The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Quote from: apl68 on Today at 07:45:35 AMWonder whether those non-students spotted among the demonstrators are actually "professional agitators" from out of town, or simply local lewd fellows of the baser sort taking an opportunity to blow off some steam by joining a protest?  Either way, if the protest's organizers can't keep such people from co-opting their protest for their own purposes, they'd do well to reconsider the wisdom of these demonstrations.

I was on a "liberal" campus during the first Gulf War when we only had, like, a week to protest.  The students managed not to damage anything, but I became convinced that their motivation was not pacificism but the excitement and adventure of the protest.  I was a bit older than most undergrads, so while I went to see the show I wasn't terribly impressed. 

What we ended up with were a number of elderly hippies stoking on the disruption. I'm sure someone has done scholarship on this aspect of American college life, and I just wonder how much protest is genuine and how much is the perception on students' part that this is how they are supposed to object and express themselves.  Certainly it is okay to support Gaza in this situation and call on Israel to behave in a civilized manner (without being accused of antisemitism), I just wonder how much actual good it does for students to wreck their own campuses.

Regarding what else to include, I have heard from a number of reputable sources that Israel was on the cusp of signing an agreement with Saudi Arabia that would potentially have marginalized Hamas' support in the region and that the timing of the attack was specifically intended to derail that, which it so far did do.  Maybe that would be relevant in a discussion about the region?  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Israeli-Saudi-peace-deal

I completely agree with posters who point out that this is a curriculum issue - if a student CAN submit exactly the same work for two different courses, then there's too much overlap in those two courses for it to be academically legitimate for a student to get credit for both even if they don't copy themselves.

Also the term I hear for this issue to supposedly morally justify it is that it's "self-plagiarism" which is one of the most ridiculous oxymorons I've ever heard, much less seen taken seriously.

Count me among those who think that a policy of banning students from reusing their own work has no moral justification.

Good morning!

Past genius with pangram so far.  Congrats, Langue_doc! Yesterday we needed bee buddy help with could.

I also had the schmofficial jackpots-swirl after heading down other roads.

Happy solving!

Quote from: spork on May 01, 2024, 01:37:57 PMThe key sentence, in my opinion, is "You don't see this in lower tier schools from kids of lower socio-economic standing because they aren't plagued with the guilt of privilege that they're seeking to launder through Middle East role plays of feigned suffering."

Probably a good deal of truth to that.

Some of the stacked and overturned furniture in the photos in the article Langue_doc posted looks like that highly durable old-school wooden stuff.  It may well have been used for a similar purpose during the Vietnam-era protests.  At least they don't seem to have gone around wantonly breaking stained-glass windows in the buildings.

Wonder whether those non-students spotted among the demonstrators are actually "professional agitators" from out of town, or simply local lewd fellows of the baser sort taking an opportunity to blow off some steam by joining a protest?  Either way, if the protest's organizers can't keep such people from co-opting their protest for their own purposes, they'd do well to reconsider the wisdom of these demonstrations.

Thanks very much for the Cold War recommendation, spork.  Sounds worthwhile, will take a look.  Didn't know this was on Amazon Prime.  Had to do a title search after it didn't appear when skimming numerous relevant movie categories.

As a recent Amazon Prime subscriber, wading through the movie menus is a chore. Not interested in Freevee movies, hate the loud ads.  Any tips for efficiently finding movies aligned with one's interests on this platform?

Peak protest has come and gone. Final exams start soon. In another week, undergrads will have left campus.

Cold War (2018), a multinational European production now available on Amazon Prime. A torturous love story set in the first two decades of the Cold War in Poland, East Berlin, Paris, and Yugoslavia. Shot in black and white. Great cinematography and set design. Really evokes the period.

Quote from: marshwiggle on Today at 05:23:56 AMI have no respect whatsoever for protesters, from any place on the political spectrum, who are just bandwagon-jumpers who are just there so they look good in front of their "friends".

Reinforcing group identity may be the main motivator for joining the protests. It is understandable. Not a good policy technique, but perhaps some will get interested in policy as a result.

Quote from: marshwiggle on Today at 05:28:29 AM

Quote from: Hibush on April 30, 2024, 05:51:13 AM"St. Katherine's was founded in 2010 and offered more than two dozen undergraduate and three graduate programs of study. It enrolled about 300 students." The article indciated that they mainly enrolled students who could not afford to pay tuition, which leads quickly to dire financial straits unless one has a major alternate source of revenue. They also had grandiose plans for a 5000 student institution on a brand new campus in Chula Vista.

Do places like this actually have any long-term financial *plan before they start? Barring a billionaire benefactor agreeing to foot the bill, it's not remotely obvious how this could work in the long term.


*other than winning the lottery

Sometimes a school's bankruptcy is to be celebrated not mourned.

Wells demise is sad because they had a nice mission and campus, but they couldn't even get a thousand takers.