British students love Smurfs, apparently
Two British Universities had a “smurf war” recently to try to break a World Record for the number of people simultaneously dressed up as the blue little cartoon creatures.
We’re pleased to announce we don’t really care that Chester University beat out Southhampton University with practically 800 students who painted themselves blue. But good for you, guys. Enjoy that weirdo record.
Roundup: Ships jumped and otherwise
Well Munzer’s beaten me to one pretty big story, but I’ve got some more new and old news before Homecoming weekend starts:
Who’s kicking off next? It looks like the dean of the business school, Susan West Engelkemeyer, might be the one. We reported on her being the finalist for two deanship positions, one at Bentley in Mass. and another at Providence (R.I.). If she goes, she’ll be the fourth of the five school deans to leave. There’s not a whole lot to say about that now besides the obvious, but I should get to more of Ithaca’s woes as long as I’m not stepping on the The Ithacan’s toes.
He gets to stay: The Collegian is reporting today that David McSwane will get to stay as editor of the paper. He was held up by the consideration of First Amendment and it appears the staff is happy about his stay. I still think the editorial was inflammatory enough to get more than an “admonishment” ? hardly even the slap on the wrist, as The Collegian reported ? but oh well.
Peggy could have waited: The news appears to be a few days old, but the UCU officially announced they would not be boycotting Israeli institutions. Their reasoning is that they found out it would be illegal if they went through with it. If only Peggy didn’t say anything for a while, rather than a do-nothing notice. Good call; now if we can switch the academic debate to talking about the region.
The Dalai Lama is coming! I have a ticket to the Dalai Lama’s “Eight Verses on Training the Mind” talk Wednesday despite all odds (in fact, I somehow got them on my grandmother’s dial-up computer 15 minutes after they were “sold out,” but that’s a different story). Namgyal says we’re not allowed to have any tech there, but I’ll get a quick write-up done after the event. Definitely check out Thursday’s paper, though ? Assistant News Editor Tricia Nadonly has been doing a lot of work about His Holiness and the visit, and will cover all three events happening in Ithaca.
Have a good weekend.
British universities to Israeli universities: drop dead
It may seem pretty absurd to boycott all the universities in a country, but that’s exactly what the University and College Union (UCU), a 116,000-member organization of British academics, is proposing. Arguing that ?Israel?s 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society? through discrimination and oppression, they feel that by cutting off all ties with Israeli thinkers, they’ll somehow be making a point.
How ridiculous.
Now Columbia University’s president Lee Bollinger is waging an anti-UCU campaign, which culminated in an August 8 full page New York Times ad co-sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, signed by more than 300 U.S. college and university presidents, which essentially said, So you’re gonna boycott Israelis? Well then, boycott us too! All of us. You big jerks.
Here at Ithaca College, our president, Peggy Williams, stayed strangely neutral on the issue. Peggy’s take: she’s “strongly concerned” by the course of events, and called members of the UCU to encourage them to “debate” the issue. Way to take a firm stand on that on, Boss Woman. But hey, at least she’s not just following the crowd.
Predictably, she’s been taking lots of heat for that decision. C’mon, we go to a liberal college, folks. And it’s hot, impotent fury - my favorite kind. Kenneth Stern, director on anti-Semitism and extremism for the AJC, said she was indirectly promoting bigotry by not signing the letter. Mark Weiss, a member of the AJC, called her opinion “pretty lame.” And Ithaca College’s Jewish chaplain, Michael Faber, even invoked the Holocaust when condemning her suggestion for further debate. You know it’s serious when someone goes ahead and does that. Here’s what he said:
?I don?t think this is a debatable issue,? he said. ?I think it?s an absurd thing to debate. Just as absurd as debating if the Holocaust existed.?
Eeek.
Now, I think that debating the Israel-Palestine conflict is a great way to waste a lot of time and potentially lose friends, especially Jewish and/or Arab friends, depending on which side you’re arguing. You should see my Palestinian friend Fares and my Israeli friend Yael “debate” the issue. Sparks flying is an understatement. Both sides have done really bad things, but does that mean we should boycott their institutions of higher learning? Probably not.
I mean, let’s be honest, Palestinians may be the oppressed people, but Hamas and Fatah and loads of other Palestinian organizations have killed their fair share of Israelis in acts of terrorism. Does that mean we should boycott all their universities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank? Why isn’t that an option on the table?
The UCU will decide whether or not to boycott Israeli schools - and by proxy, loads of American schools - in November. It shouldn’t boycott Israeli universities, because that would be a stupid, ignorant move. What it should do is work with them to try to solve the problems that have plagued the Middle East for so long. Is that so hard? Well, apparently.
The whole world’s going down the tubes, and it’s starting with academia. Predictable.
Feed for College Ave.