Tips for College Students, New Professors

Are you (or do you have) a college-aged teen or young person heading off to college or are you maybe heading off yourself to teach at a college? If you thought all you needed was smarts and enthusiasm–think again. br /br /Following is an implicit mainstream campus credo you may need to know, particularly if you are heading off to an elite school. In an interesting article a reader pointed out to me from emThe Washington Post/em entitled, “a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/05/AR2006040500970_pf.html”The Echo Chamber on Liberal Campuses/a,” I found the following principal tenets that you’d best memorize unless you have tenure: br /br /· Diversity, particularly linguistic and theological diversity, binds and unites a culture.br /br /· Proportionate representation of races within a student body justifies corrective discrimination by race.br /br /· All cultures are morally equivalent.br /br /· Social justice may require unequal application of equal protection laws.br /br /· The dearth of women in science screams gender bias; the dearth of men in nursing does not.br /br /· Diversity promotes classroom learning — except in English composition, for which foreign-born students must have their own section.br /br /· Hate speech (racial, sexual and religious slurs) has no place on college campuses. Some words should never be spoken.br /br /· No one should ever have to pay for health care — or condoms.br /br /I assume there are more but the above should be a start towards mastering the campus atmosphere at a majority of schools, especially the elite ones.