I'm a junior at University of Alaska Anchorage and I have had a suprisingly good experience. Although I believe a majority of my professors are liberal, I feel most of them try to keep the leftist propaganda to a minimum. This might be because a large persentage of the student body is military or the spouses of military personell. I have also found a few conservative professors who keep their politics out of the classroom.
This is my second degree and I wish the other colleges I attended were the same as UAA but unfortunately they were liberal fortresses unwilling to be challenged.
I don't see anything wrong with taping lectures. Why would a professor want to hide what is said in class. Unless it is a fabrication being presented as fact there should be nothing to fear.