Blacklisting your 'biased' professors

Want some easy money? Blacklist your liberal professors.\nA conservative alumni group at UCLA is seeking information on what they call the "Dirty 30," a group of allegedly left-leaning professors. The group, called the Bruin Alumni Association, plans to conduct lawsuits to eliminate the threat of bias in collegiate classrooms and is willing to pay students $100 if they compile information about the professors. \nIt seems that the Red Scare has come back in the form of academic prejudices.\nWhile we agree that universities should strongly deal with professors who neglect certain points of view or mock students because of their beliefs, this tactic goes way too far. The investigation itself is biased and unfair. Monetary incentives skew the process. Very effective professors might be punished. And above all, this sets a dangerous precedent. \nFirst off, the BAA might mean well by trying to eliminate political bias at UCLA, but the group's own biases can't be ignored. It's unfair to only seek out liberal professors when many conservatives might impede the learning process in the same way. It also can be said that personal biases might make a professor seem less objective. For example, if you are strongly against evolution, then you might find any discussion of it to be biased while another person might not see any problem at all. If we think there needs to be some investigation into biased professors, then this needs to be done by the university or some other objective group, not a political association with an agenda. \nBlue and red aside, we also can't overlook how the color green will affect the investigation. All students need to do to earn $100 is to take notes or tape record the class lectures for several weeks. Many of us students might leap at the opportunity to make some extra spring break cash, especially if you have to take notes anyway. Students might seek out a liberal bias in the class just to earn the monetary reward. \nIn addition, we can't just assume that these professors \ndeserve to be sued for their style of teaching. Many professors might express their opinions on a topic in class, but it doesn't always affect the learning environment. In fact, it can be beneficial for students to hear someone with passion speak about their convictions, even if they don't agree with them. Other professors might just be playing devil's advocate in classroom discussion and you can't pretend to know all of their beliefs. Students might also feel like the professor disagrees with them because of their views, but it could be the students' own reasonings that are flawed. \nGroups like the BAA argue that professors who talk about their personal views end up brainwashing students. While some students might be affected by such opinions, most college students are already entrenched in their beliefs, and as long as they are not discriminated against or made to feel uncomfortable for their views, discussion is healthy. \nAll in all, this sets a dangerous precedent for our classrooms. Professors should speak freely without fear of lawsuits. Discussion should not be stifled. We don't want to head back to the days of Sen. Joe McCarthy and start blacklisting professors for expressing a point of view. We need to learn how to deal with opposing ideologies and end the witch hunts.