Ivory tower bastions of liberality
There’s a sign on one of the TA lounges in the computer science building at University of Maryland, College Park that reads simply:
The Communists had Pravda, the Republicans have Fox.
Now, despite the obvious truth of that statement, I can’t help but feel that some poor conservatives are feeling mightily intimidated as they enter the door to ask for help on their programming assignments. I respect the strong right to free speech that we enjoy in universities, but maybe a little more discretion should be used? Regardless, I still think this is much better than, say, a corporate or government environment, where one really isn’t allowed to air one’s views openly. For instance, at my government job at NIST, all of the scientists were pretty much hardcore liberals (which is almost a given), but there was always a hush-hush tone to the political conversations, and nobody would ever put up a half-humorous/half-abrasive notice like in the computer science building at UMD.
February 6th, 2007 at 16:36
being conservative, although not a programmer of any sort (well… sometimes I pretend to be), I don’t think I would be intimidated or anything by such a sign. I do somewhat agree, though, that discretion should be used.
In the philosophy lounge there is a sign that reads “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.”
February 6th, 2007 at 16:48
Also, I’m sure I’ve seen anti-Bush signs somewhere in the astronomy building (CSS), I just don’t remember exactly what they said.