Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia University

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You are aware, I take it, that only approx. 3% of US colleges and universities have ROTC units. Since you righties think ROTC is such a cash cow, wouldn't you expect the other 97% to be clamoring to get a piece of the action?

Hell I would think the righties would jump on the chance to cash in.

Which college administrations might be labelled "righties"?

Or were you just piling on as some sort of pavlovian response?

[idrankwhat 0]

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Can anyone tell me what so many people are afraid Ahmandinejad will say? ...

What I've been wondering is why the opponents don't understand that by raising a big stink about his visit that they're creating precisely the situation that they say they don't want. Instead of drawing attention to his visit and creating a media circus why don't his detractors just simply ignore him? His opponents have created the news storm and given him a platform that will be broadcast all over the world. In addition to his words you now have those of an extremely rude US University President and video and audio of protesters booing and frothing at the mouth. It's a win for Ahmandinejad.
It's just like the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ". Not a very good movie but millions of people saw it because a bible thumping mob made it incredibly popular.

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Instead of drawing attention to his visit and creating a media circus why don't his detractors just simply ignore him?

Now apply this standard to President Bush. Just ignore him.

[idrankwhat 0]

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Instead of drawing attention to his visit and creating a media circus why don't his detractors just simply ignore him?

Now apply this standard to President Bush. Just ignore him.

I wish they would, but that should have been done years ago.
The one good thing about A__jad's speech, at least they didn't have to sign a loyalty oath to hear what he had to say

[kallend 1,623]

This is what the AAUP has to say on the subject of invited speakers at universities:

In 2005, after several colleges and universities withdrew valid invitations to speakers during the 2004 election cycle, the American Association of University Professors published the statement Academic Freedom and Outside Speakers. Now that another election cycle is upon us, it is important to reiterate our policy's key points:

Many colleges and universities permit student and faculty groups to issue their own invitations to outside speakers. That practice is an important part of academic freedom and institutions should respect it.
When an authorized faculty or student group invites an outside speaker, this does not mean the institution approves or disapproves of the speaker or what the speaker says, has said, or will say.
Colleges are free to announce that they do not officially endorse a speaker or the views a speaker expresses, but they should not cancel a speech because people on campus or in the community either disagree with its content or disapprove of the speaker.
Institutions should ensure that all legitimately invited speakers can express their views and that open discussion can take place.
Only in extreme and extraordinary cases may invitations be canceled out of concern for safety.
We believe education is best served by the free pursuit of all ideas, including controversial ones. Yet this commitment to academic freedom can be severely tested when campus or community members are offended by the views an invited speaker is expected to express. How should we respond when some claim an invitation amounts to an endorsement of a politician, a religion, or even an outlandish conspiracy theory? Should a university president, a board of trustees, or a group of concerned citizens or donors have the right to demand that an invitation to a speaker be withdrawn?

If the College Republicans invite Dick Cheney to speak about the 'war on terror' the talk may be controversial, but if the College Republicans is a valid student organization, neither the board of trustees nor the administration should cancel the talk. Although administrators have sometimes cited fear of violating section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a reason for canceling invitations to politically controversial speakers, such invitations do not constitute the type of prohibited political campaign intervention or participation that would endanger the university's tax exempt status. The university does not endorse a particular speaker?s views any more than it endorses the content of a particular book in its library.

Nor should the university compel a student group to invite an opposing speaker to ensure balance or create a debate format. It would be improper for a university administration to require the College Republicans to invite Barack Obama in order to balance Dick Cheney. Campus groups should not be compelled to invite someone they do not want to hear as a condition for inviting someone they do want to hear. A different student group can invite Obama, or the university can create its own event and add it to the campus schedule.

What happens if taxpaying citizens, state politicians, or important donors demand that the president cancel a planned speech? University presidents, who have many constituencies to please, may find this a difficult situation. Matters can become very complicated if different groups make contradictory demands. Satisfying one group may offend another. That difficulty can be avoided if a president does the right thing by defending academic freedom and the university?s unique role as a place for ideas to flourish and to be exchanged. A president is not responsible for defending a speaker who has been properly invited by an authorized student, faculty, or employee group. Authorizing these groups to invite outside speakers that are of interest to them is an important way to sustain a vibrant campus intellectual life. Such a practice can be supported by all campus constituencies.

