Editor:

Last fall, when the U’s political science department asked me to fill a teaching position as an adjunct professor, I was glad to be able to share my practical experience of 18-plus years on Capitol Hill, both as an unpaid lobbyist and as a three-term member of the state House of Representatives. I submitted my rsum, including employment and education history. I was assured that while I had not yet completed my undergraduate degree, the university would be happy to have me teach. A record number of students signed up to take my course, Interest Groups and Lobbying.

It almost sounded like a Cinderella story until a state legislator decided to get involved. In a Feb. 12 story aired on KSL-TV, Al Mansell, president of the state Senate, stated that he and a U official discussed my teaching at the U. Subsequent to that conversation, I was removed from my teaching position and told I would be allowed to continue as an assistant.

Why would Al Mansell, my Senator, be interested in my teaching a class at the U? It is no secret that we have been on opposite sides politically for some time. Is he concerned that I am a Democrat? Is he worried that I lost my last election by a mere 33 votes and may, in the future, put a Republican challenger to the test? Or is this simply an abuse of political power?

The great irony is that in accepting the teaching position, I set out to educate and inspire students to get involved in the political process, to give them firsthand knowledge of the inner workings of the democratic principles upon which our country is founded. What they are witnessing is the darker side of that process, not quite the lesson I planned to teach.

Trisha Beck

Adjunct Instructor, Political Science