Of course, statistically significant correlation does not prove causation. Some anecdotal instances may enhance the plausibility of a causal interpretation involving anti-conservative bias. According to a press release from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), several years ago, Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania asked job applicants to"’provide a brief statement of your commitment to diversity and how this commitment is demonstrated in your work,’ and to ‘certify’ their understanding that ‘any false or misleading statement on this application constitutes sufficient grounds for dismissal.’”
Following FIRE’s intervention and subsequent publicity, the statement was removed. Nonetheless, one may wonder whether it indicated the presence of a widespread, unspoken agenda at many schools.
What seems most striking here is that such statements potentially discourage applications not only from conservatives but also from anyone who refuses to pledge loyalty to a dominant ideology. In this light, certain ads for administrative positions this year may seem especially bothersome.
The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia is seeking a dean, the chief administrative official of the college. In a solicitation for applicants posted on the web site of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the college says that the applicant should possess the ability to “vigorously support diversity initiatives.”
Imagine a person who believes that one’s race and gender play no legitimate role in one’s qualifications for faculty appointment. If such a person is interested in the position, may not he or she feel discouraged from applying? Of course, the ad does not rule out such candidates absolutely. Surely, no sane person would commit ahead of time either to oppose or support whatever is proposed in the name of diversity. Might not the potential applicant reasonably wonder if applying would be fruitless, though?
A current ad from the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama is a bit more specific. It states that the successful applicant is expected to have “a deep commitment to recruiting and retaining faculty, staff, and students of color.” Here, our aspiring dean might face a sharper dilemma. How one can both believe that the ethnic background of faculty is irrelevant to personnel decisions yet commit to trying to hire members who belong to specific groups?
Making prospetive candidate swear a loyalty oath to multiculturalism must be intended to discourage applications even from liberals who believe that affirmative action should be based upon class, not race.
In its original sense, affirmative action was designed to broaden the process of identifying qualified candidates for jobs. No search can hire the best person if it relies solely upon good ‘ole boy networks for applicants, for example. Yet, as the University of Alabama example illustrates, today affirmative action has been transformed and will be used to restrict the pool of applicants to those who pass ideological muster.
In Japanese popular culture “evil” (aku, jyaaku) is represented through images of breakdown and decay. The Japanese recognize this breakdown in their own increasing inability (as they see it) to feel shame or experience pride. According to this view, shame is the orientation to the gaze of others that inhibits purely selfish acts, such as talking loudly in public or disobedience to authority.
The absence of shame is marked by increasing emphasis on personal autonomy and a reluctance to assume social responsibility. It is widely believed that such problems date from the end of the Pacific War and have become especially prominent with the decline of the Japanese economy after 1990. The Japanese media routinely call attention to the decline of a shame-based culture and relate shamelessness to the eruption of murderous rage among adolescent students.
While student murders are statistically insignificant, they have added to the public perception of a problem in social control. It is said that shame used to be sufficientto prevent most criminal acts since the perpetrator’s family would suffer a loss in social standing. The killing of the an 11-year-old in 1997 in Kobe, for example, transfixed Japan in part because of its shameless savagery: His head was left resting on the front gate of a junior high school with a defiant message stuffed in the mouth.
But is insufficient shame a factor in explaining the schoolboy’s murder or, more generally, the moral decay contemporary Japanese tend to perceive? Consider what the killer himself (Seito Sakakibara) said when he taunted police and threatened more slayings."I can relieve myself of hatred and feel at peace only when I'm killing someone," he said in a letter sent to a local newspaper."I can ease my own pain only by seeing others in pain.”
Lack of shame might be the convenient interpretation, but as the killer’s own words suggest the opposite might be true. The killing apparently served a curative or therapeutic purpose for a young man who reported constantly feeling watched and look down on by others. Murderous rage, in other words, functioned as a regressive therapy for feelings of intense shame that were not too weak but too strong to repudiate or resolve more peacefully.
