French students

I really liked this quote from Like the Red Panda by Andrea Siegel, hehe:

"The fourth-year French students at my school are mostly soft AP girls or weird kids obsessed with the Renaissance...I think that kids who take French have parents who've instilled basic values in them, like respect for school and other cultures...The real assholes and morally ambiguous kids are the ones who take Spanish." -Andrea Seigel

Also, this one from Zinn's A People's History:

"Here was the traditional device by which those in charge of any social order mobilize and discipline a recalcitrant population -- offering the adventure and rewards of military service to get poor people to fight for a cause they may not clearly see as their own." -Howard Zinn, on the American Revolution

I will actually try to maybe add more content in the next few days. I dunno what happened, suddenly my life actually got busy! But I'm definitely not complaining. :)

yum cotton candy

Sorry all I've been doing is taking quizzes lately, but it's about all I've had time for...more substance soon! I promise. <3

Your Lip Gloss Flavor Is: Cotton Candy You're a total girly girl who's every guy is sweet on. You take pleasure in the simple things in life, from cute t-shirts to stuffed animals. Any guy needs to match your romantic idealism to win your heart, which is why few have. No wonder Cotton Candy is your signature flavor. It's delicious, sugary, and fun - like you! What Flavor Lip Gloss Are You? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

can't you see i'm addicted?

(pick it up, pick it up!)

I am 88% Ska.

Pick it up, I skank! I am one full-fledged crazy Rudie, I am going to go celebrate my victory with some skankin'!

Take the
Ska Test
@ FualiDotCom

i am Pretty Woman (hear me roar?)

Your Love Life Is Most Like Pretty Woman Mr. Right is looking back at you, for real. Go get him - even if it's more than a little scary! What Movie Is Your Love Life Like? Take This Quiz :-) Find the Love of Your Life (and More Love Quizzes) at Your New Romance.

about the biggest pair you ever seen, dingleberry!

Just wanted to say how much I think Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes rocked up at UConn yesterday night...well, I guess technically they talked into this morning, but you know. Kevin Smith is great to listen to, he's got a million and one stories to tell (and takes about 45 minutes to answer each question!), so if you ever get a chance to go see him speak, DO. Definitely worth it. (And especially so when he brings Jay - clad in only a towel - along and they banter back & forth for a couple of hours, too!) I definitely appreciate ViewAskew even more, now. Rock on.


Currently Reading:

TITLE: Days of War, Nights of Love

AUTHOR: CrimethInc.




TITLE: Interface

AUTHOR: Stephen Bury

The Inverted Forest (and a little bit of J20)

I just read this story after seeing it listed as a credit of JD Salinger's on the back of Days of War, Nights of Love. They didn't mention The Catcher in the Rye (which I'm not complaining about), but nor did they mention Franny and Zooey or Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters or any of his other works. That was the sole story listed (and, notably, it's a story and not a book), so I decided to read it to see how it seemed significant to the CrimethInc. people.

And, I have to say, I'm still working that out. But, I can at least mention that I found it to be a very engaging story. And well-written - Salinger really knows how to spin the threads of stories rather intruingingly.

But, I'll let you read that for yourself if you are at all interested.

In other news, yesterday Dan and I went to the J20 rallies in D.C. to protest Bush's inauguration. It was my first protest, so we kept it pretty low-key. We took a bus down that some Ithacans had organized, and stayed within the permitted marches and rallies. We did get to see some good action, though, and I was really glad to just be a part of that, and to be able to get my voice out there, quiet as I can be sometimes. The bonds that you feel with the others who feel as you do are incomparable. It was great to see that there are still plenty of people who are going to continue to voice their dissent and make sure they are heard, so that the nation knows that Bush's administration is terrible. As they say, "Bush isn't going anywhere...and neither are we!"

