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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (17756)	11/25/2003 8:38:47 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793846

Nightline Daily E-Mail November 25, 2003 TONIGHT'S FOCUS: Bias... it's a word that is thrown around more and more often these days. A group of students at the University of Texas have put together a list of professors they say show bias in their classes. Liberal bias. The students, self-described conservatives, say they just want other students to be able to make up their own minds. The professors on the list say it's a blacklist, and has a chilling effect. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's something about lists. The Nixon White House had its famous "enemies list." There were a number of people who were upset that they weren't on it. Recently, the NRA put together a list of people it said opposed gun right, and opponents of the gun lobby put out ads promoting their inclusion on the list. And of course, there is the famous blacklist of the 1950's, Hollywood figures who were denied work because of alleged ties to the Communist Party. The list we're going to talk about tonight has been put together by a group of students down at the University of Texas. It names a number of professors the students say exhibit bias, and promote a particular view. In this case, a liberal view. A number of similar sites have shown up around the country, some national, listing professors at a number of colleges. Other sites identify professors who are perceived as being biased in a particular direction on a more specific issue, such as support for Israel or support for the Palestinians. Now it has been a cliché for many decades that universities are havens for liberalism, although the students today certainly seem to reflect the general drift towards conservatism that we see in many sectors of this country. That was happening back when I was at Berkeley in the '70's. The university that perhaps most symbolized college radicalism was even then, drifting rightward. This type of criticism became more common after 9/11. Professors who were perceived to have made anti-American statements, or statements that someone disagreed with politically, were singled out. Is there any harm in this? Do these lists have a chilling effect? Are they meant to? That's the issue we're going to look at tonight. ABC News correspondent Mike Von Fremd will report on the controversy in Texas. Chris Bury will anchor and he'll be interviewing the editors of three college newspapers. Looking at this story, in some ways it's refreshing to realize that, agree with one side or the other in this dispute, there is still political conflict going on at universities and colleges today. That passion is something that we often seem to lose as we graduate and are consumed by careers, mortgages, and the passage of time. I hope you'll join us. Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff ABCNEWS Washington bureau