Wednesday, April 06, 2005
New York Daily News - Entertainment - A little too Fonda sharing secrets
New York Daily News - Entertainment - A little too Fonda sharing secrets
BG: Fonda's interview with Terri Gross (3/5/05) was interesting. I guess I respect her politics and her struggle.
BG: Fonda's interview with Terri Gross (3/5/05) was interesting. I guess I respect her politics and her struggle.
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: An Academic Question
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: An Academic Question: "
April 5, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
An Academic Question
By PAUL KRUGMAN
t's a fact, documented by two recent studies, that registered Republicans and self-proclaimed conservatives make up only a small minority of professors at elite universities. But what should we conclude from that?
Conservatives see it as compelling evidence of liberal bias in university hiring and promotion. And they say that new 'academic freedom' laws will simply mitigate the effects of that bias, promoting a diversity of views. But a closer look both at the universities and at the motives of those who would police them suggests a quite different story.
Claims that liberal bias keeps conservatives off college faculties almost always focus on the humanities and social sciences, where judgments about what constitutes good scholarship can seem subjective to an outsider. But studies that find registered Republicans in the minority at elite universities show that Republicans are almost as rare in hard sciences like physics and in engineering departments as in softer fields. Why?
One answer is self-selection - the same sort of self-selection that leads Republicans to outnumber Democrats four to one in the military. The sort of person who prefers an academic career to the private sector is likely to be somewhat more liberal than average, even in engineering.
But there's also, crucially, a values issue. In the 1970's, even Democrats like Daniel Patrick Moynihan conceded that the Republican Party was the 'party of ideas.' Today, even Republicans like Representative Chris Shays concede that it has become the 'party of theocracy.'
Consider the statements of Dennis Baxley, a Florida legisl"
April 5, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
An Academic Question
By PAUL KRUGMAN
t's a fact, documented by two recent studies, that registered Republicans and self-proclaimed conservatives make up only a small minority of professors at elite universities. But what should we conclude from that?
Conservatives see it as compelling evidence of liberal bias in university hiring and promotion. And they say that new 'academic freedom' laws will simply mitigate the effects of that bias, promoting a diversity of views. But a closer look both at the universities and at the motives of those who would police them suggests a quite different story.
Claims that liberal bias keeps conservatives off college faculties almost always focus on the humanities and social sciences, where judgments about what constitutes good scholarship can seem subjective to an outsider. But studies that find registered Republicans in the minority at elite universities show that Republicans are almost as rare in hard sciences like physics and in engineering departments as in softer fields. Why?
One answer is self-selection - the same sort of self-selection that leads Republicans to outnumber Democrats four to one in the military. The sort of person who prefers an academic career to the private sector is likely to be somewhat more liberal than average, even in engineering.
But there's also, crucially, a values issue. In the 1970's, even Democrats like Daniel Patrick Moynihan conceded that the Republican Party was the 'party of ideas.' Today, even Republicans like Representative Chris Shays concede that it has become the 'party of theocracy.'
Consider the statements of Dennis Baxley, a Florida legisl"
Organized Resistance :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq - it
Organized Resistance :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq - itI'm starting to feel like this summer is the end game in Iraq - either the entire place will be leveled like Fallujah, or the Bushies will be declaring victory, even as they latch onto the rails of the last helicopter departing the Green Zone.
The New Republic Online: etc.
The New Republic Online: etc.One of the regular and best features of this blog is "What is David Brooks talking about?" Today's New York Times op-ed page offers up a prime specimen, but since Noam is busy with a deadline, I've offered to fill in for him.
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