Republican student wants NIC refund

A woman is asking North Idaho College to refund the money she paid for an English class, saying her instructor spent more time bashing Republicans than teaching English composition.

Linda Cook, a former aide to the late Idaho Congressman Helen Chenoweth and a longtime GOP supporter, withdrew last week from an entry-level English class taught by part-time instructor Jessica Bryan. Cook sent a letter to NIC Vice President Barbara Hanson Monday asking that the college refund her $379 course fee.

On Monday, Bryan said Cook is “making a mountain out of a molehill” and that she’s “surprised and disappointed” that Cook didn’t tell her about her concerns before making a formal complaint.

Hanson’s secretary referred questions to NIC spokesman Kent Propst, who said the college will look into the situation and determine if a refund is warranted. Cook said she’ll meet with NIC Dean of General Studies Bob Murray today to discuss the complaint and refund request.

Cook said Bryan would make disparaging remarks about Republicans during every class period, including a statement that the death penalty should be used on anyone who votes Republican.

“I signed up for an English composition course but was dismayed to receive a level of political vitriol that I believe was strictly extracurricular,” Cook’s letter reads.

The letter claims Bryan said on the first day of class that “George Bush was elected president because people in this country can’t read” and said Feb. 12 that “I believe in the death penalty … . First we line up everyone who can’t think and right behind them, anyone who’s ever voted Republican.”

Bryan doesn’t deny saying those things but said Cook missed her point entirely, which was to encourage debate and critical thinking among her students.

“Most (comments) were said facetiously in an attempt to get my students to think,” she said. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that anyone would take it seriously … . They were always said with a smile.”

Cook was enrolled in the English 102 class, which Bryan said focuses on critical thinking and persuasive writing. Essay assignments involve arguing a point of view or writing about a problem and a solution to it. Bryan said she uses outrageous examples in an effort to spark discussion among her students and encourage different points of view.

“We talk about many issues,” she said. “They’re not all political.”

Bryan said Cook participated in the discussions and always made her opinion on the issues clear. She seemed to enjoy herself, the instructor said, and never gave the impression she was unhappy with what was being discussed.

“She had never made me aware of any problems or grievances she had in the class,” Bryan said. “She loved the debates, I thought.”

Cook said she openly objected to many of the statements Bryan made in class but that she didn’t want to “go head to head with her in front of her students” by questioning their relevancy to the course curriculum.

“If someone’s suggesting you just be killed you don’t sit down and say ‘let’s talk,’ ” Cook said.

Bryan said she’s bothered by Cook’s complaint.

“I do see it as an insult, personally and professionally,” she said, adding that it’s the first major complaint she’s heard about her teaching in the 25 years she’s been an instructor.

Bryan said she welcomes debate from all sides and even read to the class part of an essay Cook had written supporting President Bush’s plan to boost the number of troops in Iraq.

“I didn’t agree with it, but it was so well-written,” Bryan said.