This reasoning holds true even when virtually everyone disagrees with an invited speaker. Students might at one time have invited an American Nazi Party representative to speak. The invitation might have sought to give the campus direct experience of a position all considered abhorrent. Once again, we should not assume that invitations represent endorsements. We should also give some credit to our student audiences. They do not need to be protected from outlandish ideas. They do not believe everything they hear, and they are on campus to learn to think critically.

Revulsion at ideas or fear of them is understandable, but ideas are best answered with thought and conversation, not with censorship. That is nowhere more true than at a college or university. Education will not be well served if only bland speakers with uncontroversial views are invited to campus. The costs?to education, to academic freedom, to the social good?are virtually always higher when an invited speaker is silenced rather than allowed to speak.

The opening five points represent the consensus reached at a September 2006 meeting where representatives of several higher education organizations discussed the AAUP?s full statement on outside speakers. We should add that administrators appropriately may specify that no member of the academic community may speak for or act on behalf of the college or university in a political campaign.

For more information, the full statement, Academic Freedom and Outside Speakers , is available on the AAUP Web site at http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/comm/rep/A/outside.htm.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Amazon 7]

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Or were you just piling on as some sort of pavlovian response?

tsk tsk tsk.. see what I mean... bless your little heart.

[rehmwa 2]

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But the obvious counter is that the ROTC provides a lot of scholarship money for students that want to go to Columbia. If that's not there, it has to be replaced with (among many things) endowment money.

SHUSHHHH

If the leftist universities figure this out, then they'll be demanding tax increases for the purpose of replacing the funding they chose to reject.

You are aware, I take it, that only approx. 3% of US colleges and universities have ROTC units. Since you righties think ROTC is such a cash cow, wouldn't you expect the other 97% to be clamoring to get a piece of the action?

Wow - cash cow or not, that's 97% of leftist universities PRETENDING it's a cash cow and asking for tax dollars to 'make it fair'.

scary

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[rehmwa 2]

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This is what the AAUP has to say on the subject of invited speakers at universities:

That's a good policy. It would be nice to see it adhered to consistently.

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[kallend 1,623]

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But the obvious counter is that the ROTC provides a lot of scholarship money for students that want to go to Columbia. If that's not there, it has to be replaced with (among many things) endowment money.

SHUSHHHH

If the leftist universities figure this out, then they'll be demanding tax increases for the purpose of replacing the funding they chose to reject.

You are aware, I take it, that only approx. 3% of US colleges and universities have ROTC units. Since you righties think ROTC is such a cash cow, wouldn't you expect the other 97% to be clamoring to get a piece of the action?

Wow - cash cow or not, that's 97% of leftist universities PRETENDING it's a cash cow and asking for tax dollars to 'make it fair'.

scary

Some actual evidence of your assertion would be valuable. Otherwise it's just hot air.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Kris 0]

Honestly, I think that giving this kook a loud public microphone was an absolutely brilliant idea on the CU president's part.

Let him publicly show just what a narrow-minded, petty zealot he really is. Let him see that our youth have no time and nothing but ridicule for him, his ideas, and his conspiracy theories.

We could never have done as good a job of making him look foolish as he did himself.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[rehmwa 2]

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Wow - cash cow or not, that's 97% of leftist universities PRETENDING it's a cash cow and asking for tax dollars to 'make it fair'.

scary

Some actual evidence of your assertion would be valuable. Otherwise it's just hot air.

Stats from here http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2959328#2959328

it's very credible source, don't you think, AND lot's of hot air to boot? Wow, 97%

won't someone PLEASE think of the children?

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[warpedskydiver 0]

President Assjihad?

Damn if he does not seem like a self loathing closet gay.

Kinda like J. Edgar Hoover, hey is that why they call a BJ a Hoover Job?

[kallend 1,623]

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Wow - cash cow or not, that's 97% of leftist universities PRETENDING it's a cash cow and asking for tax dollars to 'make it fair'.

scary

Some actual evidence of your assertion would be valuable. Otherwise it's just hot air.

Stats from here http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2959328#2959328

it's very credible source, don't you think, AND lot's of hot air to boot? Wow, 97%

won't someone PLEASE think of the children?

Where do "tax dollars" and "fair" enter into anything there? Those are figments of your imagination.

Are you feeling OK today?

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.