My students seem no more or less engaged in classroom activities and
preparation than before Sept. 11. Some seem to be more "low key," but they
are still talking as much (or a little) as they did before the terrorist
incidents.

We did spend a couple of class periods talking about legal and sociological
issues(see book Generations).  Then I cautioned them in the next class not
to apply group stereotypes to individuals as a lead-in to
anti-discrimination law discussions. I have also altered examples in
employment discrimination discussions to include someone of Islamic faith
applying for a job.   We discussed First Amendment implications for academic
freedom at a time when some journalists are being fired for criticing our
government's position and some people's civil rights are being diminished to
make the nation "safer."  In one class I wrote a torts/courts exam with
hypothetical tort cases coming out of the twin towers events.  However, for
the most part we are continuing with our normal subject matter in class.
There are still a lot of other legal problems and issues confronting the
world beyond the dominant terriorism theme.

Carol Miller
SMSU

-----Original Message-----
From: John Allison [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 12:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Classroom atmosphere/counterterrorism bill


The University of Texas, and the Austin vicinity, with about 1.2 mil.
people, is certainly not a backwater, and most government centers for the
2nd most populated state are here; all of us, including our students, see
the vast increase in security throughout the area.  For some reason,
however, I have not experienced any of these problems in either my class of
100 undergraduates (a course for nonbusiness majors), or in my graduate
elective in Intellectual Property.  They all are very aware and very
sensitive, but they seem to continue focusing on the task at hand in my
classes.  We are, of course, far from the NE, but some of my MBA students
had internships with, and prospective jobs with, companies in the
WTC.  Even in the undergrad. class, a number of the students have friends
or relatives who were directly affected.  I don't know the reason why they
seem to be staying on task, but they are (with the exceptions that have
always existed in the past).  I am puzzled.  Maybe it would be different if
we had a real scare in this area, but I certainly hope that we don't have
to find out.

John Allison


At 11:33 AM 10/26/2001, you wrote:
>Our Provost has sent several messages to the university community (see
>below) encouraging us to be "sensitive" to the impact of 9-11 on our
>students' abilities to focus on their coursework.  He has also suggested
>some resources to help.
>
>Rick
>
>Dear George Mason Faculty,
>
>The events of September 11 and beyond have had a profound effect on all our
>lives, and will continue to do so for some time to come.  They have even
>more greatly affected our students.