Posted on 06/28/2005 7:23:53 AM PDT by zlala
Term paper about 'God' earns student failing grade 'He told me you might as well write about the Easter Bunny. He wanted to censor the word God.'
VICTORVILLE — For using the "G" word 41 times in a term paper, Bethany Hauf was given an "F" by her Victor Valley Community College instructor.
Hauf's teacher approved her term paper topic — Religion and its Place within the Government — on one condition: Don't use the word God. Instead of complying with VVCC adjunct instructor Michael Shefchik's condition Hauf wrote a 10-page report for her English 101 class entitled "In God We Trust."
"He said it would offend others in class," Hauf, a 34-year-old mother of four, said. "I didn't realize God was taboo."
Hauf has received legal assistance from the American Center for Law and Justice. The ACLJ is a conservative Christian legal foundation founded by Dr. M.G. "Pat" Robertson, who is also the founder, chairman and face of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
"I don't loose my First Amendment rights when I walk into that college," Hauf said. She is demanding an apology from the teacher and that the paper be re-graded.
The college says the issue over Hauf's paper, written during the spring semester, has been satisfactorily resolved. "We settled this matter during the course of this class," said Judy Solis, chair of VVC's English department. "She was treated fairly and she knew what the options were."
Shefchik could not be reached for this report.
Hauf took her concerns about not being able to use "God" in her report to her teacher, then to the department chair. During a joint meeting between all three the options were laid out: Hand in the report with the "G" word or revise, edit or re-write the paper, Solis said.
"She continued to write her paper," Solis said. "She knew what the consequences were."
Hauf acknowledges she knew her teacher's condition for writing the paper, but argued it would be impossible to write about the affect of Christianity on the development of the United States without using the word God. "He told me you might as well write about the Easter Bunny," Hauf said. "He wanted to censor the word God."
Hauf first approached her teacher about writing her paper in an April 12 e-mail, according to a 12-page ACLJ paper sent to the college offering legal opinions in favor of Hauf.
Shefchik wrote her back an e-mail approving her topic choice, but at the same time cautioning her to be objective in her reporting. "I have one limiting factor," Shefchik wrote, according to the ACLJ. "No mention of big 'G' gods, i.e., one, true god argumentation."
The ACLJ said his actions are unconstitutional. "A student's constitutional free speech rights to express religious views are fully protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments," the ACLJ wrote.
In addition to an apology and a re-grading of Hauf's paper, the ACLJ demands Shefchik "receive some kind of training to sensitize him to the constitutional dimensions of his employment in a public educational institution, including his duty to respect constitutional freedoms of expression."
Hauf's husband supports his wife's position. "She has to pursue this. Not only has her civil rights been violated this is an English class she took, not a political science course," Fritz Hauf said. "She should be graded on the composition not the 'G' word."
Though getting an "F" on the research paper Hauf got a "C" for the class.
LeRoy Standish may be reached at 951-6277 or leroy_standish@link.freedom.com.
> Again, that one condition is AGAINST THE LAW.
And which law is that... and is that law founded upon the Constitution?
"I hope you are the same?"
He is an English instructor? How disturbing.
That is an auto-responder e-mail. No doubt others will get the same thing.
Non sequitur. Try to pay attention.
Nice try.
According to Department of Education guidelines, the First Amendment applies to public institutions, including community and state colleges.
I thought the same thing about the I hope you are the same quote. Yes, it is an auto-responder. Everyone will receive the same response.
That stipulation is in violation of the law, as community colleges are taxpayer-supported and it is illegal to disallow religious writings in such institutions.
This claim doesn't get any less silly with repetition. The school didn't prevent her from writing the paper or keep her from publishing it, passing out copies of it, or doing anything she damn well pleased with it. Her teacher gave her an F for not following instructions. Period.
True. However, by not allowing her the free expression of her ideas in the manner she saw fit, including refererence to God, it was an effective censorship and violation of her rights.
Yes, I understand she went against the instructor's guidelines. And I admit this is an argument the student won't win.
For fun, let's imagine writing a paper on religion without using "God," but using Budda, Allah, Krishna, etc.
ping
Next instruction: Write a paper about the media but don't use the word "bias".
True. However, by not allowing her the free expression of her ideas in the manner she saw fit, including refererence to God, it was an effective censorship and violation of her rights.
Nonsense. She was a student in a classroom, and she turned in a paper that didn't meet the conditions of her assignment. If you think giving her an F on the paper constitutes a violation of her free speech rights, your view of the First Amendment goes way, way beyond that of the Supreme Court even at its most "liberal."
You'd get a record deal.
Next instruction: Write a paper about the media but don't use the word "bias".
I already agreed it was a stupid instruction. But giving her a low grade for not following it isn't "censoring" her in violation of her First Amendment rights.
What is the very first word of the first amendment to the constitution, your honor? It's Congress!! Is a college Congress? No! Granted, the two words are found fairly close to one another in the English dictionary, but you might find that their definitions differ somewhat.
It's simply pathetic just how far afield our "honorable" jurists flee from the text of the document they swear to uphold.
Depending on the type of paper she was writing, and who it was intended to persuade, I can appreciate the prof advising her to consider other viewpoints and so on. It sounds like the assignment must have been to write a reasoned argument, not just write on the topic: Stuff I Believe. Saying "it's true because God says" might be fine approach if you are preaching to the choir, but that may not have been the context of this assignment. If it was, it would make for a lousy paper, and one that required very little thought or language skill.
Ghost....a professor does not have the legal authority to use such extreme limits on the free speech of their students by dictating what words to use or not use.
Thank God I never had a teacher like this in my classes.
Yeah, she did not follow his conditions, but his one condition was illegal.
For those who would like to share their thoughts with the comrade Professor first hand:
Michael Shefchik
shefchikm@vvc.edu
English Adjunct Instructor
For the purposes of an essay on "Religion and its Place within the Government" I think a quality essay could be written without referencing "God".
To not use the word would hardly force any student to write that religion is unjustifiable. In fact, I don't see how the justification of religion per se would be an issue one way or the other. It's not what the topic is.
So no, I don't think the instructor's logic is transparent. I still don't understand it.
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