Posted on 03/24/2002 1:47:13 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
"In a nutshell, it means I have a fundamental disagreement with capitalism," he said. "I think that capitalism is a system based on exploitation and oppression and domination and racism and war and lots of other things.
"So I'm totally opposed to capitalism, and I think that the majority of the people of this country ought to get together and transform the system," he said. "I think we need to replace capitalism with some kind of democratic socialism."
TEXAS CITY -- It rarely stirs up much of a fuss beyond the campus boundaries when a college board considers granting tenure to a professor.
However, the case of David Michael Smith -- avowed Marxist and unabashed critic of capitalism -- can indeed be called a rare one at College of the Mainland in this Galveston County town.
The 47-year-old Smith has attracted a small but vocal group of critics who say that, rather than receive job security, he should be fired.
That doesn't appear likely. The board is expected to approve his application for tenure Monday, or protection from firing for arbitrary reasons such as his political beliefs.
Opponents of Smith, an assistant government professor who joined the faculty in August 1998, say he has violated academic principles by pushing his political agenda in his classes.
He denies trying to indoctrinate students in Marxist philosophy in his classes but says he's not shy about expressing political views that few Texas academicians espouse.
Born in Salina, Kan., Smith received his three degrees at City University of New York and taught at the university's York College from 1985 until he joined College of the Mainland.
His specialties are political theory and American politics, and his classes are popular. He has been nominated as "Outstanding Teacher of the Year" each year since he arrived.
That doesn't carry much water with Howard Katz, who was 10 when he and his parents fled to the United States from Nazi Germany in 1936. Katz says he joined the Army as soon as he turned 17. He went to the Pacific but didn't see combat.
Katz, a former faculty member at the college, is among Smith's most outspoken critics.
"I lost both sets of grandparents in the Holocaust," he said. "I'm a strong defender of free speech and of academic freedom. David Smith has a right to stand on any corner and say anything he wants.
"But in a classroom, teachers are held to a higher standard by the principles of academic freedom."
What does being a Marxist mean to Smith?
"In a nutshell, it means I have a fundamental disagreement with capitalism," he said. "I think that capitalism is a system based on exploitation and oppression and domination and racism and war and lots of other things.
"So I'm totally opposed to capitalism, and I think that the majority of the people of this country ought to get together and transform the system," he said. "I think we need to replace capitalism with some kind of democratic socialism."
Smith's personal political beliefs didn't draw substantial public criticism until a guest column he had written appeared in the Galveston County Daily News on Sept. 20, when emotions were still running high after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In the column, he argued that dropping atomic bombs on Japan was not necessary to end World War II.
At least two other columns were written by others debating the issue, and many residents sent letters to the editor as the dispute heated up.
Then, in November, at a campus ceremony honoring veterans a few days before Veterans Day, some of Smith's students handed out fliers advertising a demonstration against the war in Afghanistan.
"It totally disrupted the Veterans Day celebration here," said Katz, 75, who lives in Houston.
Fifteen students later signed a letter that was published in a local newspaper, condemning the decision to hold the veterans' ceremony on campus. They likened the affair, attended by some college board members, to a formal endorsement of the war by the college.
"I can judge David Smith by his writings and the writings of his students," said Katz. "I read the letter by `sickened' students about us murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians every year, bombing innocent civilians and dropping cluster bombs that are dismembering children as if we were doing it deliberately. No other country has gone to the pains that we have to keep what they now call collateral damage to a minimum.
"They didn't get that at high school. They didn't get that at home, I don't think," Katz said. "There's only one place they could have gotten that, and that's in David Smith's class."
Smith said Katz misinterpreted the letter.
"What the students were pointing out is that the United States has, in fact, killed large numbers of people, whether it's in Korea, Vietnam, indirectly in Indonesia, more directly in Nicaragua and El Salvador," he said. "So the students were pointing to a history of U.S. imperialism, and that is something that more conservative folks don't want to admit."
Katz was among a half-dozen people, including former Galveston County Judge Ray Holbrook, who attended the college board's human resource committee meeting March 18 to oppose tenure for Smith.
Informed that that was not on the committee's agenda, the group promised to attend the board's meeting Monday.
While they'll get their say, they likely will go home unhappy.
Board members, who are elected, recently expressed general support for Smith and indicated that he'll win tenure based on his performance.
"We have nothing that says (Smith) is doing anything but what we've asked him to do, and he's doing it in an excellent, incredible way in the classroom," board President Ralph Holm told fellow members.
Board member James E. Butler said he believes Smith's opponents are trying to turn a purely academic issue into a political battle.
"I've been torn between keeping my mouth shut and fighting back against them," Butler said.
Katz and others believe Smith distorts history, leaving out details that don't fit his political views.
"He is disingenuous in citing authorities, and these authorities are only the ones supporting his views," said Katz, a former police officer who taught criminal justice courses at the college. "That is known, by any standard, as intellectual dishonesty and deceit."
Tenure is a longtime, and often controversial, policy in American higher education.
Among other functions, it "protects the instructor from termination of employment by an influential person or group for arbitrary reasons," said Dr. Homer "Butch" Hayes, College of the Mainland president.
