Letter to the Editor

     Editor,

     Some people become teachers because they have a love of learning and desire to impart an enthusiasm for it; some become teachers because they love their subject, and education gives them the best opportunity to work with it; and some simply because they need a job.

     On the dark side are the instructors who have an axe to grind. Lectures are dominated by their opinions (presented as truth) in a carefully constructed setting that discourages opposing opinions. It is a brave student who opens himself up to faculty ridicule.

     Many times students don't even realize what's happening. All they see is an authority figure standing before them who is very convincing. He or she must be right.

     As a returning student, I am appalled at what my generation has done to education. We thought that the changes we promoted in the 1960s and ’70s would create an open atmosphere, giving the students more information and options than the standard, accepted ones.

     Now it seems the inmates are in charge of the asylum and theirs is the only right way to think. Political correctness has become the new tradition.

     Apparently, some teachers don't trust students to form their own ideas from a careful presentation of facts, along with both sides of an issue.

     Sincerely,
     Carla Hoag