MAX MORENBERG wrote:

> I'd give your student's advanced comp teacher the benefit of the doubt.
> The only way you'll find out what the professor really said is to ask
> him/her.

I'd like to second Max.  As chair of a university English department, I learned
long ago that when a student comes to me with a complaint, I need to hear the
instructor's side of things before passing judgment.  It's amazing how accounts
can differ.  This is doubly true when irate parents call with versions they got
from their offspring.  Colleagues in other departments sometimes complain about
our teaching of composition, usually based on anecdotes or very limited data,
and they are quick to generalize about declining standards and incompetent
instruction.  Some composition faculty do the same thing: pounce on errors in
student writing and complain about the sorry state of high school teaching.

It is true, of course, that there are some poor instructors.  It's also true
that generally competent instructors sometimes give out bad information.
However, we need to be careful about assuming the worst without verifying
third-person accounts.

Dick Veit