Reply #23: I agree. As a professor, it's none of my business...

[DrZeeLit]

....for whom the students vote. I would never ask anyone. Isn't the ballot still "secret?"

I can understand using this as a debate topic, if that's the appropriate class -- and economics would be an appropriate class if that was the thrust of the debate, but it doesn't sound like it.

Professors wield a certain amount of power, and now it's going to be difficult for students to feel comfortable that they are not being judged, hence graded, by their preference in candidates in lieu of, or in addition to, their work.

And, if you don't think professors wield power, wait until the draft. If they give student deferments, staying in school with a "C" average means somebody has a lot of power over your life: off to war or not ...that willl be the question. Yes, it looks like the "new draft" does not have deferments, but "ya jes nevah know, do ya?"