Full editorial here

University of Idaho professor Dennis West is either realistic or extremely cautious. West, who teaches classes in film studies, has caused concern at the Moscow campus by requiring students to sign a "statement of understanding" before taking his course. His classes cover a range of controversial topics such as racism, torture, rape, child molestation, pornography and homosexual themes. He's trying to protect himself from complaints from students who don't understand that colleges should force them to think as well as instruct. West's statements, according to the Associated Press, advise students that the films they study may contain material that is "morally, politically, culturally or otherwise objectionable, offensive or repugnant." Some other professors have adopted a similar practice. Others, however, maintain that the signed warnings represent a slippery slope that could infringe on reading lists, syllabuses and, ultimately, academic freedom. Two powerful forces are in play at the University of Idaho: academic freedom and consumerism. Instructors should push their students to view life from other perspectives and teach them how to seek truth wherever it leads. Students, on the other hand, have become more sophisticated in their approach to education. They pay enormous amounts of money for higher education, some going deep into debt. They have a right to demand quality instruction. But they don't have a right to unilaterally insist that professors change their offerings to suit individual biases -- D.F. Oliveria/Spokesman-Review.

DFO: We discussed this one Monday. I appreciate your help as I sorted this one out.

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