UVSC prof sounds off on the influence of "Community Values"

Ethics Center director David Keller, has published an article in Academe (the journal for the American Association of University Professors).

Academic Freedom vs. Community Values?


While Keller has a few facts slightly skew, and a condescending tone, it does make for fun reading for those familiar with UVSC's struggles with meeting the expectations of the surrounding community.

One part in particular caught our attention came from an anonymous letter that Keller and other "liberal" professors received early in 2006:

“Eventually, people with a strong Left-wing orientation . . . will leave UVSC because the community will not abide them. They will realize that they cannot be happy here. And like it or not, the community—especially this one—calls the shots.”

Former president of College Republicans changes sides

Former president of UVSC's chapter of the College Republicans Bryan Horn has renounced his GOP affiliation and will be running as a Democrat in next year's state legislature race.

Former UVSC Republican will run for house as Dem (Daily Herald, August 17 2007)

You might remember Horn from his College Republican days, as he was one of the most active presidents the club ever had. To get a taste of some of the positions he once held dear, head on over to the College Times website and type in "Bryan Horn" into the search box.

Perhaps Michael Moore, The Vagina Monologues, and all those left-wing professors have succeeded in brain-washing even the most elect. Maybe Norm Nielsen and Kay Anderson were right all along.

God Speed Bryan Horn! The Green and Gold are pulling for you!

UVSC to host Nader and BYU alternative commencement

The past few days have not been fun for those plucky BYU students who have been trying to find a venue for their alternative commencement. But now it looks like those Cougars looking to trade in Dick Cheney for Ralph Nader will be able to have their event at "that other university" in the valley.

An unnamed source has told The Pipeline that a deposit has been made for the event at UVSC's McKay Events Center. As of Friday afternoon employees at the on-campus arena could neither confirm or deny that the event has been scheduled.

Those familiar with the school remember when Michael Moore's visit in October of 2004 sparked a controversy that eventually garnered national attention. Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity accepted an invitation to UVSC to "balance the ticket".

LDS Church owned Brigham Young University in Provo has been weathering a storm since it announced a month ago that Vice President Dick Cheney would be the speaker at the school's commencement ceremony. Students and like-minded professors almost immediately started organizing an alternative to the Cheney event.

Last week event organizers announced that former presidential candidate and vocal Bush administration critic Ralph Nader had accepted an invitation to speak...the one problem was that venue options were dropping fast.

But it now appears that Nader and the alternative commencement kids have found a place at UVSC. The interesting thing will be if UVSC's fickle donors and supporters pipe up like they did 3 years ago. We shall see...

Not exactly fair and balanced, nor should it be

BYU announces Reid will speak on campus in the fall

All of Utah is in a twitter over Vice President Dick Cheney's looming visit as commencement speaker at Brigham Young University's graduation. The latest news has BYU and its owner, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, trumpeting their "fair and balanced" approach by announcing that Democratic Senator Harry Reid will be speaking on campus later this fall. BYU and the LDS Church are also responding to a recent editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune that says the church, despite its so-called "long standing policy of political neutrality", is really showing its biases with this invitation.

If you missed the latest articles here they are:
LDS Church and BYU officials stand by Cheney invitation (Daily Herald)
LDS Church fires back at criticism over Cheney (Deseret Morning News)
LDS Church responds to Tribune columnist (Salt Lake Tribune)

The LDS Church's full response can be found here


So what does this have to do with UVSC?"

We are glad you asked. As many of you recall a similar controversy gripped all of Utah nearly 3 years ago when UVSC announced that liberal filmmaker Michael Moore would speak on campus. Immediately there were petitions and protests calling to rescind the invitation and punish those who would dare suggest such a thing. If you need a reminder of how fun that whole thing got check out the first 40 or so minutes of the film This Divided State.

There is a scene in that movie when UVSC professor Alex Caldiero essentially grabs the camera by the lens, puts it right on his mug, and says, "There is no such thing as an objective viewpoint!" over and over.

Truer words were never spoken. There is no such thing as an objective viewpoint. Trying to balance one speaker with another, as UVSC tried to do by inviting Sean Hannity, is an exercise in futility. Public schools like UVSC better serve their communities by getting the best possible speakers to come to campus, and letting the audiences evaluate the messages.

But when we try and second guess the public, or appease the cries for balance (as if such a thing exists) we end up dumbing down the issues and further feeding the cult of personality.

Why balance is stupid

Look what BYU has done by announcing that Harry Reid will speak in the fall. This was a forum that had been planned for months, certainly before the Cheney invite. It was going to be a chance for BYU students to listen to a man, who just so happens to be of their same faith, discuss important political issues. Now it is nothing more then a half-assed attempt to quell the public outcry over the Cheney visit. Instead of listening to either of these important leaders and their messages, we will instead spend our time discussing the fact that they were invited in the first place. Both men and their words will be reduced to nothing more than another Red vs. Blue grudge match that will rile up everyone and solve nothing.

But balance should be the goal, right?

The short answer is no. An informed electorate should be the goal. But when entities try and frame the debate by "getting both sides" they end up only expressing their own biased tendencies. Here is a line from the LDS Church's official response that illustrates what we mean:

The invitation to the vice president of the United States is not a violation of that policy, any more than inviting the majority leader of the Senate would be. In fact, Senator Harry Reid — a Democrat from the opposite political pole to the vice president — has already accepted such an invitation for this fall.

So according to the LDS Church Harry Reid is the political antipode of Dick Cheney? Harry Reid? Just because he is a democrat? In order to come close to Cheney's polar opposite BYU would need to invite Hugo Chavez or raise Lenin from the dead.

The fact is that trying to achieve balance, even at a state school, is ridiculous. Now try doing it a conservative religious school and it goes from ridiculous to retarded.

We long for a day when the those in the media, and those in positions of authority, have enough confidence in human intelligence to let us evaluate messages and messengers without their silly and often meaningless labels.

We also hope that those engaged in trying to stop someone from speaking, no matter who it is, realize that their time is better spent coming up with a message of their own. Show your disagreement with more speech, better speech, not restricting the speech of others. The Michael Moore visit should have taught us at least that.

UVSC students protest Bush's Iraq plan

Today's Daily Herald featured a short piece on a small student protest at UVSC concerning President Bush's new plan for Iraq. You can find the artilce here. While The Pipeline applauds these 5 students courage to stand up against the majority, we think the Herald has a vested interest in making a small event into something much bigger...As the state legislature gets ready to start their session, and with UVSC's future in the balance, The Herald can do a lot to rile the electorate against UVSC and their quest for university status.

The problem is that UVSC is facing enough detractors from outside the valley. Too much eroding of Utah County support, as we saw in 2005 with the DLC, results in UVSC getting left out in the cold. And a very vocal minority in this county has made it quite clear that their support is based on UVSC's behaivor.

Just yesterday The Herald ran a letter from a vocal local who brought up the ghosts of liberal past, complaining of Michael Moore and The Vagina Monologues...and how such attrocities deserve the county's scorn.

But if there is a knock-down-drag-out over all this stuff, The Herald will have all their stories written for them for the next two months. Be on the lookout for more UVSC coverage from both the Herald and The D News in the next few weeks, especially things that conservatives can point to and scream "liberal bias". Trust us...the storm is coming.