CAMPUS

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find Out What it Means to Me: Military history and the academy

I admit: I’m kind of a military history nerd. And by “kind of” I mean I actually know how many Japanese surrendered after the Battle of Iwo Jima. If I could, I’d go get a PhD in the study of airpower and spend the rest of my life imparting that knowledge to fellow geeks.

A few weeks ago I decided to explore this option a bit. I was dismayed to discover that what a professor told me last year was quite true: “Military history is a dying art.” My options seemed limited to either one of the service academies or the Royal Military College of Canada—none of which are likely decisions.

The Problem of the Community College

Community colleges are often looked at as the redheaded stepchild of higher education, and for good reason. Their retention rate is fairly low, among those who do stay academic achievement is lukewarm, and the graduation rate is nothing to write home about, according to this article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In the article, author Kay McClenney argues that the primary failing of community colleges lies with the institutions themselves and that if the powers that are would just rise to the occasion and expect more of the students, the students would follow.

Hear No Offense, See No Offense, Speak No Offense

At San Jose State University, you can’t “publicly [tell] offensive jokes.” That’s according to their speech code, which just garnered them FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month award.

But that’s not all. What qualifies as an “offensive joke”? By the speech code’s words, whatever the aggrieved party wants.

I am not making this up. Though if I were trying to come up with a better picture of absurdity, I’m not sure I could.

For this, SJSU deserves not only FIRE’s Speech Code of the Month, but a lawsuit. One in which the university must remain silent while the judge tries its case from the viewpoint of whoever they have offended.

XXXtra, XXXtra, Read All About It: UMD cancels porn screening

If you follow higher education news regularly (which I’ll assume you do, as you’re a savvy CAMPUS reader), you know that the collegiate intelligentsia often imposes unconventional education methods on us poor unsuspecting students who really just trying to make it until our next break. The University of Maryland at College Park, UMD’s flagship campus, recently tried such a move by sponsoring a screening of a new X-rated movie, coupled with a Planned Parenthood presentation. Many taxpayers made such a racket that the Maryland state senate put considerable pressure on UMD-CP to cancel the showing, threatening funding withdrawals if the university did not comply. The school folded.

FIRE’s Adam Kissel has already blogged about the First Amendment issue behind this, so I won’t steal his thunder. Instead, I’ll quote the Orwellian witticism that “some ideas are so profoundly stupid only an intellectual would believe them.” The idea that screening a pornographic film is as important—in fact, maybe more important—to education than Aristotle, Plato, or America’s Founding Fathers is one such idea.

“Liberal Arts”: A Whole New Meaning

Those of us soon to graduate are probably thinking more about job applications, polishing off the last of our senior theses, caps and gowns, or graduate school than we are about continuing to engage academia after we’ve moved the tassel and/or thrown our caps in the air. However, the battle with the liberal establishment doesn’t end after we leave college behind.

According to this article in Forbes Magazine, university governance is one of the most authoritarian areas of colleges today. Many times, such as at Harvard, these governing bodies are unelected and/or have little to no contact with either current students or alumni. And yet they make many of the decisions surrounding a college’s daily life. These bodies exist in something of a vacuum, able to make policies without feeling the effects themselves.

Those of us who care about the true spirit of a liberal arts education should make an effort to discover our college’s guidelines for how alumni can influence school policy. We need to demand that the university return to a broad base of liberal arts rather than simply warehousing students for four years and spitting them out job-trained, perhaps, but still unsure as to which country America fought in the Revolution. Because college is not about trying to find a job (although it is just about necessary to finding a job these days) or obtaining a set of skills. College is about expanding your mind and refining your worldview so that you can be a competent citizen. If we lose our ability to be competent citizens, we will surely lose our country as well.

Tolerance and Respect on Display at Spokane Falls Community College

Yes, it’s my spring break. But campus controversies wait for no blogger.

Beth Sheeran, a student at Spokane Falls Community College and a member of their Christian Club, has filed suit against her school after they barred her organization from posting pro-life literature in a campus display case. Apparently, Sheeran’s message was discriminatory because it did not include a pro-choice viewpoint.

No Free Speech for You! – Don Feder shouted down at UMass

To give you an idea of exactly how liberal the University of Massachusetts is, near the Amherst campus a UN flag flies in front of the town hall. The American flag is relegated to a corner in town center.

With that tidbit of information, you won’t be surprised to learn that Don Feder, a conservative writer and speaker, could not finish his speech at UMass due to liberal protests. Campus police refused to let the protestors in, but they still did their best to shut down the speech.

And the Winner Is…

Last week the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE as it’s known in the biz,
awarded the University of Tulsa its Speech Code of the Month citation.

Apparently University of Tulsa, which is a private school, promises its students all the free speech rights of a public university. Those of you who go to public universities know what a ringing endorsement that is. And Tulsa follows through on this promise, with a speech code that looks innocuous at first but is really so broadly construed that just about anything can—and does—become abuse.

Good work FIRE for once again pointing out how academia, which is supposed to be about exchanging ideas, is really more about exchanging ideas approved by The Establishment than anything else.