LAT: Derek Shearer at Occidental College

[DBoon]

I met him in the context of early 1980's Santa Monica rent control activism. Interesting to see what he is up to:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-class17nov17,1,32177.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Quote:

A professor at Occidental since 1981, Shearer took leave from the campus to serve in the Clinton administration. He also had been a key figure in what both critics and friends recalled as the "People's Republic of Santa Monica," when that city was renowned for its liberal policies. His ex-wife, Ruth Goldway, was mayor of Santa Monica in the 1980s; he was a planning commissioner.

But now, his teaching approach wins praise from students across the political spectrum. Several of the 32 students in Shearer's class are Bush-backing Republicans who say that Shearer is evenhanded in his discussions about the current president.

"I never feel he imposes his views on the class," said Ionut Popescu, 20, a diplomacy and world affairs major from Dargovisde, Romania. "With some professors, you can feel they have a certain disdain if you are a neocon or you like Bush. I'm a conservative, I feel it, but not in this class," he said.

I still have an old copy of "Economic Democracy" sitting on my shelf from those days. Back then, the Campaign for Economic Democracy was a big deal in the state.