ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 28, 1997 TAG: 9703280023
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN K. WHITE
HOW DO you prove you're not a demon? The way you answer the question: When did you stop beating your wife? Which is to say, you can't really give an answer.
Ultimately, you have to turn things around and ask about the people pursuing such inquisitions. Why are they convinced that the world is full of demons who assault the values of good, hard-working Americans like themselves? A recent exchange of views on your Opinion page illustrates what is at issue.
Virgil E. Verheyden (Feb. 23 letter to the editor, ``Let's analyze rising college costs") charged the public to get to the bottom of outrageous increases in college costs. And he knows the fault lies in underworked, underscrutinized, but overpaid college professors. The solution: Have independent teams of business people come in and clean up the scandal.
Professor David Burr responded (March 15 letter to the editor, "Oh, for the leisurely life in academe's ivy tower") by explaining in detail exactly what he does in a week and how many hours it takes.
What is likely to be the reaction of Verheyden and others who have deep suspicions about college professors? For starters, they might reply with disbelief. Burr says he works hard, but why should we trust anything he says? No one really checks up on professors.
Perhaps Burr might point out that in fact he is subjected to quite a few forms of surveillance: possible general disciplinary proceedings; post-tenure review; annual review by his dean of everything he has done; peer reviews of grant proposals and written research by faculty at other universities; peer reviews of teaching; and separate and continual student evaluations of teaching.
Burr's inquisitors then would likely shift quickly to the charge that he is overpaid. In fact, Virginia's faculty rank below average when compared to those at comparable universities in other states. Presumably, this is one reason the Business Roundtable, a bipartisan group of successful business people, sounded the alarm that Virginia's public universities were at the point where the best faculty members would be lured away to other states.
There is reasonable evidence that Verheyden and company's claims about college professors are false. But these accusers seem to possess a characteristic that has become depressingly prevalent in public debate in recent years. They already know the truth, and it includes the existence of demons in American life, categories of people who are to blame for a whole panoply of social ills. And college professors are right up there in the front ranks of the unholy.
In a rapidly changing, often frightening world, it's reassuring to know who's responsible for the bad things going on around us. The slow process of sorting evidence and listening carefully to a range of voices is, on the other hand, hard work. So we'll press Burr once again: For how long has he been cheating the citizens of Virginia?
Stephen K. White teaches political science at Virginia Tech.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB