UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty ($100 per complaint filed)

[papau]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla18jan18,0,4943877.story?track=tottext,0,5493744.story?track=tothtml

From the Los Angeles Times
UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty
By Stuart Silverstein and Peter Y. Hong
Times Staff Writers

January 18, 2006

A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies.

The year-old Bruin Alumni Assn. says its "Exposing UCLA's Radical Professors" initiative takes aim at faculty "actively proselytizing their extreme views in the classroom, whether or not the commentary is relevant to the class topic." Although the group says it is concerned about radical professors of any political stripe, it has named an initial "Dirty 30" of teachers it identifies with left-wing or liberal causes.

Some of the instructors mentioned accuse the association of conducting a witch hunt that threatens to harm the teaching atmosphere, and at least one of the group's advisory board members has resigned because he considers the bounty offers inappropriate. The university said it will warn the association that selling copies of professors' lectures would violate campus rules and raise copyright issues.

The Bruin Alumni Assn. is headed by Andrew Jones, a 24-year-old who graduated in June 2003 and was chairman of UCLA's Bruin Republicans student group. He said his organization, which is registered with the state as a nonprofit, does not charge dues and has no official members, but has raised a total of $22,000 from 100 donors. Jones said the biggest contribution to the group, $5,000, came from a foundation endowed by Arthur N. Rupe, 88, a Santa Barbara resident and former Los Angeles record producer.<snip>

[wtmusic]

1. Let me guess...they wear brown shirts? nt

[Canuckistanian]

2. And those "one-side opinions"?

You can bet they're not RW opinions.

[wtmusic]

3. Check out the website -- a real hoot

http://www.bruinalumni.com/

[Selteri]

10. Right off that front page...

They might not be wearing brown shirts, but they sure look like a neo-army association.

[EVDebs]

15. It says the organization is a non-profit (way down at the fineprint)

And organized in CA. as an IRS recognized nonprofit at that. Hmmm. So where does that money for the payouts originate ? Inquiring minds need to know.

[zbdent]

4. Are those the grads who

couldn't spell UCLA - and think that's the group that's un-American and files "frivolous" lawsuits?

[saigon68]

26. This is their inspiration

"This is how we fight. You, too, must work for victory."





ENLIST NOW

[Loonman]

5. Andrew Jones, a 24-year-old who graduated in June 2003

Why isn't he in Iraq?

[wtmusic]

6. The risky lifestyle doesn't suit his temperament

He helps the war effort by helping to shape policy here at home

:rofl:

[EVDebs]

16. Weird, it says it's a non-profit but has filed under the CA Secy of State

as a corporation

see www.ss.ca.gov business search weblink under corporations. The Bruin Alumni Assn's weblink at bottom shows it's a non-profit; so who provides this money and under what pretexts ?

[superconnected]

7. Sure the RW aren't nazis.

It would be easier to believe if they didn't act like nazis.

[colonel odis]

8. you'd think with all those heavy hitters on his board, he could get a job.

then he wouldn't have to annoy people with foolishness like that site.

[janx]

17. Two of those heavy hitters have resigned recently.

And I have a feeling that this kid's reputation is going to follow him around for a very long time.

Who would hire him? :rofl:

[f-bush]

9. Once again as I've said before

We're living in the Fourth Reich!

[janx]

11. Who and where are this kid's parents?

?

[daleo]

12. This is out and out bribery for slander

I can't believe it doesn't fall under some law or another.

[EVDebs]

14. Hmmm. Follow the money ? Where's that dough coming from ?

The RNC ? I remember the days of Nixon where it was a USC 'mafia' with much of the WH staffers bright-eyed and bushytailed conservative youths ready to do culture war with their supposed domestic 'enemies'.

Have things really changed at all in thirty/forty years ? Not much it seems.

[Igel]

13. Well, it's certainly more organized (and more directed with

its funding) than some of USAC's advocacy groups were. But it strikes me as fairly harmless, except for PR purposes.

I thought some of the advocacy groups on campus were more brown-shirt. They'd actually invade classrooms or picket professors' classes. Sometimes they'd do it each term, in a long-term effort to get the guy to stop saying things they disagreed with. The university didn't sit on them (mostly), unless they actually did more than take a few minutes of class time: if they invaded, made their little speech, and left, all was well. If they blocked access (as opposed to a picket line) or invaded and occupied, then CSP--that's the Center for Student Programming--would say something.

