As I read the emails, I am concerned about the focus on the JEWISH BIAS. I would think that more relevant issues should engage our attention. I am Jewish, living in a secular world; but because of early discrimintation, I am sensitive to antisemitism. This conversation has been going on for a very long time. In the United States, religious diversity is part of our culture and validatged by Supreme Court decisions regarding non Christain religions, such as Seiks and their right to carry weapons as required (closed for access) and other rulings. Obviously, as stated previously, numbers count and as groups change in numbers and influence, the accomodations will reflect public policy. Please, get to the issues that are relevant to those teaching in the psychological sciences and avoid topics that negate our efforts to be social scientists. Tamara Hoffman
----- Original Message ---- From: Paul Brandon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 9:33:28 AM Subject: Re: [tips] Is there a Judaism bias? MSU,M just instituted a provision for Halal meat in the food service -- nothing about Kosher. I suspect that it's a population issue -- until recently Jews were the largest religious minority in University populations. Now that that's changing (we have a much larger Islamic than Jewish population -- both student and faculty) accommodation patterns will probably also change. Deans are always sending memos to faculty to be cognizant of Jewish holidays and allow Jewish students to be excused from classes and make provisions for make-up for those students. I am not aware of ever receiving a memo re Islamic students (Ramadan),or Haitian students(Voodoo),Afro-Cubans (Santeria) and Brazilians (Condomble). Send me something. Michael Sylvester,PhD Daytona Beach,Florida Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
