Many see our nation’s universities as microcosms of the United States where diverse people and ideologies come together.
The experience of examining and confronting points of view different from one’s own is an important part of the college experience.
Is a diet consistently lacking in political balance causing some Tigers to growl?
Several people said they felt Tuesday’s symposium on the possibility war with Iraq, hosted by the Student Activities Council, is the latest example of issues being presented to the student body in a less than balanced way.
The panel consisted of more pro-war views than anti-war views.
Angie Dunlap, one of the SAC’s coordinators admitted that “even though we tried to ensure as many different opinions as possible,” the talks turned out “slightly not balanced.”
“Where was the adequate voice of opposition on the panel, a peer of the academics?” asked audience member Dr. Nabil Bayakley.
Bayakley, of the Muslim Student Association, said he felt the “regurgitated lies” are typically what is to be expected when such polarizing issues are discussed.
He compared the muffling of Muslim American voices on campus to that of the Japanese of the ‘40s and blacks of the ‘60s.
M.A. Zaki, a political science professor and a speaker on the panel, considered the symposium balanced, himself the counterweight to Dr. Holland’s clearly pro-war view. “War without the approval of the United Nations could be the start of another world war, this time nuclear,” he said.
There have been other times when it was reported the audience was not given both sides of the issue.
Last October, Senator Cohen invited himself to The University to pitch his lottery ideas. Even though the lottery is a hotly contested topic in our area, no anti-lottery persons addressed the audience of about 50 people.
In the spring of last year, Professor Brooks of the University of San Diego and Professor Matthewson of the University of New Mexico addressed an audience in Rose Theater. They both were in favor of reparations for African Americans for slavery.
History graduate student Jack Chambers said people attending university symposiums should be able to expect intellectual sparing matches not unofficial propaganda.