Next time, though, I think I want to get involved more with CodePink. And not just because they wear pink, hehehe. Amber is interested in going to meetings with me, too, so hopefully I will hear back from the girl who runs it in CT, and we can join up! Yay. I want to be one of those awesome CodePink ladies that I saw - some even came all the way from Michigan!

Next time it'll be the pink & the black. That'll be the way to get our voices heard. <3

i'm very disappointed...

...in Kraft Foods. I just finished reading Culture Jam (Kalle Lasn, of Adbusters) the other day, did a little research, and found out that Philip Morris, a leading cigarette company, owns all of these foods. Not cool - meaning if I purchase any of these products, my money could go right back in to pushing cigarettes to little kids, as Dan pointed out. Or to pushing cigarettes, in general! So, we 're going to try to boycott all those foods. It'll be tough - a lot of them are household names I've used for years! But I want to give this a shot.

In other news, I got the day off on Thursday, for J20 - I get to go protest President Bush's inauguration! Hopefully someone gets the picture when all of us go marching on Wasington...

I did also just finish Catch-22. Excellent book. Not quite sure what I'll tackle next...

oh come on, guys, chill out

I'd have a LOT to comment on regarding this article - I am very vehement about my feelings towards absolutely intolerant and ignorant people - but we're having a bad morning here at work: the pipe system is fubar, and thus we have no working toilets. I'm kind of dancing in my seat, trying not to think about anything liquid. I think I'll leave early...for now, here's the article that is pissing me off:

CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS, LIBERAL PROFS

(AP) -- At the University of North Carolina, three incoming freshmen sue over a reading assignment they say offends their Christian beliefs.

In Colorado and Indiana, a national conservative group publicizes student allegations of left-wing bias by professors. Faculty get hate mail and are pictured in mock "wanted" posters; at least one college says a teacher received a death threat.

And at Columbia University in New York, a documentary film alleging that teachers intimidate students who support Israel draws the attention of administrators.

The three episodes differ in important ways, but all touch on an issue of growing prominence on college campuses.

Traditionally, clashes over academic freedom have pitted politicians or administrators against instructors who wanted to express their opinions and teach as they saw fit. But increasingly, it is students who are invoking academic freedom, claiming biased professors are violating their right to a classroom free from indoctrination.

In many ways, the trend echoes past campus conflicts -- but turns them around. Once, it was liberal campus activists who cited the importance of "diversity" in pressing their agendas for curriculum change. Now, conservatives have adopted much of the same language in calling for a greater openness to their viewpoints.

Similarly, academic freedom guidelines have traditionally been cited to protect left-leaning students from punishment for disagreeing with teachers about such issues as American neutrality before World War II and U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Now, those same guidelines are being invoked by conservative students who support the war in Iraq.

To many professors, there's a new and deeply troubling aspect to this latest chapter in the debate over academic freedom: students trying to dictate what they don't want to be taught.

"Even the most contentious or disaffected of students in the '60s or early '70s never really pressed this kind of issue," said Robert O'Neil, former president of the University of Virginia and now director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.

'It puts a chill in the air'
Those behind the trend call it an antidote to the overwhelming liberal dominance of university faculties. But many educators, while agreeing students should never feel bullied, worry that they just want to avoid exposure to ideas that challenge their core beliefs -- an essential part of education.

Some also fear teachers will shy away from sensitive topics, or fend off criticism by "balancing" their syllabuses with opposing viewpoints, even if they represent inferior scholarship.

"Faculty retrench. They are less willing to discuss contemporary problems and I think everyone loses out," said Joe Losco, a professor of political science at Ball State University in Indiana who has supported two colleagues targeted for alleged bias. "It puts a chill in the air."

Conservatives say a chill is in order.


Prof. George Wolfe of Ball State Univ. was accused of anti-Americanism in his peace studies course.
A recent study by Santa Clara University researcher Daniel Klein estimated that among social science and humanities faculty members nationwide, Democrats outnumber Republicans by at least seven to one; in some fields it's as high as 30 to one. And in the last election, the two employers whose workers contributed the most to Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign were the University of California system and Harvard University.

Many teachers insist personal politics don't affect teaching. But in a recent survey of students at 50 top schools by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a group that has argued there is too little intellectual diversity on campuses, 49 percent reported at least some professors frequently commented on politics in class even if it was outside the subject matter.

Thirty-one percent said they felt there were some courses in which they needed to agree with a professor's political or social views to get a good grade.

Leading the movement is the group Students for Academic Freedom, with chapters on 135 campuses and close ties to David Horowitz, a one-time liberal campus activist turned conservative commentator. The group posts student complaints on its Web site about alleged episodes of grading bias and unbalanced, anti-American propaganda by professors -- often in classes, such as literature, in which it's off-topic.

Instructors "need to make students aware of the spectrum of scholarly opinion," Horowitz said. "You can't get a good education if you're only getting half the story."

Conservatives claim they are discouraged from expressing their views in class, and are even blackballed from graduate school slots and jobs.

"I feel like (faculty) are so disconnected from students that they do these things and they can just get away with them," said Kris Wampler, who recently publicly identified himself as one of the students who sued the University of North Carolina. Now a junior, he objected when all incoming students were assigned to read a book about the Quran before they got to campus.

"A lot of students feel like they're being discriminated against," he said.

Divergent opinions
So far, his and other efforts are having mixed results. At UNC, the students lost their legal case, but the university no longer uses the word "required" in describing the reading program for incoming students (the plaintiffs' main objection).

In Colorado, conservatives withdrew a legislative proposal for an "academic bill of rights" backed by Horowitz, but only after state universities agreed to adopt its principles.

At Ball State, the school's provost sided with Professor George Wolfe after a student published complaints about Wolfe's peace studies course, but the episode has attracted local attention. Horowitz and backers of the academic bill of rights plan to introduce it in the Indiana legislature -- as well as in up to 20 other states.

At Columbia, anguished debate followed the screening of a film by an advocacy group called The David Project that alleges some faculty violate students' rights by using the classroom as a platform for anti-Israeli political propaganda (one Israeli student claims a professor taunted him by asking, "How many Palestinians did you kill?"). Administrators responded this month by setting up a new committee to investigate students complaints.

In the wider debate, both sides cite the guidelines on academic freedom first set out in 1915 by the American Association of University Professors.

The objecting students emphasize the portion calling on teachers to "set forth justly ... the divergent opinions of other investigators." But many teachers note the guidelines also say instructors need not "hide (their) own opinions under a mountain of equivocal verbiage," and that their job is teaching students "to think for themselves."

Horowitz believes the AAUP, which opposes his bill of rights, and liberals in general are now the establishment and have abandoned their commitment to real diversity and student rights.

But critics say Horowitz is pushing a political agenda, not an academic one.

"It's often phrased in the language of academic freedom. That's what's so strange about it," said Ellen Schrecker, a Yeshiva University historian who has written about academic freedom during the McCarthy area. "What they're saying is, 'We want people to reflect our point of view.' "

Horowitz's critics also insist his campaign is getting more attention than it deserves, riling conservative bloggers but attracting little alarm from most students. They insist even most liberal professors give fair grades to conservative students who work hard and support their arguments.

Often, the facts of particular cases are disputed. At Ball State, senior Brett Mock published a detailed account accusing Wolfe of anti-Americanism in a peace studies class and of refusing to tolerate the view that the U.S. invasion of Iraq might have been justified. In a telephone interview, Wolfe vigorously disputed Mock's allegations. He provided copies of a letter of support from other students in the class, and from the provost saying she had found nothing wrong with the course.

Horowitz, who has also criticized Ball State's program, had little sympathy when asked if Wolfe deserved to get hate e-mails from strangers.

"These people are such sissies," he said. "I get hate mail every single day. What can I do about it? It's called the Internet."

[again, from CNN - 12/30/04]