Gun Control

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I was in my Criminology class the other morning listening to a lecture on crime rates. The professor had listed different time periods and the effects on crime (WWII, baby boomers, etc). When discussing our current situation shecredited gun control for a drop in the crime rate. :cuss:Maybe I'm making too much of it but it really pissed me off. I wanted to comment but didn't know how I could without offending her.

Anybody else experiencd this?

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JB wrote:

I was in my Criminology class the other morning listening to a lecture on crime rates. The professor had listed different time periods and the effects on crime (WWII, baby boomers, etc). When discussing our current situation shecredited gun control for a drop in the crime rate. :cuss:Maybe I'm making too much of it but it really pissed me off. I wanted to comment but didn't know how I could without offending her.

Anybody else experiencd this?

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I hear it all the time from politicians in Washington, DC and Maryland. PLENTY of gun control in those two fine places and PLENTY of crime rates to go around for everyone. Gun control does affect crime rates...it empowers the criminals to run up the crime rate. Folks that believe that gun control makes for a safer society should move to (or at least vacation for a week or so) one of the MANY countries where gun control has led to everything up to and including genocide.

Living the burbs of D.C., I see the benefits of gun control every night on the news...a shooting here, a shooting there, a neighborhood riddled with bullets over there. D.C. has been a long-term study in the effects of gun control with some of the most restrictive laws in the nation. Yet there are still folks in positions of authority that will go on the record professing to how gun control saves lives...but who's lives are being saved? Gun control equals a lower crime rate? I would be asking for some factual proof from your professor...

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I would be asking for some factual proof from your professor...

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Exactly, I think the best way to do it without being too blatantly assertive of your "opinion" would be to ask her, as if you're simply interested to know, if she could provide you with some statistics or whatever else she can provide. Specifically you want something that documents the relationship between gun control and reduced crime in some region of the US. If she can't provide this, then she's proven herself wrong, and you've done nothing but sit there and watch.

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No; I guess I've been lucky in all my years at college, no teacher has ever said something so foolish as that -- that I knew of.

Next class, bring a printout of some stats from GunCite for example. Politely say that "last week you made a comment which got me wondering..." and present your numbers. If she can respond, great. We all know that she won't be able to, unless she really does have an open mind about learning new things.

Being a teacher never excuses one from learning, IMHO.

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They don't need no stinking proof, they are the teacher!!!

A number of years back I had a very anti hippie type English prof. My final paper was a very long dissertation on the second amendment and how it had affected our society in a positive way. I quoted our founding fathers, andthe documents they searched to write our constitution and bill of rights. I included John Lotts research as well, and it took me several months to wright. Every time during the term that he brought up an anti gun statement, I countered with the truth my term paper was just the icing on the cake.

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JB wrote:

I wanted to comment but didn't know how I could without offending her.

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how about ask for a refund of tuition

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I don't know if it will come up again, but I'm not sure I could ask her without coming off confrontational. She made a comment the other day aboutself defense that didn't sit well with me. I'm not claiming to be a laywer but it seemed she had never heard of castle doctrine.

I appreciate your support, but I'll probably just be a whimp and let it slide. I'm sure the founders would be proud of me! I'm trying to stay in her good graces, for grading purposes, but we'll see how it goes. I may get the opportunity to do a project where I could present our side of the argument and support it with FACTS, instead of opinions. I'll keep ya posted.

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JB wrote:

I was in my Criminology class the other morning listening to a lecture on crime rates. The professor had listed different time periods and the effects on crime (WWII, baby boomers, etc). When discussing our current situation shecredited gun control for a drop in the crime rate. :cuss:Maybe I'm making too much of it but it really pissed me off. I wanted to comment but didn't know how I could without offending her.

Anybody else experiencd this?

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Yes I exerienced it. And I was the type of student who would have said something. I once had a very liberal, feminazi prof who I challenged on something with an abundance of published facts on my side. I got an A on every test in that class. For the final we had to do group research projects and each group turned in one final paper. I understood the material very well and did at least my fair share of the work. Everyone in my group of 4 got an A except for me. She gave me a D. This was in my major wherein I had a 3.9 until then. The aftermath is a long story. That wasn't the only class in which I challenged a professor where I was completely right and the prof was flat wrong. In the end I lost every time because no matter how well you know the material, no matter how well you do on tests, the prof can always find a way to punish you.

You aren't going to change the profs mind. You aren't going to do yourself any favors by challenging the prof. Most profs, especially very liberal ones, have very fragile egos, are very petty and have an agenda. All you want is that piece of paper that reads, BS or BA. Cynical yes. But a future employer or grad school doesn't care that you were right in that class. They care that you have a 3.5 GPA instead of a 3.9 GPA.

