Beyond Feelings - Vincent Ruggiero.original_ [58]
Analyze each of the following cases as the chapter does with the cases of Claude, Alma, and Sam:
A middle-aged couple, Ann and Dan, learn that their twenty-two year old daughter, a senior in college, is an active lesbian. They are appalled. They were raised to believe that lesbianism is willful moral degeneracy. Struggling to cope with their new awareness, each begins to blame the other – Ann suggests Dan has always been cold and aloof with the girl, and Dan is sure Ann has been too close to her, has smothered her with affection. After many hours of arguing, they decide that there is more direct cause of her deviance – the college. "You'd think educated people would be alert to the danger of degeneracy with all the girls crammed into dorms," Ann cries. Dan shouts, "Damn it, I'm going to send a letter to the chairman of that college's board of trustees. I want the dean of students fired.
Stephen enrolls as a freshman at Progress Technical College. He notices that he has an eight o'clock English class three days a week. Because he's a late riser, this disturbs him. But when he attends the first class, he notices that the instructor's name is Stein. "Wow," he thinks to himself, "What better break could a Jewish kid who likes to sleep in the morning have than a Jewish instructor!" Over the next few weeks, he seizes any excuse to stay after class, talk with Mr. Stein, and win his favor. For his first two compositions, Stephen chooses subjects that will permit him to stress his Jewishness (and thereby impress Mr. Stein). Soon he decides that Mr. Stein "understands" him. He begins to miss class occasionally and hands in about on assignment out of four. When he sees Mr. Stein, Stephen plies him with pathetic tales of misfortune. His midterm grade is D, but he tells himself that Mr. Stein is just trying to scare him and will raise his grade in the end. Thus he attends class even less frequently and does less work. Eventually the semester ends, and he receives an F in English. His first reaction is disbelief. He rushes to see Mr. Stein, who says, "I made clear on the first day of class that students could expect to pass only if they attended class and did their homework faithfully. I'm sorry about the grade, but your deserve it." From that moment on, Stephen refuses to speak to Mr. Stein when he passes him on campus. And whenever the conversation is the snack bar or dorm turns to teachers, he loudly denounces Mr. Stein as a phony.
Three Southern California professor of medicine devised a hoax as an experiment. They paid a professional actor to lecture three groups educators. Armed with a fake identity, "Dr. Myron L. Fox of the Albert Einstein University," false but impressive credentials, and a scholarly sounding topic, "Mathematical Game Theory as Applied to Physical Education," the actor proceeded to present one meaningless, conflicting statement after another. His words were a combination of double-talk and academic jargon. During the question and answer period, he made even less sense. Yet not one of the fifty-five educators in his audience realized they had been tricked. Virtually all of them believed they had learned something. Some even praised the imposter in this manner, "Excellent presentation, enjoyed listening. Has warm manner… lively examples…l extremely articulate."1 Explain what combination of the problems in Chapters 6 through 14 may have accounted for the audience's gullibility.
Determine your position on each of the following cases, being sure to avoid all the problems reviewed in this chapter.
When Alabama prisons and jails became seriously overcrowded, a U.S. district judge ordered that more than 300 convicts be granted early release. The group included murderers, rapists, and repeat offenders. The judge's argument was that serious overcrowding in prisons and jails is a violation of prisoners' rights against "cruel and unusual punishment."2 Do you share the judge's view?
U.S. law has accorded most charitable and educational groups tax-exempt status as long as they refrain from lobbying activities.