Who is The Iowa Eye?
Stephen A.
Martin
graduate student, political activist,
bum
Fort Madison, Iowa
Why I started my web site:
This site was originally to provide a place for me to say the
things I could not say in the newspaper.
Reporters are expected to be unbiased (which is kind of like expecting
dogs not to bark)
and there really was no forum for me to say the things I desperately
wanted to say.
This site, which was created in October '02, gave me a place to say all
the things I couldn't say as an
"unbiased journalist." It also played a big role in my eventual
decision to get out of the news business
and go back to school, which I did in July '03.
What kind of content you will find on
my site:
This site began as an outlet for political commentary. Some of that is
still on this site,
under the archive
link. Mostly, however, it has become a place for me to post my recent
academic
writings. I am entering my third semester of graduate work this spring,
and have already started on my
thesis. I'm writing about the clash of cultures that took place when
the Cherokees began moving west
into land already occupied by the Osage, Pawnee, Quapaw, Wichita and
other tribes.
It should go without saying that these tribes were less than pleased to
see the Cherokees arrive.
It could even be argued that the arriving Cherokees sent each of these
other tribes
down their own "trail of tears." Keep watching, and I'll post more
content as I get it written.
A few thoughts about academe, politics
and the newspaper business:
When I was in school the first time, the students were radical. Now
most of the students are only interested
in getting out, getting jobs and getting drunk -- not necessarily in
that order. What happened to all of those
radical students? A good many seem to have become radical professors,
mixing political dogma with the
curriculum in the same way that hamburger and stale crackers are mixed
to become meatloaf. This applies
to both liberals and conservatives, by the way, who seem to share a
desire to indoctrinate their students.
Maybe this mutual desire to push their politics means that students get
a balanced view. Or maybe, it means
they would have gotten a balanced view had they bothered to pay
attention. It's hard to say.
As for me, I plan to approach history and the social sciences the way I
approached my reporting.
I think it's my duty to give the students a picture of the world free
of distortions.
I don't promise to be unbiased, but I do promise to be fair and
balanced.
Would a former reporter do anything else?
Stephen A. Martin
Fort Madison, Iowa
December 15, 2003