To the Editor

Reading Robert Lee’s Feb. 5 column, a quote came to mind from

Karl Rove, the advisor to the president. “As people do better, they

start voting like Republicans … unless they have too much

education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much

of a good thing.”

In my years at CSU as a political science major, I have never

seen anything that could even remotely be considered harassment or

belittling of conservative students. Now, I have had plenty of

classes where I’ve disagreed with my professors, many of whom have

been substantially more conservative than I. I have been told that

environmentalism was “outdated” and “a waste of time.” However, I

have never felt like my freedom was being stripped away just

because my professors and I had a difference of opinion, even

though sometimes I have been so furious that I just wanted to

scream back at them.

Perhaps if Mr. Lee and his fellow conservatives could understand

that they are just personal opinions, not ad hominem against the

students themselves, they would be less upset and more able to

receive the education they’re here for. It is a vital part of

education to disagree with those teaching you, as this is what aids

us in forming our own opinions. That in mind, the only function I

see the academic bill of rights having is to eliminate cognitive

thought from the university-level curriculum, which I suppose would

greatly benefit the causes of its sponsors.

Ian Mathis

Political Science