[janx]

18. Check this out:

http://www.thefire.org

[Igel]

19. I'm all for free speech.

I saw my share of it (even got irritated by it while it was going on outside where I was teaching--I wasn't the target, thankfully). I saw a couple of massive demonstrations, executed flawlessly and with stunning effect. Participated in some of it.

I'm not sure about invading a classroom. I wouldn't like having it done to me, and drew the line at supporting others doing it. As for the website ... small potatoes, as such things go. More for lobbying politicians than ending anybody's career, and the provably partisan and blatantly egregious violators probably are off topic, anyway. I've seen that done, once, and the prof, as far as I was concerned, should have been denied her merit-based pay increase that year.

[Lisa]

20. I've had people in my classes who've tried to instigate things ...

They'll deliberately try to provoke comment from me or from their classmates, as if they are trying to figure out who would go to what lengths. For example, one guy (whom I already knew to be right-wing, based on his essays) suddenly started to advocate violent action against things like the WTO. He also would come out with theories about who was responsible for 9/11, which were even more bizarre than the "tinfoil hat" perspective -- and when challenged, he would start making up stuff. He was aggressive and charismatic enough that some of the less-experienced students thought he was "cool" (although several others who'd done group work with him commented to me that they suspected he was exaggerating his knowledge).

So it wouldn't be that difficult for organizations like this to identify faculty, grad students, and even undergrads, to put on a "list" of some sort. Even without the cash reward. And if you're looking for leftists on a university campus ... isn't that like going into a greengrocer, looking for apples? They really ought to try something more challenging!

I'm not opposed to having interesting discussion in my classes -- and if people want to stereotype me as a leftist, that's fine (although it would mean that they would have to ignore a lot of times when I criticise leftist and liberal ideologies, particularly the ones which have caused harm). But the last time I checked, it wasn't illegal to have political viewpoints at a university -- hey, my own department offers courses in "Marxist" perspectives on the humanities and social sciences. My guess is that you could put together a file on almost everyone, if you did enough selective quoting. ("Oooh, Lisa said that she was sad about her friend's husband dying on 9/11 -- but she didn't call the attackers 'scumbuckets' and call for an immediate invasion of the Middle East! She must be supporting the terrorists!")


p.s. if instructors turn themselves in, are they eligible for the $100? I don't know about the UCLA situation, but I do know that sessional lecturers are usually underpaid and need extra funds ...

[papau]

23. LOL - I like the idea of sessional lecturers getting an extra $100! :-)

:-)

[brentspeak]

21. The articles on the professors are embarrassingly pretentious

The anonymous Young Republican who wrote the profile on English professor Russell Watson tries to make hay out the fact that Watson assigns his students Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49" and Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried":

The readings for Watson’s Fall 2005 presentations are a grim, one-sided lot. One such title is Thomas Pinchon’s (sic) “The Crying of Lot 49,” a book described by one reviewer as an “anarchistic satire of the military-industrial-government complex."...Watson also assigns Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” which carries the message that Vietnam soldiers “carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die....They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice.... Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.” Suffice to say, the book has little good to say about the Vietnam War."

(You can read more of this drivel here: http://www.uclaprofs.com/profs/watson.html)

Besides the amateurish analysis of the profile, Mr./Ms. Young Republican doesn't seem aware that "The Crying of Lot 49" has been assigned reading at colleges -- all kinds of colleges -- for over twenty years. And "The Things They Carried" is required summer reading for high school students around the country.

[joefree1]

22. Posting in the California forum

I'm posting this article and a link to this thread in the DU California forum.

Bruin Alumni Association Targets 'Radical' Faculty
By Malcolm Maclachlan
(published January 17th, 2006)

An organization calling itself the "Bruin Alumni Association" that has no official affiliation with the University of California has published an online list of UCLA professors it deems "radical."? The Association also posted an online offer to pay students for evidence proving that instructors have been espousing left-wing views in class, in violation of University of California rules.

The Association lists an advisory board of UCLA alumni that includes Senator and current Congressional candidate Bill Morrow, R-San Diego, former Congressman Jim Rogan, and former California Republican Party head Shawn Steel. The group's founder is Andrew Jones, a 2003 UCLA graduate who has worked as a research assistant to David Horowitz, the right-wing commentator closely identified with criticizing universities for being too liberal.

