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Feb. 5th, 2003 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asherisSome people need to get a clue. Ellen Goodman has a column about a biology professor who is being sued- for not writing a recommendation for a future medical student who doesn't believe in evolution. The former student is claiming that the professor was discriminating against him on the basis of religion.
Mind, the student never even asked for the recommendation- he dropped out of the prof's class early in the term when he found out that the three criteria for getting a recommendation for med school from that professor included getting an A in the class, being known reasonably well by the prof (not just a face in the class), and "truthfully and forthrightly affirm(ing) a scientific answer" to the question: "How do you think the human species originated?"
How utterly screwed up.
Recommendations aren't "owed" to you, and it's at the professor's discretion whether they'll write one. If a professor believes you should have a basic belief in scientific criteria in order for him to recommend you for med school, that's his right. (And perfectly reasonable, IMO.)
The guy drops out of the biology class, takes bio at another college (not even another section at the same school!) and gets a med school recommendation, then comes back to sue.
This doesn't sound like anyone I'd want as my doctor. I like doctors who believe in basic, proven scientific principles.
Mind, the student never even asked for the recommendation- he dropped out of the prof's class early in the term when he found out that the three criteria for getting a recommendation for med school from that professor included getting an A in the class, being known reasonably well by the prof (not just a face in the class), and "truthfully and forthrightly affirm(ing) a scientific answer" to the question: "How do you think the human species originated?"
How utterly screwed up.
Recommendations aren't "owed" to you, and it's at the professor's discretion whether they'll write one. If a professor believes you should have a basic belief in scientific criteria in order for him to recommend you for med school, that's his right. (And perfectly reasonable, IMO.)
The guy drops out of the biology class, takes bio at another college (not even another section at the same school!) and gets a med school recommendation, then comes back to sue.
This doesn't sound like anyone I'd want as my doctor. I like doctors who believe in basic, proven scientific principles.
