Much brouhaha is being made of a relatively isolated and likely minor incident recently arising from Professor Scott Straus’ class, Politics of Human Rights. One side of the debate alleges a disruptive student — discontent with the notion of allowing a seminar to proceed — took it upon himself to inappropriately challenge his professor’s lesson plans. The other side reveals a professor stubbornly set on the preaching of politicized material in lieu of traditional material. This board is thoroughly uninterested in crediting either contention and, more so, must express a deep concern that such a solitary occurrence has become banner news. Aside from the specific allegations at hand, Professor Straus is a man of high regard among his peers and other students.

But in recognizing the sensational nature of this story, we realize it to be merely another prong in the continuing and frightful assault currently being launched upon academic freedom. Though it seems inappropriate for professors to borrow their captive audiences for purposes of espousing propaganda, the reality remains that for a complete education to be achieved, one must be privy to the arguments comprising both sides of the ideological spectrum. Things may not balance out — in fact, we are rather assured academia leans left — but in attending lectures, doing readings and writing papers that garner some 120 credits, one would have to strike the most remarkable of ostrich-poses to avoid exposure to many political and philosophical sides of an argument, each being offered in dignified, credible manners.

As Ward Churchill sits under fire for his radical scribbling, the state of Wisconsin contemplates the attachment of strings to tenure and the Ivy Tower is continuously perturbed by other suggestions of the like, it is important to remember that the free exchange of ideas is perhaps the greatest essential component to a true education.

At the same time, however, such a flow of ideas necessitates an orderly classroom environment. As such, a class hijacked by a dissenting student would present a dire scenario for the health of academia. To deny a professor control and direction of the classroom is to deny learning.