"And," "But," "The" -- And The Letter "P" -- Soon To Be Declared Campus Sexual Harassment
A geology prof at City University of New York's Brooklyn college, David Seidemann, was ordered to change his syllabus on grounds that part of it amounts to sexual harassment.
You will not believe this.
Seidemann writes at Minding The Campus:
What had I done wrong? See for yourself. Here is the offending phrase from the grading portion of my syllabus: "Class deportment, effort etc....... 10% (applied only to select students when appropriate)."Can you spot the alleged offense? I bet not. For reasons that escape me too, that phrase was perceived as a prelude to sexual harassment. And the phrase was so clearly problematic to the administration that they directed me to change it.
There was also a problem with how he declared the classroom a protected area -- for free speech, writing:
"This classroom is an 'unsafe space' for those uncomfortable with viewpoints with which they may disagree: all constitutionally protected speech is welcome."
Another one of his "crimes"? He also uses triangles to highlight PC terms. Why this was a problem, he wasn't allowed to know. That secrecy is reminiscent of something, but it isn't due process in a democracy.
I had been using warning triangles sardonically instead of ordinary quote marks when referring to foolish PC terms. All my department chair would say is, "The triangles are the problem." I never found out what made the triangles a problem. They were ready to act on a problem without saying what the problem was.My guess is that some administrator thought the warning triangles were reminiscent of the pink triangles that the Nazis made gays wear. I wonder how long the administrators deliberated before deciding that the clip art street signs I'd included in my syllabus weren't Nazi symbols.
Due process was denied him during throughout the "investigation," and he believes he only kept his job due to having tenure.
A comment at Minding The Campus:
Ed Cutting, EdD
This has "Behavioral Intervention Team" written all over it; at Brooklyn College it's called B.E.S.T."Behavioral Intervention Teams" are "Star Chambers" in which students (and, increasingly, faculty) are tried in absentia without any knowledge of the proceedings. Top level administrators (e.g. "Associate Provost") make a decision as to what will be done, and then tell their subordinates to do it. Standard procedure is to send the aggrieved person to other offices in a Byzantine-bit-moot runaround as all the offices are subordinate to someone who was present in the initial meeting.
The inability to find out exactly what you are accused of, let alone by whom, is the classic indication that a BIT is involved. Likewise the "come over and discuss your concerns" and "the matter is closed" described above -- what Dr. Seidemann doesn't realize is that that "the administrator in charge of the investigation of [his] syllabus" had (a) been instructed as to what her findings/decision would be and (b) not to tell Dr. Seidemann where the decision had actually been made or by whom.
In other words, "the gatekeeper regarding inquiries about the investigation" is ordered not to be one by the very upper-level administrators whom one would reasonably expect to hold an errant administrator accountable -- or to "fix" the mistakes that any human administrator will inevitably make.
In other words, "and who will guard the Guardians?"
Sinister and horrible secret police-type stuff that should have no place in America -- but increasingly does on college campuses across the country.
The issue with the triangles was what they encompassed. They could have been squares, circles, or even quote marks and they still would have been 'wrong'.
Ben at October 14, 2016 11:30 PM
Why is a geology prof using politically incorrect terms in class? Is there an offensive way to refer to magma?
Nicolek at October 15, 2016 2:02 AM
"Why is a geology prof using politically incorrect terms in class? Is there an offensive way to refer to magma?"
Yes!
There is a primarily offensive property to every STEM field: students cannot get credit for feelings, impressions or any SJW observations.
PhD in Education? Simple. PC is all you have to be.
PhD in Geology? You are going to know your subject, but standards are patriarchal and authoritarian! Cry! Squeal!
Radwaste at October 15, 2016 4:38 AM
A paper cited in Real Peer Review found the study of glaciers to be sexist. A "gender studies scholar' could probably find a way to make magma misogynist or racist.
Carey Haug at October 15, 2016 4:45 AM
Vote for or otherwise enable a Hillary Clinton presidency, and you are asking for a lot more of this sort of things---as she shovels more and more money in the direction of the universities and issues additional edicts along the lines of those that have already done so much harm.
david foster at October 15, 2016 6:01 AM
If Alzheimer's is "in need of feminist interventions," than magma can be misogynist.
Conan the Grammarian at October 15, 2016 6:44 AM
Yes, a Hillary Clinton presidency would be awful.
A Trump presidency is not a better option.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430137/donald-trump-conservative-movement-menace
Amy Alkon at October 15, 2016 6:45 AM
The only advantage a Trump presidency would have over a Hillary presidency is that Trump is loathed by members of both parties and would be kept in check by both parties. Hillary would have a blank check from the Democratic Party wth which to implement her agenda, empowering radical feminists and racial grievance mongers.
These types of academic witch hunts would not only be commonplace under Hillary, they'd be required.
This is the woman behind the Zoe Baird/Kimba Wood fiasco that gave us the worst Attorney General ever, Janet Reno; because Hillary insisted that the Attorney General just had to be a woman. Imagine what criteria she'll use to pick Supreme Court justices.