The Web site, www.uclaprofs.com, lists 31 current and former professors in disciplines such as African-American studies, Chicano studies, education, history and political science. These names are linked to detailed profiles of professors and their activities. There is also a ratings system in which faculty are rated from one to five "black power" fists to indicate how radical they are.

The site, which states that it was launched Jan. 7, also includes a button that reads, "UCLA Students: Help UCLAprofs and get paid!"? This invitation leads to a page that states:

"Do you have a professor who just can't stop talking about President Bush, about the war in Iraq, about the Republican Party, or any other ideological issue that has nothing to do with the class subject matter? It doesn't matter whether this is a past class, or your class for this coming winter quarter. If you help UCLAProfs.com expose the professor, we'll pay you for your work. Full, detailed lecture notes, all professor-distributed materials, and full tape recordings of every class session, for one class: $100."
http://www.capitolweekly.net/news/article.html?article_id=434

[antiblazer]

24. i smell a lawsuit

i hope that these profs and ucla sue the crap out of this guy. :grr:

[struggle4progress]

25. BAA! What an appropriate acronym! BAA!

[Jersey Ginny]

27. So this is where a Supreme Court Justice will be found in 30 years

Can anyone get a list of who is involved so that that person can be "reminded" of their activities in this reichwing group?

[Judi Lynn]

28. UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty

January 18, 2006 latimes.com

UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty
By Stuart Silverstein and Peter Y. Hong, Times Staff Writers


A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies.

The year-old Bruin Alumni Assn. says its "Exposing UCLA's Radical Professors" initiative takes aim at faculty "actively proselytizing their extreme views in the classroom, whether or not the commentary is relevant to the class topic." Although the group says it is concerned about radical professors of any political stripe, it has named an initial "Dirty 30" of teachers it identifies with left-wing or liberal causes.

Some of the instructors mentioned accuse the association of conducting a witch hunt that threatens to harm the teaching atmosphere, and at least one of the group's advisory board members has resigned because he considers the bounty offers inappropriate. The university said it will warn the association that selling copies of professors' lectures would violate campus rules and raise copyright issues.
(snip)

Jones' group is following in the footsteps of various conservative groups that have taken steps, including monitoring professors, to counter what they regard as an overwhelming leftist tilt at elite colleges and universities around the country. He said many of these efforts, however, have done a poor job of documenting their claims. As a result, Jones said, the Bruin Alumni Assn. is offering to pay students for tapes and notes from classes.
(snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla18jan18,0,4943877.story?track=hpmostemailedlink
(Free registration required)

[darkism]

29. Of course schools have a "leftist tilt"

Liberalism can be defined as an openness to new ideas - which is what academia is all about. Regressive conservatives have no place in academic institutions if they're going to raise a fit about not being able to be closed-minded idiots.

Let them get their bigoted, hateful excuse for an education at unaccredited fundie farms like BJU. They've got no right to bring that crap into REAL schools.

[LiberalVoice]

30. Is it our fault a bunch of people with phd's...

...happen to believe bush is an asshole?

[JohnnyRingo]

31. This sounds so.....1939

Can detention centers be far away?
Blacklisting educators politically is certainly not an original idea, but I give then credit for testicle mass.

[killbotfactory]

32. If your beliefs or ideology can't hold up to scrutiny

then tough shit.

[wake.up.america]

33. Let's face the RW is does not care what is right or wrong. They will stop

at nothing!

Morality goes out the window.

[Judi Lynn]

34. Three UCLA Board Members Resign

Three UCLA Board Members Resign

Thursday January 19, 2006 9:32 AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A former congressman is among three people who have quit the advisory board of a conservative alumni group at the University of California, Los Angeles, after it offered students money to police professors accused of pushing liberal views.

Former Rep. James Rogan, a Republican who served two terms, sent an e-mail Wednesday to Andrew Jones, head of the Bruin Alumni Association, saying he didn't want his name connected to the group.

``I am uncomfortable to say the least with this tactic,'' Rogan wrote in his e-mail. ``It places students in jeopardy of violating myriad regulations and laws.''

Rogan's resignation follows those of Harvard historian Stephan Thernstrom and UCLA professor emeritus Jascha Kessler, who both quit the board once they learned of the group's activities.
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5555981,00.html



You remember Rep. James Rogan
from the Clinton impeachment hearings.