Excessive shame is made all the more potent by the unavailability of pride as a compensating emotional orientation. Insufficient pride is manifest in the phobic anxiety that surrounds any expression of nationalist sentiment. Many Japanese were horrified, for example, to see their fellow citizens waving Japanese flags during the 1998 winter Olympic Games in Nagano. And the debate over displays of the flag on public buildings, such as schools and post offices, continues despite the parliament’s decision a couple of years ago to authorize such use.
Many Japanese believe that anxiety over the issue of national pride is intensified by the post-war habit of apologizing every time reference to the war is made by other countries. However, an important corner was turned in 1998 with the release of the blockbuster movie, “Pride: Moment of Fate,” whose subject, Tojo Hideki, appeared as the rehabilitated leader of Japan’s war-time government after decades of Hitler-like vilification and public neglect.
The message of the film was unambiguous: Japan had acted in its own self-defense and Tojo was a hero despite the fact that he launched the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is therefore right that modern Japanese take pride in their history and seek the full restoration of their national glory, and that they identify with figures like Tojo. Interestingly, Tojo is repeatedly depicted in the film as a loving grandfather - kissing his grandchildren and bouncing them on his knee - and this points to the fact that pride and identification with the grandfather are, from the point of view of Japan’s contemporary nationalism, one and the same.
Many Japanese people believe that they have forgotten something vital to their identity. They want to remember, even though doing so runs the risk of un-doing the post-war generation’s carefully constructed image of Japan as a modern capitalist nation based on individual freedoms and human rights. The will to overcome this cultural amnesia and remember an identity now deemed authentic is couched in terms that are strikingly Oedipal.
The Japanese who identify themselves as the grandchildren of the Pacific War generation are in rebellion against, and seek to replace, their own fathers -- the generation defined as the architects of Japan’s contemporary society and economy, with its accompanying emphasis on war guilt and individual liberty. A generation of “sons” thus resolves its ambivalent anger and consequent guilt toward their fathers by leapfrogging a generation and identifying with their grandfathers, the members of the war generation but also, in the view of increasing number, the last generation to be authentically and genuinely Japanese.
As Streek-Fischer writes, commenting on the rise of Hitler-worshipping skinheads in post-unification Germany: “Adolescents seek continuity and identity. If they do not find any appropriate perspectives in their family and society, they look for it in the past – in their family’s and society’s ‘past.’” The same thing can be said of contemporary Japan.
In a trend that began some years ago, our Ouray City Council is contemplating additional measures to restrict your rights over your land and houses in the city. The stated purpose of these measures is to define the"desired" scale and character of all development.
Currently the city uses voluntary guidelines, but many officials consider these inadequate. They want mandatory regulations, to be enforced by regulatory bureaucracy that would decide if your plans for your property are" compatible" with official notions of style and historical character.
Among the regulations currently being considered are these: The style and design of new houses (and modifications to existing ones) must conform to the"architectural tradition" of the city. New construction must be" compatible" with other structures in the neighborhood. Exterior materials must be similar in color, texture, and dimension to the city's"historical context." Roofs must be steeply pitched.
Who would define the meaning of terms like"tradition" and" character?" The city government. Who would evaluate your building plans and decide if they conform to the City's mandated aesthetic standards? The city government. What sort of city would you then have? Would it be a city increasingly under the control of the Office of Community Development and its unelected" coordinator?"
It would certainly not be the Ouray that many of us cherish, a place of eclectic styles representing many historical and architectural concepts. It would not be a place where the free market operates, efficiently and openly, and where individuals (not government officials) make decisions about the disposition of their resources. Instead, it will be a place where mainly gingerbread-decorated neo-Victorians are sanctioned, and where free market innovation is discouraged in preference to government-mandated design rules. As one member of the (unelected) Planning Commission put it, 40% of the visitors to Ouray expect to see quaint Victorians with steeply pitched roofs, so that is what we need to give them.
Highly restrictive regulations have already been approved. Did you know, for instance, that you cannot build or add on to your house in the historic district (most of the city) if the size will exceed by more than 10% of the average house size in your block? The Council passed this ordinance only last year. Think again about adding a bathroom or expanding the kitchen. Or did you know that you cannot build on more than 30% of your lot in the residential zone R1? That means almost three quarters of your land is unavailable to you for any other purpose than landscaping. And yet these restrictions are nothing compared to what will happen if a number of city officials get their way.