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Well put deepdiver. That is what gave me pause. She may be the type of person that I could debate with and still have her respect, but I don't know her well enough to try it, yet.

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I had a professor that was spewing lies about nuclear power in one of my classes that I openly confronted and stopped during class. It's a difficult position to be in. On one hand your jeapordize your future, hell, on either hand you jeapordize your future. You run the risk of your career/future being put on the line but if you don't speak out you jeapordize 20+ people from being fed a line of crap by a person in a position of influence and they (other students) may not know any better, much less take the time to find out if what's being fed to them is the truth. It's a huge problem. It was a sociology course, go figure. Fun class but the prof. made alot of statements that she shouldn't have. I got an A.

The only recourse you have is to not give them a reason to give you a failing grade. Know the requirements for the class, papers, ace the exams. If they still give you a failing grade take it up with the school counsellor/academic advisor and the principal/headmaster whatever they are called. Don't stop there, especially if your still getting screwed. The internet these days is a powerful thing.

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bohdi wrote:

I had a professor that was spewing lies about nuclear power in one of my classes that I openly confronted and stopped during class.

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I would imagine that those able to embrace nuclear power are also able to embrace the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the the correlation is very high.

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JB wrote:

...........I wanted to comment but didn't know how I could without offending her.

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I remember once on college I was taking a class on the New Testament. The professor was going off on some tangent of Heaven being like the glory of the sun and how he thought the Sun was Heaven and people lived there. Being a geology major I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.

Unfortunately it is a good way to go from an A to a C in a class.



Tarzan

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Doug Huffman wrote:

bohdi wrote:

I had a professor that was spewing lies about nuclear power in one of my classes that I openly confronted and stopped during class.

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I would imagine that those able to embrace nuclear power are also able to embrace the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the the correlation is very high.

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At the time I did own my Glock, but I wasn't carrying, and hadn't really thought about it either. I suspect that your statement is true, but I don't know that I'd be able to verify that unless I go back to school for a masters/doctorate and test that theory out, lol. It's interesting being in an academic environment as an older student (27+ years old) verses how your talked to as a younger student by professors. I also think it's funny how people in the corporate world who are instructors on certain things act much like professors in educational institutions at times, and treat everyone the same like the students in their classes don't know anything.At least it is a universal problem, and not limited to just the academic world.

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I went back for math after I retired. My best instructor was a past Numerical Methods department head from Moscow University. I didn't get to take a class from his younger bro in the physics department - Fluid Mechanics. I used to turn in 'copy book' assignments - perfect, in ink or LaTeX - contrasted with my classmates' scribbles. I loved it!

Job description whence I retired http://www.nnsy1.navy.mil/DeptLinks/test_division.htm from a different SY

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Just remember. The professors, teachers, TA's and all the rest are there for you.. not the other way around. You (or your parents) pay their salaries and give them reasons for earning a living. You do NOT have to put up with an instructor's socio-political diatribe if you wish not to do so.

So call them ion it. If you fear a grade reduction, go to your faculty advisor or if necessary, take it all the way up to the dean. When I was in college, it was not uncommon to fill out a teacher evaluation at the end of the class. This keeps them in line and gives you an opportunity to vent.

But being the kind of individual I am, I would probably make their lives miserable if they crapped on me.

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Use a digital voice recorder to copy your discusions. If they ever retaliate against you through grades, you'll have proof, otherwise, it's a great study aid.

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SouthernBoy wrote:

Just remember. The professors, teachers, TA's and all the rest are there for you.. not the other way around. You (or your parents) pay their salaries and give them reasons for earning a living. You do NOT have to put up with an instructor's socio-political diatribe if you wish not to do so.

So call them ion it. If you fear a grade reduction, go to your faculty advisor or if necessary, take it all the way up to the dean. When I was in college, it was not uncommon to fill out a teacher evaluation at the end of the class. This keeps them in line and gives you an opportunity to vent.

But being the kind of individual I am, I would probably make their lives miserable if they crapped on me.

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+1. Students do have power against instructors, they just don't bother to use it. The administration worries about image and a letter from an attorney and the support of parents goes a long way. You can and should challenge your instructors. If you can document your work and your final grade seems inappropriate do fight back.

I say this as someonewho has survived both a BS and MS in geology. And in my opinion grades are only important if planning on going to graduate school. Most employers look at the total package and grades tend to be a small part of it. The degree and letters of recommendation weigh more.