From the letters section of the Herald-Sun:
UNC faculty members need refresher in logic
The UNC Chapel Hill faculty is objecting to a Western civilization proposal, acceptable on its merits, that was initiated by the university itself. The faculty is objecting because the source of the funding, the Pope Foundation, supports the conservative Pope Center on Higher Education Quality.
Puzzled? Let’s make it more personal. Suppose I’m unhappy with my son’s choice of headgear. I find a cap that we both like, and I offer to buy it for him. He refuses because I have been critical of his cap. Makes sense, right?
Well it makes sense to university administrators at least. Nancy Davis, UNC’s associate vice chancellor for university relations, is “?resolved to look at each criticism more carefully, knowing now how faculty feel about not being supported when they’ve been criticized ? this discussion has made us more aware of the depth of feeling some people have of these criticisms.”
So, when any faculty member is criticized, the university is supposed to weigh in with chicken soup and comforting words; and if a faculty member feels strongly enough about something (no matter how bad the arguments), the administration will pay attention.
What a great recipe for education! I must remember that the next time one of my students feels strongly about getting a D for saying that Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock….
JOHN STADDON
Durham
November 21, 2004
The writer is James B. Duke professor of psychology and professor of neurobiology biology at Duke University.
