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Re: Meanwhile in Missouri - SUBuddha - 11-14-2015

Here is the email that I received from the president of my university yesterday.

Quote:Recent events at the University of Missouri and at other colleges and universities across the United States remind us that we can never take our freedoms or each other for granted. They also remind us that we should not assume we know what others’ experiences are or have been and that we need to listen with an open mind when assessing the climate of respect and equity on our own campus.

At the University of Arizona, we value each and every individual, whether student, faculty, staff, alumnus/a or visitor. We will not tolerate any form of discrimination against any member of our community. Furthermore, we are deeply committed to the freedoms from discrimination on which we rely. This commitment is a fundamental part of our culture of engagement, partnership and mutual support that transcends traditional definitions, categories, and boundaries. It is not a license to censorship nor a denial of academic and other freedoms, but it is an insistence upon respect for the wide range of perspectives and experiences reflected in our multi-cultural environment.

We realize this commitment does not free us from constantly working to improve. The quality of our understanding of, and response to, the needs of our community and those whom we serve depends upon our ongoing ability to learn and change in order to maintain our culture and the qualities to which we are all committed.

We, as representatives of the university, faculty and undergraduate, graduate and professional students, affirm our commitment to these freedoms and our commitment to constant improvement. In the spirit of that commitment, we pledge to use these recent painful events at other institutions as an impetus for ongoing change and more dialogue here at home.


Re: Meanwhile in Missouri - Mick - 11-14-2015

Rise of the Crybullies
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rise-of-the-college-crybullies-1447458587

Re: Meanwhile in Missouri - Rally - 11-23-2015

Isn't this getting ridiculous?  I wouldn't hire any of these crybabies.  What is it I don't get?  Yoga may not be sensitive to, what did they call it?  So absurd I can't remember.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/11/23/university-suspends-yoga-class-fearing-its-cultural-issues-could-offend/?intcmp=hpbt2

Re: Meanwhile in Missouri - ThePassionOfTheChryst - 11-23-2015

(11-23-2015, 10:04 PM)ferrari link Wrote:Isn't this getting ridiculous?  I wouldn't hire any of these crybabies.  What is it I don't get?  Yoga may not be sensitive to, what did they call it?  So absurd I can't remember.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/11/23/university-suspends-yoga-class-fearing-its-cultural-issues-could-offend/?intcmp=hpbt2

I'm still not convinced this isn't an Onion piece that FN just ran with.

Re: Meanwhile in Missouri - M T - 11-24-2015

(11-23-2015, 10:17 PM)ThePassionOfTheChryst link Wrote:I'm still not convinced this isn't an Onion piece that FN just ran with.
Well, if so, then Fox News or the Onion did a good job of faking a web page link that sure looks like an article from the Ottawa Sun.

How about this newspaper article about the yoga class from the Ottawa Citizen that carries this quote (reportedly from a video on the site of the "Centre for Students with Disabilities", which is a service of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), and which sponsored, and now suspended, the yoga class.)
Quote:“We also acknowledge that ableism is not a siloed issue, but one that affects a variety of communities and individuals. In working to dismantle ableism, we also work to challenge all forms of oppression including, but not limited to, heterosexism, cissexism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, queerphobia, HIV-phobia, sex negativity, fatphobia, femmephobia, misogyny, transmisogyny, racism, classism, ableism, xenophobia, sexism, and linguistic discrimination.”

Strange things going on there in the student politics (but maybe that isn't so strange). The loser (or at least, 2nd place) for the VP of Services & Communication for the SFUO in a vote in February became the acting President of that organization by July, without election.  He's been the voice for the SFUO on this incident.  The election of a new President finally happened two weeks ago with a general vote of 100-86 (86 votes to deny her the office), out of a student population of 40,000.

Re: Meanwhile in Missouri - CTcard - 11-24-2015

(11-14-2015, 01:53 PM)SUBuddha link Wrote:Here is the email that I received from the president of my university yesterday.

There seems to be a paper-mill somewhere (chegg for administrators?) that spews out these statements with fill-in-the-blanks for the university name. One day I expect to see one of these notes in my in-box with the wrong university listed because they forget to do the universal "find and replace".

(11-24-2015, 04:23 AM)MT link Wrote:The election of a new President finally happened two weeks ago with a general vote of 100-86 (86 votes to deny her the office), out of a student population of 40,000.

I know nothing about the Ottawa situation but it does point to a general issue of student "governments". For generations (at least) most students don't pay much attention to these elections or the student governments. It tends to lead to these groups being composed of very motivated individuals who have little support (or often even awareness) across campus.

Though I wouldn't question their sincerity and good intentions, it may mean they deserve some snark. It also means their pronouncements don't say a lot about any broad opinions or the state of society on campus.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

On a broader view of these issues, I find my opinions rather torn. The basic split has been pointed out by both BC and WIM - I'm quite sympathetic to the basic concerns of the protestors (and developments in my own life over the past decade+ have made me aware of things I may have been previously oblivious to) but also think that both the strategy and proposed solutions are often inappropriate and counter-productive. 

On the other hand, I don't really have better solutions to offer - at least other than the classic physician imperative to "do no harm".



Re: Meanwhile in Missouri - Rally - 11-24-2015

"We also acknowledge that ableism is not a siloed issue, but one that affects a variety of communities and individuals. In working to dismantle ableism, we also work to challenge all forms of oppression including, but not limited to, heterosexism, cissexism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, queerphobia, HIV-phobia, sex negativity, fatphobia, femmephobia, misogyny, transmisogyny, racism, classism, ableism, xenophobia, sexism, and linguistic discrimination.”

Maybe these "leaders" are unwittingly guilty of wtfism.

Not "wtfism" but still biting - Redrum - 11-24-2015

From the N.Y. Post, a paper I hardly ever read and even more rarely with which I agree

Quote:Most worrisome, by rooting these complaints almost entirely in an emotional agenda, the protesters conveniently shield themselves from a cornerstone of American liberal-arts education — self-reflection and honest critique.

Students demand “safe” spaces — so the rest of the campus feels threatening. One Yale staffer opines on contentious Halloween costumes — and the entire faculty is racially tone-deaf. A pair of Ithaca College alumnae claim they were attacked by campus security — and the school suddenly embodies the “system of institutionalized racism present on primarily white institutions all over the country.”

It all sounds good — until folks asking for proof are shut down and silenced, wantonly accused of ignoring and exploiting black pain.

These cultural phenomena come and go and seem cyclic.  This current culture-wide controversy seems to fit that model.



Re: Meanwhile in Missouri - Mick - 11-24-2015

(11-24-2015, 04:23 AM)MT link Wrote:“We also acknowledge that ableism is not a siloed issue, but one that affects a variety of communities and individuals. In working to dismantle ableism, we also work to challenge all forms of oppression including, but not limited to, heterosexism, cissexism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, queerphobia, HIV-phobia, sex negativity, fatphobia, femmephobia, misogyny, transmisogyny, racism, classism, ableism, xenophobia, sexism, and linguistic discrimination.”


I LOVE the fact that they mention eighteen different types of discrimination, but can't find it in themselves to mention misandry.  Guess that's not a real thing.

I wonder what a Syrian or Yazidi or refugee would think - Redrum - 11-24-2015

Quote:
“We also acknowledge that ableism is not a siloed issue, but one that affects a variety of communities and individuals. In working to dismantle ableism, we also work to challenge all forms of oppression including, but not limited to, heterosexism, cissexism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, queerphobia, HIV-phobia, sex negativity, fatphobia, femmephobia, misogyny, transmisogyny, racism, classism, ableism, xenophobia, sexism, and linguistic discrimination

It's probably unfair to judge based on the discovery of some group that's conveniently willing to lean into a punch,  but the underlying message is (among others) the perfectibility of humans and of society.  If this (above) is the agenda for what's left to do, then humankind is nearer to heaven on earth than any of those suffering on the migrant trail could imagine.