Ted Rall: The Right's Attack on Academic Freedom

ANN ARBOR--A Republican group's offer of a hundred bucks for information leading to the identification and conviction of the University of California at Los Angeles' "most radical professors" has all the hallmarks of a cheap publicity stunt: an abrasive young quotemonger, the Nixon-style "Dirty Thirty" enemies list of alleged liberal instructors, and its attempt to compromise students willing to furtively tape their teachers' lectures. The media, for which "at first glance" could equally serve as a motto and epitaph, has treated it as unworthy of serious coverage. Scratch the surface, however, and it becomes clear that the UCLA story is a chilling new front in the right's offensive against the last liberal redoubt in America: academia.

The "Bruin Alumni Association"--not the actual UCLA alumni association, but a one-man shell operation run by one Andrew Jones, Class of 2003, age 24--says it/he merely wants to "restore an atmosphere of respectful political discourse on campus." Linda Chavez, a former official in the Reagan White House, assures: "No one is suggesting that anyone be fired for his or her views." Maybe not yet. But why make a hit list and pay for evidence of ideological incorrectness--unless you plan to use them?