[Binka]

35. Wow This Is Too Much For A Fascist Like Good Hair Rogan?

These little Nazis need an ass kicking.

[Judi Lynn]

36. Yep. It appears Rogan can approve way too much right-wing harrassment

of more normal people.

If he's bailing out, it's a sign things are really goddawful!

[emad]

37. Rightwing group offers students $100 to spy on professors

· Republican graduate's site prompts witch-hunt fears
· 31 academics listed as 'worthy of scrutiny'

Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Thursday January 19, 2006
The Guardian


It is the sort of invitation any poverty-stricken student would find hard to resist. "Do you have a professor who just can't stop talking about President Bush, about the war in Iraq, about the Republican party, or any other ideological issue that has nothing to do with the class subject matter? If you help ... expose the professor, we'll pay you for your work."

For full notes, a tape recording and a copy of all teaching materials, students at the University of California Los Angeles are being offered $100 (£57) - the tape recorder is provided free of charge - by an alumni group.

Lecture notes without a tape recording net $50, and even non-attendance at the class while providing copies of the teaching materials is worth $10.

But the initiative has prompted concerns that the group, the brainchild of a former leader of the college's Republicans, is a witch-hunt. Several targeted professors have complained, figures associated with the group have distanced themselves from the project and the college is studying whether the sale of notes infringes copyright and contravenes regulations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1689653,00.html

[Mel]

38. the students

and professors should come together (waste this groups time and money) by turning it on them with spoof tape recordings and teaching materials overwhelm them with an abundance of material.
See where I'm going with this idea?
Maybe, some of the better word-smith's at DU can help them out :evilgrin:

here's the address in the article......uclaprofs.com

[nashville_brook]

41. "Professor Jones is teaching about ALIENS!"

here's his lecture on Arcturian Ethics!

[WCGreen]

39. How about some progressives in the accounting and

Finance classes exposing the blind hatred of democrats and progressives by those professors...

I found it distasteful all the snide remarks and asides...

And I called them on it in class...

This was in the 80's....

I am sure it is far worse now...

[nashville_brook]

43. me too -- 80s -- tennessee got an early start on the culture war

the whole school was a knuckle-dragging conservative hotbed. anti-liberal bias was pervasive except in just a few departments -- arts and human sciences, mostly.

so, when these children got into a class that required dialogue and critical skills, they were LOST. they expected to be able to 'horse laugh' and 'straw man' their way thru graduate-level work. they had NEVER been CHALLENGED.

i don't care what side of the fence yer on -- if you're not being challenged by your teachers, you're wasting your time and money.

[nashville_brook]

40. when i was in college (poly sci, phil), lazy students regularly

attacked profs for liberal leaning. it was their personal acheivement strategy. i expect such consumer-driven bullshit from east tennessee state university -- but UCLA? jeez? is there any point going into academics anymore?

sore spot -- two of my very favorite tenure track profs were hounded out b/c of frat guys who refused to come to class and do the work. all they had to do was charge liberalism and get the charge listened to outside of the department -- ie at arts and sciences admin. and guess who has the power to do that? kids whose parents have connections. these slimeballs would take Critical Thinking and American Government thinking it would be a breeze. these profs only 'mistake' was insisting people come to class and do the work. they didn't care WHAT you think -- just that you worked hard and EARNED your grade.

that's the REAL problem. some people want to be HANDED everything and they are the FIRST people to point to the poor as demandind handouts.

[Che_Nuevara]

42. This would never work at my school.

Amherst College, Amherst, MA.

We have a professor in the polisci dept who we call "the Conservative". Yeah, THE. Not a.

Sure, we've got a College Republicans group, but they know not to mess with the faculty.

[nashville_brook]

44. lucky lucky student!

my college in the mountains of east tn had the great society mission of educating appalachia. we had many kids who were children of coal miners -- in fact one of my buds from poly sci is now a coal flack. "it's cleaner, now."

my circumstances were such that i couldn't afford a private school -- or at least i didn't think i could. looking back i might have gone to Berea -- but i'm glad for my experiences with my RED collegues. i kicked their asses, and they know it.

[f-bush]

45. Can anyone say: Fourth Reich!!!!

[CountAllVotes]

46. I wonder how many students will go for this?

Hopefully not many. If they do report someone, I hope they report some repig. lol!

emad ... snag it!

:D

:kick: