Comments on: California Professor Flunks (Awful) Pro-U.S. Essay

By: The Jawa Report

The Jawa Report — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 17:16:17 +0000

Prof. Joseph Woolcock Responds to Student's Allegations
Prof. Joseph Woolcock was accused by Kuwaiti student Ahmad al-Qloushi of ordering him to seek psychological counseling for his pro-American views. Professor Woolcock responded to the accusation by dropping a comment in this post written at The Jawa Rep...

By: Brian Zuelke

Brian Zuelke — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 21:57:24 +0000

Requiring our educators to be completely bias-free is ludicrous. Education will always be indoctrination until students are given the tools they need to critically evaluate what they read, see, and hear. That kind of education is severely lacking in our public institutions, and abroad it is apparently not lacking. It might be useful to look ouside our country to see what is going on.

With proper learning skills, students will be inclined and equipped to pursue knowledge themselves. That's the best education money can buy -- it's free!

By: Joe Parente

Joe Parente — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 20:24:55 +0000

A poster on my board posted this story yesterday. I clicked through to the Front Page Magazine article the kid wrote and saw the essay. I agree it failed to answer the question one way or another.

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16550

In the original article, the kid claims this: "Most of all we remember our one-week-old baby cousin who died while the Iraqi invaders were stealing incubators from hospitals to sell them for profit.". Well, that's a "fact" that has been proven false.

That he "remembers" it, plus that "He recently became President of Foothillâs College Republicans." makes me wonder whether he ever talked to Professor Woolcock. If the class was Republican Propaganda 101, he would have gotten an A+

By: Former Student of the Professor

Former Student of the Professor — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 02:42:14 +0000

Dr. Woolcock was my teacher in three political science courses; one of which was the poli sci 1 course Ahmad was in. The attacks on the professor disgust me, and moreover are frequently based on crude hearsay and imaginative fabrications. At no time during class did I feel the professor to be a Marxist or a Communist of any kind, as some bloggers have claimed him to be. One term he graded one of my most conservative papers with a higher score than any other paper of the class. He also spent multiple classes speaking about the faults of communism. I have seen both conservative and liberal classmates both succeed and fail equally. If any of his other current students were questioned, I am positive that almost every single one would support my description of the professor. The assignment Ahmad was given had been handed out weeks ahead of time, in which he was expected to meet with either the professor or a TA at least once to discuss his essay. The essay was also meant to be somewhere in the range of ten pages. Therefore, even if his atrocious writing were ignored, he would have failed solely on the basis that his paper would only span about two and a half pages with strategic spacing (therefore even if he had written on the topic, he only would have done about a quarter of the assignment). The topic was meant to be written about, not agreed with. A respectable essay arguing either point would have earned a respectable grade. These allegations are highly reminiscent of the McCarthy Hearings, making communists out of any enemy of the accuser, for the accuserâs personal gain. Then again Ahmad may be a fan of the late senator; I fear that these will not be the last Ahmad's acquisitions. How many more decent names will be unjustly stained before people began to examine the truth?

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 09:00:51 +0000

My only question, which I haven't seen yet here, is what others in the class got. It's a junior college, so I don't expect essays that will wow most bloggers (folks who write for fun). Were there other non-flagwaving essays written in a similar style that also failed? Is the prof's grading scale straight across the board for all students, regardless of their views?

By: trying to grok

trying to grok — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 08:41:42 +0000

ESSAY
I had heard about Ahmad Al-Qloushi before -- the Kuwaiti student whose college political science professor in California failed his pro-US paper and told him to get psychiatric counseling -- but until I read this post at the Rottweiler, I...

By: ChetBob

ChetBob — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 01:31:18 +0000

This guys written English is better than that of more than half my native-born classmates as an undergraduate in a much more prestigeous school.

What a bunch of whiners. The right's rejection of intellectual discipline continues get more and more faniciful.

By: Patrick R. Sullivan

Patrick R. Sullivan — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 23:03:57 +0000

russellmz,

All I can say is; glass houses...stones...not throw.

Btw, contrast the Foothill College instructor's 'question', with a grown up poli sci guy:

http://www2.truman.edu/jprz/dyez1_2.htm

-------quote--------
Political Science 161

Questions for Dye and Zeigler, Chapter 1

1. What is the irony of democracy? Briefly summarize elite theory.

2. Briefly summarize democratic theory.

3. What is the practical solution to the problem of popular government in a large country?

What is the Iron law of Oligarchy? Why is the government considered the most powerful of societyâs institutions? According to the authors what is the difference between elites in a democratic society and a totalitarian one?

4. What are the eight basic features of pluralism?

5. What features do pluralism and elitism have in common? In what eight ways does elitism differ from pluralism?

6. Discuss elite threats to democracy. Discuss mass threats to democracy. Why are democracies particularly vulnerable to terrorism? Why do the authors feel that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were not successful, at least initially?

7. Discuss how the authors defend an elitist interpretation of American democracy.
--------endquote--------

By: C. Bennett

C. Bennett — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 20:35:12 +0000

Yikes -- a bad exam (in my opinion), a poor response from a international student (that happens), and then the officious "re-grade" in public of an exam with the giant red F! It's a student! In a small college! In a poorly-worded exam not in his native language! Can you guys possibly take yourselves any more seriously? Do you provide public regrades for any disputed exam scores? Can you dust off your "exam evaluation hat" any time there is a student-faculty grievance that becomes public. This is a scary site -- public student humiliation for anyone with a grievance; real-time regrades; full explanation of foreign-student weaknesses in grammar, syntax, source cites, insights, ... This sort of public "instruction" gives me the shudders -- it's as though there is a national arbitration site, something like the National Academy of Sciences, that speaks with final authority on student-faculty grade and counseling disputes. Lighten up. Take a deep breath. If you decide to accept the burden of grade resolution and definitive regrades, you're going to be very busy, indeed.

By: russellmz

russellmz — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 20:28:50 +0000

patrick: "A list is not âanalysisâ. Further, those three items certainly donât support the idea that the Constitution was written by and for elite interests." i "list"ed it because it was an outline of what he could have used to flesh out and analyze examples TO OPPOSE THE THEORY. unless you're complaining i didn't spend three hours writing an essay i wasn't assigned out in full in the comments section of a blog. and if you had read my comment, you'd have noted i said he had ammo BOTH on how the constitution was for/not for the elites. the first group of items were if he wanted to suggest it was not for the elites. the second group (which was separated by "vs.", meaning opposed) had examples that supported the idea the constitution was for the elites. sheesh. i'm not even going to bother with the part where you compared my 2-minute outline with the other guy's take home exam essay and declared his superior.

By: Polianna

Polianna — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 17:48:26 +0000

College is where many first learn to game the system -- anything from organizing a network of connections to flattering professors to "grade-grubbing." It's only natural that the College Republicans would learn a lesson from their mentors on FOX and Town Hall who have spent decades now accusing the academy of indoctrinating students with "liberal bias." The only question is why it didn't happen sooner. I mean, aren't these kids a little slow on the uptake? The right has been pouring money into campus Republicans for years, and only now are the kids starting to really reap the benefits. If you were in college to expand your understanding, there would be no idea so heinous that your only option would be to melt down into a frothing neanderthal. Professors should not be expected to cater to set ideologies, much less to the fairy-tale history this kid seems to believe in. But, I have to hand it to the kid -- he's playing it beautifully. I mean, that FrontPage article is a real piece of work. "Poor me! I am a persecuted, freedom-loving immigrant! My only crime is that I love America too much!" And the Washington Times certainly took the bait. (Although, what wouldn't they bite at?) I guarantee you he's got an internship lined up already. The kid's definitely got a great career ahead of him!

By: MonkeyBoy

MonkeyBoy — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 15:46:41 +0000

Shorter Exam Question: Did or will you read Dye and Zeigler?

Shorter Exam Answer: No. They are communists.

(according to Al-Qloushi in FrontPageMag it was a take-home exam).

By: Brian Ritzel

Brian Ritzel — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 03:42:03 +0000

Shorter Exam Question: Did you read Dye and Zeigler?

Shorter Exam Answer: No.

By: Patrick R. Sullivan

Patrick R. Sullivan — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 01:53:53 +0000

" -first amendment (say what you want, government canât stop you) -second amendment (you can own guns to protect against government and stop the forced housing of soldiers {this one may be another amendment, going by memory})" I think we have an excellent example above of someone listing some things from the Constitution (the Bill of Rights). What's missing is any connection to the theory stated in the instructor's assignment. A list is not 'analysis'. Further, those three items certainly don't support the idea that the Constitution was written by and for elite interests. The student's response is far superior.

By: Parableman

Parableman — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 01:02:31 +0000

Conservative Victimology
One day after my Chiristian Victimology post, we have another example of victimology, this time about the oppression of conservaties. A conservative student thinks that he's being oppressed for his views because he did poorly on a paper he wrote...