in the classroom," Hanson said.
"Spending a half-hour discussing politics in a (non-political) hour-and-a-half class is ridiculous," said sophomore business major Danielle Harper.
Senior Reporter Jim Sojourner can be reached at news@collegian.com.
Others said students should be allowed to voice their opinions, but said many do not because professors try to embarrass dissenters in front of their peers.
Kristen Jones, a senior speech communications major, who spent two years at the CU-Boulder, said, while at CU, one of her papers was graded down because her moral opinions differed from her professor's. She said, ultimately, the experience prepared her for life in the real world.
"Especially when I was at CU-Boulder, I got blasted, but it was good because it prepared me for later in life," Jones said about her more conservative opinions.
Ultimately, students agreed politics should only be discussed in certain contexts.
"If (the class subject) is not discussing political matter at all, it doesn't need to be in the classroom," Hanson said.
"Spending a half-hour discussing politics in a (non-political) hour-and-a-half class is ridiculous," said sophomore business major Danielle Harper.
Senior Reporter Jim Sojourner can be reached at news@collegian.com.
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