From: cschmidt@lynx.dac.northeastern.edu (Christopher Schmidt)
Subject: Language Censors
Reply-To: cschmidt@lynx.dac.northeastern.edu (Christopher Schmidt)
Organization: Northeastern University, Boston, MA. 02115, USA
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 18:16:34 GMT

                     LANGUAGE CENSORS

[This article appeared on the editorial page of the Wall
Street Journal, 5-JAN-1992, page A14.  The newspaper did not
identify the author of this article.]

The language censors have been sighted again at one of their
favorite campuses -- the mammoth University of Michigan.  A
student got in trouble there this fall for writing a term
paper.  More accurately, he got in trouble for the paper's
vocabulary.

The undergraduate has been accused of harassment by a female
teaching assistant on the basis of a hypothetical example he
put in a term paper.  The crime?  It seems the hapless
student was unwise enough to ignore the political science
department's "Checklist for Nonsexist Writing."

Here's the offending passage, written by sophomore Shawn
Brown for Political Science 111, Introduction to American
Politics.

	Another problem with sampling polls is that some
	people desire their privacy and don't want to be
	bothered by a pollster.  Let's say Dave Stud is
	entertaining three beautiful ladies in his penthouse
	when the phone rings.  A pollster on the other end
	wants to know if we should eliminate the capital
	gains tax.  Now Dave is a knowledgeable
	businessperson who cares a lot about this issue.
	But since Dave is "tied up" at the moment, he tells
	the pollster to "bother" someone else.  Now this is
	perhaps a ludicrous example, but there is simply a
	segment of the population who wish to be left alone.
	They have more important things to be concerned
	about -- jobs, family, school, etc.  If this segment
	of the population is never actually polled, then the
	results of the poll could be skewed.

Now, it seems to us a sensible referee would see that what
we have here is a wash: "Dave Stud" may strike some as a
15-yard penalty, but note that the student did use the
sexless "businessperson" as well.  In any event, Mr. Brown's
point about the reliability of polls today is an interesting
one.  But none of these considerations caught the attention
of his teacher, Debbie Meizlish.  Instead, Ms. Meizlish was
horrified at what she perceived as Mr. Brown's verbal
assault on *her*.  She wrote:

	You are right.  This is ludicrous & inappropriate &
	OFFENSIVE.  This is completely inappropriate for a
	serious political science paper.  It completely
	violates the standard of non-sexist writing.
	Professor Rosenstone has encouraged me to interpret
	this comment as an example of sexual harassment and
	to take the appropriate formal steps.  I have chosen
	not to do so in this instance.  However, any future
	comments, in a paper, in a class or in any dealings
	w/me will be interpreted as sexual harassment and
	formal steps *will be* taken.  Professor Rosenstone
	is aware of these comments -- & is prepared to
	intervene.  You are forewarned!

Thus threatened, Mr. Brown made a sensible decision.  He
dropped the course, presumably in the hope of finding a
political scientist at Michigan who was interested in
teaching him political science instead of political
correctness.

In a letter to the Michigan Review, the student-run
newspaper that reported in the incident, the department's
Arlene Saxonhouse wrote, "The Political Science profession
currently encourages scholars in the field to use gender
neutral language."  We guess this must mean that the
profession's academic journals are engaged in similar
peer-scourings of texts and manuscripts for "OFFENSIVE"
words.

It is very hard to see how this enterprise can lead to much
good end.  If we know anything from history, it is that such
exercises in the policing of language and thought drive
people into lifetime opposition.  The gener-fastidious profs
and teaching assistants at Michigan may still be conveying
something useful about America's political system, but they
are also likely turning out many ardent enemies of their
relentless and watchful cause.
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