Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Faculty members comment about the news

By Linda Stewart
This reporter recently asked several FSU English department faculty members the following questions: What current or recent news story interests you and why? What under-reported news story do you think deserves more attention?
Dr. Gerald Snelson, Associate Chair of English, responded that the Republican race is an issue important to him because there is a divided electorate and “people don’t vote for people, they vote against them”. Dr. Snelson believes the recent story about Rush Limbaugh’s offensive remarks has been under-reported by the mainstream news media and the Republican candidates have not called him out for his offensive comments.
Jennifer Browne, an English lecturer, is concerned about the legislation concerning contraceptives and “that women’s bodies are being politicalized.” Browne recently learned of multiple public school buildings in Detroit for sale and she believes this has not received enough attention in the news. “As an educator, educational equality is important to me, especially the inequality of education in urban areas”.
Dr. Charles Ewers, Associate Professor of English, is disturbed by the news story he read this morning that reported over one half of Republican voters in Mississippi believe Obama to be a Muslim. Only 12% believe he is a Christian. Dr. Ewers is astonished at the level of ignorance among potential voters, let alone the general non-voting population. In response to the question about an under-reported story, Ewers replied, “If it is under-reported, would I know about it?”

No comments: