tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post8921248537349148897..comments2024-02-24T05:19:10.949-05:00Comments on Durham-in-Wonderland: No Surprises from the CCIkcjohnson9http://www.blogger.com/profile/09625813296986996867noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-48863720883119952922007-02-25T13:23:00.000-05:002007-02-25T13:23:00.000-05:00Did anyone catch the oped by messers Aldrich, Buri...Did anyone catch the oped by messers Aldrich, Burian, Chafe, Haynie, Nijhout & Wood in the same issue? <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2007/02/23/Columns/Moving.Forward.At.Duke-2739832.shtml" REL="nofollow">"Moving Forward At Duke"</A><BR/><BR/>The usual pc drivel, but the comments were smokin' -- I didn't see anyone who agreed with them.Ebeneezer Flamsteedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674003838563523839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-12078032753365364482007-02-25T00:22:00.000-05:002007-02-25T00:22:00.000-05:00Anon at 10:02:Not so far out there. I posted this...Anon at 10:02:<BR/><BR/>Not so far out there. I posted this on Liestoppers yesterday--<BR/><BR/>"One solution to the problem of a bunch of whiners in a large organization is to appoint them to a committee to study and report on the problems they are whining about. The head of the organization can then thank the committee for their hard work and concern for the betterment of the organization and promise that serious consideration will be given to the recommendations. The wackiest of the recommendations can then be safely ignored or more lip service paid to them if necessary. If by some miracle the committee actually comes up with some useful suggestions, those can be adopted with great flourish, thereby further casting the ridiculous ones to oblivion. In that scenario does the head of the organization deserve praise or condemnation for his handling of the whiners?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-32756488642104406092007-02-24T17:05:00.000-05:002007-02-24T17:05:00.000-05:00No surprise at all, KC. Hopefully these recommend...No surprise at all, KC. Hopefully these recommendations get insto-burned by the administration. The alumni appear angry already, and this would probably set them over the edge.<BR/><BR/>-Esquire-<BR/>-Maryland-Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-82401994965406980192007-02-24T13:28:00.000-05:002007-02-24T13:28:00.000-05:00There is yet another variation on the "not waiting...There is yet another variation on the "not waiting" statement I just saw in the Chronicle. It contains this bit:<BR/><BR/><I>"Duke students who experience abusive or irresponsible behavior should feel confident that they can speak out and know that their concerns will be heard and acted upon."</I><BR/><BR/><BR/>Does no one see the monumental irony here?<BR/><BR/>Duke students have been the ones who have borne the overwhelming majority of the staggering weight of abusive and irresponsible behaviors the have been visited upon them by criminal sociopaths who happen to either be in a protected category or who are acting in the names of those in such categories. Representatives of the state in the jurisdiction where they live, their own administration and faculty, mush-minded radicals who are organize to reflexively rush out and make as much noise and gain as much publicity as possible at any opening, truth having been pre-judged by their self-righteous group-think wisdom, media who can't be bothered to examine any of the inconvenient truths or do any sort of investigative reporting but who are willing to pile on, to join in on what are indefensible and egregious acts, and on, and on, and on...<BR/><BR/>It seems clear no one in these groups is "listening" to victims of crime when the victims and offenders are anti-perfect, as seems to be the much more common case.<BR/><BR/>The latest piece says that it is time to move on. No apology, just an attempt to seize the high ground. Massive hypocrisy. What they don’t seem to get is that their words and actions actually set back the causes they purport to hold so dear. I can only conclude that there are those who benefit by creating either hatred or the perception of hatred – by provoking warfare along any dimension that they are able to discern and exploit.<BR/><BR/><BR/>As I prepare to watch the home opener today, I can’t help but bring to mind all of the harm that has been done in the past year, by the groups that lay claim to wanting to help us to understand each other. I can’t even begin to list the wrongs. It is so very clear who has character and who has none. Yet, see where things stand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-34714669299529970822007-02-24T10:02:00.001-05:002007-02-24T10:02:00.001-05:00Implementing # 1 through 3 of this list of recomme...Implementing # 1 through 3 of this list of recommendations would reduce interest in various groups considering Duke as their school of choice(people who have no desire to waste their time on a "diversity" course, people with a common affinity wanting to live together, athletes, etc). Over time, less interest = lower quality of student body. Count on a significant number of alumni not supporting these either by withholding contributions. Over time, less money = lower quality of student body.<BR/><BR/>I don't think any of that bothers the CCI because I don't think they care about Duke as an ongoing institution that much. As long as they have a tenured position, they're content to "stick it to the man."<BR/><BR/># 4 is interesting from the standpoint of trying to figure out the true intent of the CCI. Certainly, Wood, Holloway, Allison, Lubiano, et. al. are not suggesting that the very people who take their courses (the low end of the admissions standards)should be eliminated from enrollment. Over time, fewer students who take "studies" classes because they can't handle the work in more rigorous disciplines = fewer professors needed to teach "studies" classes. So what is their intention? How would they manipulate this recommendation so that it benefits the G88 and their ilk when a straightforward implementation of this recommendation would do just the opposite?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-22758187548439121502007-02-24T10:02:00.000-05:002007-02-24T10:02:00.000-05:00This thought might be a little out there, but here...This thought might be a little out there, but here goes. Is is possible that Brodhead is smarter than we think? To appease the far left, he gives them assignments that in the long run will have little meaning. Imagine if they had little involvement in these committees. They would be undermining the university in much more destructive ways, much like Houston Baker did early on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-87292994357065918172007-02-24T07:24:00.000-05:002007-02-24T07:24:00.000-05:007:54 "...The Marxist-Leninist stuff also permeated...7:54 "...The Marxist-Leninist stuff also permeated the whole university. There were required classes for all majors (not unlike "diversity training" today).<BR/><BR/>People with some brains just realize what is going on and play along..."<BR/><BR/>That's the point; I don't want to play along. It's wrong and at $46,000 per year is criminal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-32464896306578146772007-02-24T05:03:00.000-05:002007-02-24T05:03:00.000-05:00In what way did the plan not work? They sought to ...<I> In what way did the plan not work? </I><BR/><BR/>They sought to get rid of problems with alcohol, yet that's a major element in the lacrosse incident. They clearly didn't get the teetotaling student body that they wanted.<BR/><BR/><I> It concluded, though, that the all-frosh move for East Campus accomplished in 1995 was a success:,,</I><BR/><BR/>Well, duh. Having implemented it they weren't going to report anything but glowing reviews.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-30000405509566434902007-02-24T02:40:00.000-05:002007-02-24T02:40:00.000-05:00ccdhdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17633994742897353827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-11563888480995672152007-02-24T02:26:00.000-05:002007-02-24T02:26:00.000-05:00At what point will a responsible adult regain cont...At what point will a responsible adult regain control of Duke?<BR/><BR/>Duke alums should be ashamed and furious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-89656311877857888932007-02-24T02:25:00.000-05:002007-02-24T02:25:00.000-05:00As someone who now lives in Asia, no course could ...As someone who now lives in Asia, no course could have shown me diversity. The only way to learn about diversity is by living life. <BR/><BR/>I'd be less irritated by a mandatory diversity course if it were limited to being one hour long (total) and at least co-taught by a professor in the hard sciences who could tell the professor in anecdotal studies to be quiet once in a while.<BR/><BR/>Students in Asia aren't going to diversity courses and aren't taking gender studies classes. Resources are instead being used to teach information that will allow them to get ahead in the world. We are in a competitive world and the G88 are too insulated with grant money and tenure to realize it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-1201442188293141102007-02-24T01:33:00.000-05:002007-02-24T01:33:00.000-05:00from ClyneIt would be helpful if all posters cease...from Clyne<BR/><BR/>It would be helpful if all posters ceased using the pseydoconcept "white" to describe themselves. This is part of the G88's game plan--we helpless blacks, whatever against whites.<BR/><BR/>Sounds stupid, doesn't it, to reference Icelandic privilege, or Italian privilege.<BR/><BR/>Language is part of the argument.<BR/><BR/>Let's kill whitey off, and act offended is someone calls us white.<BR/><BR/>Eg, you bastard, I'm not white, I'm a human being.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-49900354781683295532007-02-24T00:11:00.000-05:002007-02-24T00:11:00.000-05:00It is 12:01 and there isn't a new post. What happ...It is 12:01 and there isn't a new post. What happened?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-68972534035641518982007-02-24T00:09:00.000-05:002007-02-24T00:09:00.000-05:00I was in the freshman class of 1995, and I just wa...I was in the freshman class of 1995, and I just want to weigh in with a few words on the housing issue. My class was the first one to be housed together on East Campus, and not only did I enjoy it at the time, but looking back I see many positive aspects to the experience. <BR/><BR/>I got to know just about everyone in my dorm very well, and the fact that we were all freshman meant that those friendships carried us through the rest of our years at Duke. I spent the next three years rooming with a friend from that dorm, and while I did make friends in the upper classes through classes and other activities the freshman friends I made were my best friends, and remain so to this day.<BR/><BR/>It also made the process of forging friendships easier - someone who I met in a class or other activity who before might have lived on the other side of campus was now no more than a 5 minute walk away. You also had a good chance of running into them at mealtimes in the East Union (and commiserating over the quality of the food was always a guaranteed bonding experience), or studying in Lilly Library. The increased chances for interaction allowed connections to be made and to grow. The administration might have been trying to indoctrinate us with one form of PC nonsense or another, but my friends and I were too busy with our classes, our own activities, and cheering for the basketball team to notice.<BR/><BR/>Additionally, some of the best friends I made in my later years at Duke were made because I had one friend from my freshman year in the Arts Theme House. Given that the nature of selective housing leads to groupings of similarly-minded students, we all shared common interests and became close friends. My roommate, from my freshman dorm, ended up marrying a guy from the class behind ours whom she met through the friends we made at the Arts Dorm. Losing selective housing would deprive many students of the opportunity to live amongst an extended family of friends - and even though my roommate and I never even applied to a selective house or rushed a sorority, we enjoyed sharing in the society of the Arts Dorm and the other selective houses and the activites they ran throughout the year.<BR/><BR/>Housing at Duke can be improved - the self-segregation on Central Campus is real, though many of us who moved to Central did so because we wanted kitchens and our own bathrooms and no RA's checking for beer in our fridge - but I think the all-freshman East has been fine, and that selective houses can do as much good for the social scene as ill. Drinking will continue - it's *college* - and attacking the selective houses will do nothing to lessen that, and will only (as other posters have noted) drive the parties off-campus, with all the potential dangers that entails.<BR/><BR/>The Group of 88 should follow their own advice - shut up and teach. Leave housing and campus life to those who actually live it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-82757613924714406192007-02-23T23:41:00.000-05:002007-02-23T23:41:00.000-05:00Alright, it is pretty much clear at this point how...Alright, it is pretty much clear at this point how absurd the suggestions of the CCI are. It is pretty much clear as to the motivations for the formation of the CCI. It is a complete joke.<BR/><BR/>I don't know what to say at this point. The nonsense being espoused by elements of the CCI and broader Durham community would stand/fall for itself were it not for the mass delusion that seemingly pervades the hate-filled bigots associated with this social disaster.<BR/><BR/>Welcome to the true social disaster of the new millennium, Duke University! You are certainly trailblazers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-25624827673876987772007-02-23T23:36:00.000-05:002007-02-23T23:36:00.000-05:00Diversity lesson #2Some people are more comfortabl...Diversity lesson #2<BR/>Some people are more comfortable with silence than others. I prefer conflict to consensus.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-17574503707347020852007-02-23T22:22:00.000-05:002007-02-23T22:22:00.000-05:00Via The Belmont Club, here is a suggestion for cur...Via The Belmont Club, here is a suggestion for curricular material for that Diversity Training--<A HREF="http://www.keshertalk.com/archives/2007/02/wardchurchill2.php" REL="nofollow">Let's support Ward Churchill in his quest for justice</A>.AMachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08872008617279528583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-65421316344172959062007-02-23T21:45:00.000-05:002007-02-23T21:45:00.000-05:00My opinion of Thaviolia Glymph was raised by today...My opinion of Thaviolia Glymph was raised by today’s announcement of the CCI’s recommendations. I was wondering what type of a hyena could take pleasure in the thought that a single mother of two had been raped and sodomized. I couldn’t understand how a human would want a scenario where parents would have to accept that their son was a rapist.<BR/><BR/>Now I realize that when she said “the case is going backwards” it wasn’t the actual rape Thavolia was speaking of but the agenda of the G88. This case was simply a Trojan horse for the G88 to slip a radical agenda through. The G88 have displayed a willpower G. Gordon Liddy could admire to withstand the criticism of the last ten months in order see their dystopian vision advanced. <BR/><BR/>Win or loose on the CCI I’m confident Thavolia will never loose a night of sleep worrying about any pain she may have caused.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-90683049080478244092007-02-23T21:28:00.000-05:002007-02-23T21:28:00.000-05:00Does the CCI recommendation also require "Anger Ma...Does the CCI recommendation also require "Anger Management" classes for Waheena & Co. ?<BR/><BR/>Seems more appropriate than the mind-melding diversity hoo-ha for the students - what a joke !Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-28036595897837296732007-02-23T21:07:00.000-05:002007-02-23T21:07:00.000-05:00To an earlier comment about lack of sorority housi...To an earlier comment about lack of sorority housing on campus, at least when I was there (grad in 98), the Panhellenic Council continued to vote against housing. As a male, I don't recall their reasons, but this has definitely been self-imposed lack of housing. Part of it may be numbers -- sororities are generally quite large in numbers compared to most of the frats and living space is difficult to come by at Duke.<BR/><BR/>My freshman year (94-95) was the last that East Campus was a mix of upperclassmen and frosh. There were 3 or 4 frats there at the time (KA, DKE, AEPi and Sigma Chi -- not sure on Sigma Chi though). Anyway, they all got moved to West Campus the following year for the purposes of keeping East for freshman indoctrination.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, pulling slightly more on topic again, if they kill fraternities or even selective housing, there will be an uproar from the alums. I don't care how spineless Brodhead and the others are, money talks, and they'll listen. Some of the other crap like diversity classes will probably sail through because all Duke students have to take a wide discipline of classes anyway.<BR/><BR/>As an engineering and computer science double major, despite AP credits in European and American History, and English coming in, I still had to take some liberal arts classes to "well round myself". I took a Philosophy class and two Cultural Anthropology classes. I wish I could remember my CA teachers names, as one or both could easily be G88, particularly the one where the course title was something like "The American Myth". She never wore a bra (and her navel/waist would have appreciated the cessation of the knocking with every step) and was clearly anti-establishment, with the classroom discussion always a big debate on how crappy America is. I took that as a senior, and by that point, I had fortunately realized that all that was necessary in such classes was to drink the Kool Aid and regurgitate it. I got a B- on my first paper because I didn't have a big enough swig (I gave a 70/30 split to competing ideas rather than the requisite 100/0), but aced the rest of them once I learned how good the Kool Aid tasted. While some of you may mock the good that courses such as this can provide, this has significant real world application, namely that when your boss has an incredibly stupid idea, you already have a taste for Kool Aid and can play right along! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-44292596015825201392007-02-23T20:37:00.000-05:002007-02-23T20:37:00.000-05:00In my thinking, the G88 members have no credibilit...In my thinking, the G88 members have no credibility. Thus, any "initiative" that they support always will be suspect.