(no subject)
Interesting thing happened in my room today...
One of the girls started commenting on a paper that was recently
started at our school. The paper was written by an ex-columnist from
the Daily Bruin (our school newspaper) regarding the extreme liberal
bias of the paper and the prosecution that the the conservative
columnists of the paper faced, including criticism, extreme editing of
their columns, and failure to promote.
The girl pointing it out was extremely liberal, and actually went to
high school with the guy who started the new paper. She was criticizing
him, calling him a whiner, etc.
I pointed out how the Daily Bruin really is liberal (she had never read the paper) and explained the problems that occur when a form of media is dominated by one political party (be it conservative or liberal). I then explained that I was conservative and was also often bothered by the liberal bias of our school paper (knowing that I do go to UCLA, and that media in general often has a liberal bias, it doesn't bother me to the extreme). She was shocked. Two other girls in our room pointed out that they were also conservative.
It's interesting that when you're in the political minority, the majority of people are either extremely vocal regarding their views, or they keep their views largely to themselves. I've already had many comments this year; people saying that I was "too smart" to be conservative. Or, in some cases, that my arguments were too strong to be conservative. I even had people say that I was too nice to be a Republican. I'm not the kind of person who openly criticizes people regarding their views; however, I will argue when provoked :-)
That paper was actually quite interesting to read. They had one section on extremely liberal professors: this issue was a professor whose extreme liberal bias affected not only the atmosphere of the class, but the grading of the papers. I've definitely felt the bias already (in both of my English classes, actually). However, I believe that there's a right way and a wrong way of dealing with a biased professor. My English prof last quarter knew that I was a Republican; I was also not afraid to state Republican views in class, and play the devil's advocate regardless of the argument. However, when it came to papers, I never directly criticized his views. One of my fellow Republicans in the class wrote an essay about the movie 9/11. In short, his paper stated how the movie was ridiculous and did not follow all facts. Needless to say, that movie was a favorite of our professor and the student did not get a good grade. Instead of writing about politics, I instead switched my focus to other things I found interesting.
I got a good grade in the class and enjoyed many interesting conversations with my professor. I still speak with him when I see him at the coffee shop; our political affiliations are almost a joke between us now.
However, it is interesting how Republicans at UCLA (or any young Republicans really) will bond together. We are the minority. I find it similar to the way racial groups (such as African, Latino, or Asian Culture groups) bond together. We're normally quiet about our affiliation; people normally believe that we're actually liberal. The previous roommate was shocked to learn that the three conservatives in the room voted for Bush.
Anyways, my insight for the day.
Today's Valentine's Day. Nick brought me flowers and filled this really cute "cereal" box with candy, a lotto ticket, popcorn, and chocolate. He doesn't really have any money right now, and I really appreciated his present. He's really so awesome sometimes. So, for V-Day, I came over here to USC, Nick and I made dinner together, and then now we're doing homework together. Quite romantic :-)
I pointed out how the Daily Bruin really is liberal (she had never read the paper) and explained the problems that occur when a form of media is dominated by one political party (be it conservative or liberal). I then explained that I was conservative and was also often bothered by the liberal bias of our school paper (knowing that I do go to UCLA, and that media in general often has a liberal bias, it doesn't bother me to the extreme). She was shocked. Two other girls in our room pointed out that they were also conservative.
It's interesting that when you're in the political minority, the majority of people are either extremely vocal regarding their views, or they keep their views largely to themselves. I've already had many comments this year; people saying that I was "too smart" to be conservative. Or, in some cases, that my arguments were too strong to be conservative. I even had people say that I was too nice to be a Republican. I'm not the kind of person who openly criticizes people regarding their views; however, I will argue when provoked :-)
That paper was actually quite interesting to read. They had one section on extremely liberal professors: this issue was a professor whose extreme liberal bias affected not only the atmosphere of the class, but the grading of the papers. I've definitely felt the bias already (in both of my English classes, actually). However, I believe that there's a right way and a wrong way of dealing with a biased professor. My English prof last quarter knew that I was a Republican; I was also not afraid to state Republican views in class, and play the devil's advocate regardless of the argument. However, when it came to papers, I never directly criticized his views. One of my fellow Republicans in the class wrote an essay about the movie 9/11. In short, his paper stated how the movie was ridiculous and did not follow all facts. Needless to say, that movie was a favorite of our professor and the student did not get a good grade. Instead of writing about politics, I instead switched my focus to other things I found interesting.
I got a good grade in the class and enjoyed many interesting conversations with my professor. I still speak with him when I see him at the coffee shop; our political affiliations are almost a joke between us now.
However, it is interesting how Republicans at UCLA (or any young Republicans really) will bond together. We are the minority. I find it similar to the way racial groups (such as African, Latino, or Asian Culture groups) bond together. We're normally quiet about our affiliation; people normally believe that we're actually liberal. The previous roommate was shocked to learn that the three conservatives in the room voted for Bush.
Anyways, my insight for the day.
Today's Valentine's Day. Nick brought me flowers and filled this really cute "cereal" box with candy, a lotto ticket, popcorn, and chocolate. He doesn't really have any money right now, and I really appreciated his present. He's really so awesome sometimes. So, for V-Day, I came over here to USC, Nick and I made dinner together, and then now we're doing homework together. Quite romantic :-)