You can’t trust what you find on the Internet ““ at
least, that’s what we’ve been told. So why the big
hullabaloo over a new Web site that claims to be “exposing
UCLA’s most radical professors”?
The site contains extensive profiles of UCLA faculty whom the
site’s author alleges are the most radical at this
institution. It includes such novelties as the “Dirty
Thirty” (which is a list of the “worst of the
worst” faculty) and a ranking system of “power
fists” to categorize how outspoken a professor is about his
or her political views.
But what makes the site really intriguing is that it’s
author, Andy Jones ““ a UCLA alumnus ““ is offering
students up to $100 to give him class material that he can use to
supplement existing professor profiles or open new ones.
Jones’ site has garnered huge national media attention
within the past 48 hours, and considering the mass amounts of ink
and airwaves that have been dedicated to it, you’d think this
was the biggest thing to hit campus since the return of Taco
Bell.
But let’s hold on for a second.
First of all, no one with any knowledge of the Bill of Rights is
suggesting Jones doesn’t have a right to say what he has
said. His Web site is what happens when you marry the First
Amendment and the free-for-all culture of the Internet. And
provided he doesn’t libel anyone, he can’t be sued for
what he’s doing.
Jones also has a right to offer students cash for notes ““
though we should point out that any students who accept might be
violating UC copyright policy. Still, since when have copyright
laws prevented college students from doing anything? (Can anyone
say “illegal file sharing”?)
Some people have compared Jones’ activities to McCarthyism
and even a “witch hunt.” Both those comparisons miss
the mark. Joseph McCarthy had Senate hearings and government agents
backing him up. Witch hunters had sticks and torches. Jones has
neither. He can say what he wants from his digital soapbox, but at
the end of the day, the only way he can affect change is if people
pay attention to him. And on that note, we’d like to
respectfully suggest that they do not.
Jones might be advancing some interesting questions about
politics in the classroom. And while this board does not agree with
his allegations, we also recognize that there is room for
discussion.
But Jones’ site pushes this issue in such a classless way
that it’s not worth all the media coverage it’s
getting. He isn’t making any arguments we haven’t heard
before, and he’s making them in a way that leaves little room
for constructive debate.
What’s novel about his site is his offer to pay students
for lecture material, and it’s caused some speculation that
it will turn otherwise harmless and half-empty UCLA classes into
rooms full of paid informants. (To which we say: We’ll
believe it when we see it.)
But until then, professors should remember that Jones will only
infringe on their academic freedom if they let him.
The university is all about the free exchange of ideas. This Web
site is one man’s two cents, and nothing more. So long as the
members of the UCLA community take its contents with a grain of
salt, that’s all it will ever be. As for whether students
should take up Jones’ offer of cash for class notes,
that’s up to the individual. Students who agree with
Jones’ view that UCLA is rife with liberal propaganda will no
doubt want to get involved, and again, that’s their right and
their prerogative.
But to the more casual entrepreneur, we’d like to suggest
that there are more scrupulous ways of making $100.