Neither Trump nor Hillary has shown the least respect for the rule of law, nor for the long-term consequences of their political pandering.
Conan the Grammarian at October 15, 2016 7:01 AM
"The only advantage a Trump presidency would have over a Hillary presidency..."
Incomplete.
Ms. Clinton, fired ages ago for lying and other ethical infringements, has not changed -- but these are what you can actually see her actions have been:
1) A vote FOR the Affordable Care Act and support for the immensity of the lying accompanying its implementation. You will be paying for treatment you do NOT receive as long as it is in effect.
2) Support for the application of Federal employment rules to small business.
3) Declared intent to subvert or remove the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.
My objections should be obvious. Even as a President cannot cause these things to happen unilaterally, the office is a pulpit to which too many look rather than think for themselves about the consequences of an exercise in governmental power.
Amazingly, there is a Clinton for President ad on TV that claims Trump would be the irresponsible one with the control of nuclear weapons. This is yet another factual lie, in that a President CANNOT cause a launch by him-or-herself - and of course the FIRST thing someone should point out is that sure, Hillary wouldn't launch anything.
Killing an Ambassador is only an occasion to lie to the public again.
We PUNISH children for lying. Gonna reward the "adult"?
Radwaste at October 15, 2016 8:30 AM
"Is there an offensive way to refer to magma?"
Yes.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at October 15, 2016 8:58 AM
Oh, I think we can make the nomeclature of magma categorically offensive. As part of the asthenosphere it is a plasticine, mechanically weak substance which lies beneath something rigid and crusty - probably an old white male. It's sterile, full of gas bubbles, and dangerous in a public setting. Need we continue?
Canvasback at October 15, 2016 12:31 PM
Amy..."Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist"
Largely true, but I prefer 'philosophically unmoored' to 'totalitarian-leaning ideologue'.
Related, see this post about regulators attacking a Tea Party activist thru his employer:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2016/10/15/regulators-retaliate-against-tea-party-activist-for-his-free-speech-and-get-away-with-it/#31d335c2f68f
david foster at October 15, 2016 1:54 PM
Learned here then applied later on in life.
adambein at October 15, 2016 4:25 PM
Nicole,
One of the main types of lava is aa, which is Hawaiian, so that's cultural appropriation. Therefore, hate speech. Or something like that. So, yes, magma (which basically becomes lava) is culturally insensitive.
Don't forget that learning about gems involves discussing properties like hardness (giggle), which would be offensive since diamonds will come up and then there's stuff about Africa and poverty and women's rights and such.
Shannon at October 15, 2016 9:16 PM
"My guess is that some administrator thought the warning triangles were reminiscent of the pink triangles that the Nazis made gays wear."
I can guarantee you that the administrator knows nothing about the Nazis and has never heard of this. He knows the "fact" that the Nazis were all Republicans, and that's all he needs to know.
Cousin Dave at October 17, 2016 8:49 AM
"...who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP..."
There is no such consensus anymore. It has been thoroughly suppressed. Its last form of existence was the Tea Party. The GOP leadership sucker-punched it in 2013, and then invited the Democrats and the media to come kick it in the head while it was down, which they did, gleefully. They've all been having a big laugh ever since about how those rubes who believed in civility and the rule of law were so easily conned.
Trump is escalation. Yes, the Trump movement is driven by anger. It's the anger of those who have been abused, repeatedly, by those more powerful than them. Its the anger of people who have been lied to by people who had presented themselves as trustworthy. It's the anger of people who have been branded with a scarlet letter, not because of anything they have done, but simply because of who they are. But note that they are still trying to work within the system.
Trump will fail. And afterwards, the government and the ruling class will turn the abuse of Trump's supporters up to 11. They've already promised to do so; it's a fundamental element of their campaign. What do you suppose happens next? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
Cousin Dave at October 17, 2016 9:01 AM
I'm late to the party so this will never be read but I do not like that 10% of the grade is "class deportment" and effort. Who is he to judge? I had one class where the professor included class attendance and effort.
He was horrible. He read from his notes and didn't stop to breathe or take questions. He read the same notes 3 classes in a row. The class began with about 500 students and ended with 300. Because the class was so large, the grade was calculated over 3 tests only. There were no essays or other projects to bring up our grades. The tests seemed all but impossible. Perhaps that was because of the two missing lectures. Haha.
He had some complaints. He said that he knew who was going to administration and tattling on him and he was going to get them when it came time to grade. He couldn't knock our grade but he certainly didn't have to bump it up like he wound do for the ones "that really showed effort." Asshole. I didn't go to administration but they did come to me and ask what the hell was going on. I went too easy on him. I didn't tell that about the triple lecture and the threats hadn't occurred but I did tell them that I didn't know where the test questions were going to come from and it was the hardest class I had ever taken.
Going into the final I knew that I had scored 20 points higher than one classmate on each test. The prof refused to release our final exam grades do we couldn't see how much he bumped up the grade or penalized us for our attitude but my classmate ended up with one of 4 As while I had one of 10 Bs in the class.
A grade for deportment usually means I'll just give any damn grade that I choose.
Jen at October 21, 2016 8:03 PM
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