SIVACRACY.NET

I sometimes worry that the New York Times pays insufficient attention to the myriad complaints of college students, but I now realize that the concern is unfounded. This morning, the Gray Lady bravely tackles the subject of T.A.s with foreign accents with a front page story. Needless to say, with my nearly flawless English, I come out of this one just fine. But I will be watching carefully to see if the Times starts to run stories that might get a little uncomfortable for me, like on teachers "clearly under the influence in the classroom," or "with questionable personal hygiene," or "claiming repeatedly to dislike children."

In fairness, the article tries to look at different sides of the issue, but it veers dangerously close to vindicating fairly parochial assumptions about foreign graduate students, without whom (and I can't emphasize this too strongly) America's top universities would be in real trouble.

Yes, some TAs struggle with their English, but I've heard complaints about the language skills of a large number who are perfectly comprehensible. It's worth watching this clip, which is closer to reality than many would like to admit.