To qualify for tenure, a faculty member must document to the satisfaction of a peer group that, among other qualities, he plans instruction well, provides classroom experimentation and innovation and improves instruction.
At this campus of 3,400 students, the faculty works in teams. If an instructor's team approves, it recommends tenure to Hayes. If Hayes agrees, he carries the recommendation to the board.
Hayes said he will recommend tenure for Smith on Monday.
Bob Young, an economics professor who leads the faculty team to which Smith belongs, said Smith's political views shouldn't be banned from the campus.
"I'm a veteran myself, and I don't remember ever being told that I was fighting for a single point of view or that, in the time I spent as a light-weapons infantryman, I was going to be exposed to only one set of ideas when I went to a university setting," said Young, who served in the Army in the 1960s and was stationed in South Korea. "I think these other veterans have a slightly different view of what America's all about."
Smith teaches two introductory courses on national and state government and an elective course in political science.
"In each of the courses, my syllabus sets out certain topics that I cover, and I certainly am honest about putting forth my own views," he said. "But I actively encourage people to question my views -- to express their own different views.
"Sometimes, a lot of the best learning is done by debate, discussion and disagreement," he said. "And one hallmark of my classes is that you can get extra credit by arguing with me during class. I think that's a good thing.
"We ask embarrassing, tough questions, like who is in the government, exactly whose interests are served by the government, what are the connections between business and government and what can working people do about it."
His politics don't include violence, he noted.
"Do I favor a small group of people going out and getting guns and attacking the government or anybody else? Of course not," he said.
Smith said he does support "radical or revolutionary social change."
"I think we need deep-seated, fundamental, systemic social change," he said. "But I believe it has to be done by a vast majority of the people, using a combination of electoral and (other) tactics."
He said he respects his critics' right to their opinions.
"But they are deeply misguided in trying to impose a political litmus test on faculty at College of the Mainland," Smith said. "Thankfully, the college has a long record of defending academic freedom in the face of controversy."
Also, would anyone ever think to have a prof. whose "bag" is "flat earth theory?" Or "Lysenkoism?" No. These are proven completely wrong, so we do not teach them anymore. Well, nothing has been proven "wronger" than Marxism. From that perspective, it should not be taught, because to teach it is to deliberately expose students to false "knowledge" masquerading as fact. **********
Bump!
They certainly do.
Isn't that typical Marxist philosophy, resources belong where they are needed not where they are produced?
You won't get much argument from me. Actually, at this college, it might be the only criterion. I don't think they care much if he publishes or not.
There is a huge problem in academia that goes far beyond our discussion here. I call it "crap research". I pretty much put any course or paper that has the words 'sex', 'gender roles' or 'racial' in it. Not that these are always bad research, but there is a strong correlation. There are other key indicators, as well.
What happens is that you are judged by pages published and not by quality. Allegedly, your colleagues in the field should be able to discern it, but if they are in the same scam . . .
Unfortunately, math and science still hasn't figured it out yet and still demand quality research. A perfectly good new proof can be rejected for publication because it isn't a quality result.
I am not talking about you, Amish.
Please, I prefer "Dr. Dude". :)
We must take immediate action! Please refer to Sunday's front page Houston Chronicle Article "A Class Struggle" (I have pasted it Above)
While, I have followed this issue, I did not realize its depth and seriousness until I read the article. We must not allow David Michael Smith to continue to use his position of authority to influence impressionable youth under the disguise of required curriculum. Smith is pushing his Marxist views in his required core classes at College of the Mainland in Texas City.
Put an "S" on my forehead, but I thought that Government and Political Science classes were intended to teach students the AMERICAN Government and Political Science process. Perhaps teachers such as this, are the reason that most do not know the branches of government, the delegate process, or even how to cast a ballot! These classes should instill pride in our system and a desire to participate in our "PARTICIPATORY FORM OF GOVERNMENT"
While I certainly do not wish to infringe on Smith's right to "free speech," I do wish to infringe on his right to "free teach." If College of the Mainland is so intent on providing academic freedom they should offer elective classes in "The Rise and Fall of Marxism" or "Smith's Views of Marxism" Students should know what they are taking and parents should know what they are paying for.
Please consider attending the College of the Mainland's Board Meeting on Monday. The Chronicle stated "...Smith has attracted a small but vocal group of critics..." I think we need to change that to a "Large and vocal group of critics."
I will forward the time and place to you later today! AND please read the article below -- It will make your blood boil!
OKAY Friends,
As I mentioned in this mornings ALERT -- The College of the Mainland Board will meet at 12:30 PM tomorrow at College of the Mainland in Texas City to discuss the tenure of the avowed Marxist instructor Smith!
We need to be there! Don't let this opportunity to unite and show what we are made of and what we stand for pass us by!
But rather than try to explain Sokal's assault on the state of modern humanities, I'll let the man speak for himself. Sokal may be a hard-core lefty, but he'll always have a place of honor to me;)
Many students unlearn this crap they learn in college once they find the real world and a real paycheck. Kids that work their way through college in real jobs already are learning about the real world anyhow. I had a Marxist professor and it didn't affect me much at all----I was already concerned then about how much of my money the government was trying to grab.
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