<BR/><BR/>As I have written before, people like Karla Holloway do not want universities to be centers of real and meaningful learning. Instead, they want the university to be a re-education camp, complete with the infamous "struggle" sessions of self-criticism and badgering from those who are on the "correct" side of the political divide.<BR/><BR/>And until these people are truthful about their own actions, they have no right telling others how to live.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-44448582230980265512007-02-23T20:04:00.000-05:002007-02-23T20:04:00.000-05:00The recommendations include: 1) A mandatory “diver...The recommendations include: 1) A mandatory “diversity” course for all Duke students.<BR/><BR/>This is an outrage because the course will undoubtedly be 99.9% on how "whites" should be more tolerant...when it was the "whites" who were the ones terribly (and still are) violated by so many in this case.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-22220459150864630452007-02-23T20:00:00.000-05:002007-02-23T20:00:00.000-05:00I think the CCI left out of its report that:-We sh...I think the CCI left out of its report that:<BR/><BR/>-We should seek out a more diverse staff (in terms of ideology, not race).<BR/><BR/>-We should not alienate a huge number of potential incoming freshman by immediately throwing white males under the bus in the future as was the case here.<BR/><BR/>-the Group of 88 will issue a statement at least saying there is a "chance" they "might" have rushed to a conclusion.<BR/><BR/>Maybe I just missed those...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-83291368364826934352007-02-23T19:54:00.000-05:002007-02-23T19:54:00.000-05:00I don't even think people like Lubiano know that t...I don't even think people like Lubiano know that there is a higher world of scholarship. Maybe she thinks that everyone operates like her and the other "Angry Studies" people - it's all activism and your emotions and your feelings, covered up with some big words (hegemony, heteronormative ...) so that people will supposedly not see how silly most of your statements are when they are pasted over with academic-speak.<BR/><BR/>She wouldn't understand physics, for example, so maybe she just thinks that they do the same thing as her.<BR/><BR/>From that point of view, I can see how she would sincerely think that any criticism of her would be racism (or sexism or whatever -ism applies to a specific Angry Studies department).<BR/><BR/>Another thought: Universities throughout history have had silly departments. German universities in the 1930s had theirs and Russia and the East Block had their departments of Marxist-Leninist thought (which also spilled over to the departments susceptible to current trends, like sociology). The Marxist-Leninist stuff also permeated the whole university. There were required classes for all majors (not unlike "diversity training" today).<BR/><BR/>People with some brains just realize what is going on and play along. If you are forced to take diversity training, just do the minimum possible, shut up, and get back to your own work. Same as back then with Marxist-Leninist seminars and "self-critical analyses".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-38679710682218453622007-02-23T18:36:00.000-05:002007-02-23T18:36:00.000-05:00LB--"Duke's agenda in isolating the frosh is clear...LB--"Duke's agenda in isolating the frosh is clearly stated. It obviously didn't work."<BR/><BR/>Not sure what you mean by that. Clearly trying to ban alcohol won't completely work if "work" means no one underage drinks, but if the assumption is that almost all frosh will be under (the ridiculous) legal age for alcohol, then few can complain if alcohol is banned from East Campus. In what way did the plan not work? <BR/><BR/>The 1999 report you referenced and quoted from was pretty interesting. It concluded, though, that the all-frosh move for East Campus accomplished in 1995 was a success: "Institutional values need to be articulated and consensus sought so that the upperclass plan will receive broad support. This was achieved with the plan for the first-year campus; it is viewed as a successful solution to land use and programmatic problems."<BR/><BR/>The unstated land use problem, of course, was that Duke had a hunk of dormitories located 2 miles east of the rest of the dorms. Some students had to live on East, so what's a reasonable way of dividing them?<BR/><BR/>I'm not arguing necessarily in favor of any particular system. My son liked the all frosh concept and as a member of one of the selective housing groups, he likes that. But are independent housing students getting short shrift? Or, are there undesirable social divisions on campus which are perpetuated by the current system? I don't honestly know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com