The day is soon approaching when you will have to apply for a certificate of"appropriateness," to demonstrate that your structure conforms in design, scale, building materials, setback, and landscaping features to the" character" of the city as defined by city officials. Is that really what you want here in Ouray? If you value free market capitalism, if you want to safeguard your right of private property against predatory government encroachment, we strongly urge you attend the working sessions on historical preservation.
Unfortunately, very few people showed up at the last meeting, and that means city officials have not heard from the people who take their rights seriously. Local government becomes unresponsive and overbearing when it is not held accountable to the people.
Make your voice heard now, or it will be too late!
Nor should we stop there. We all know that briefs bind and crimp, cutting off the flow of vital essences and inhibiting the free movement of . . . well, you get the point. Could it be that dictators are the way they are because they all have their nickers in a twist?
And what about university administrators? I'll bet Thames wears briefs.
Shalll we put the proposition to the test? I think not! No telling what sort of unpleasantness we might find.
Final note of self-disclosure: I'm a boxer man myself, and proud of it.
The purpose of"distraction" is to prevent serious inquiry by causing professors to scurry and run in pointless meandering through a forest of political shibboleths:"diversity,""multiculturalism," etc. Meanwhile, administrators wheel and deal, and all the time feather their nests, while the wild-eyed faculty face off against each other along familiar battle lines.
Consider creating such a program on your campus. Distraction is ripe for study. After all, we are so good at being bamboozled, it really should be a field in which one can receive an advanced degree.
Majesta Palmer....worries that her grades are going to suffer in her sociology classes due to the new grading system.Sophomore Chris Szutu agrees.“It’s kind of scary when I’m already at the bottom of the curve,” she said. “Everyone’s fighting for that A. It breaks down what we know as a college education.”.....
Szutu added that he believes that this system discourages peer help and support.
“Why make students compete against each other?” he said. “Students should want to help each other. The point of education is to learn.”
“What is wrong with everyone getting good grades?” he said.
Let's hope the Sociology Department stands firm in its policy. Grade deflation: I like the sound of it.
Hat tip Margaret Soltan.
Here is the latest entry in the grovelfest from CR officials Amanda Zaluckyj and Karen Hall:
The College Republicans have a tradition of encouraging debate on issues of public interest. In that frame of mind, we discussed initiating a debate on the merits of affirmative action. The club did not support holding a bake sale with discounted prices as a parody of affirmative action, however without proper support, individuals went forward with such a bake sale. To those who were offended by the actions of the bake sale, it is unfortunate that you were offended. However, we respect and welcome your rights to hold and express your views, and ask that you grant others the right to hold and express their views as well. We also recognize there are proper ways to publicly express one’s views, and we apologize that individuals using our club’s name failed to adhere to university policies. [emphasis added] Continuing our tradition of encouraging debate, we look forward to future endeavors that encourage and respect an open dialog on the variety of opinions within the university community.
After writing the column I assumed I would receive the usual mixed number of pro and con e-mail responses that accompany my weekly endeavors. Boy was I wrong.
On an average week I normally receive 10-12 e-mail messages, however this week I was bombarded with more than 50 responses from 13 states. The amazing aspect is that only two people opposed what I had written in defense of Professor Bean.
Based on the e-mail I've received in the past few days it appears I'm not alone in my disdain for the tolerance police. Last week I wrote a column about the attempted character assassination of SIU history professor Jonathan Bean currently being conducted on the Carbondale campus by a group of history department radicals.....
If you want to protest his treatment, contact the following:
James Walker, President@notes.siu.edu, 618-536-3331, Office of the President-SIUP
Shirley Clay Scott, Sscotts@siu.edu, 618-453-2466, Dean College of Liberal Arts
The only bright spot in this sad affair is the admirable behavior of Kyle Rausch, the ex-head of the chapter. He has continued to stand up for campus free speech against the combined forces of GVSU's administration, timid College Republicans on campus, a cringing faculty advisor, and the Ottawa County Republican party. Says Rausch, “I no longer consider myself part of an organization which is so willing to apologize for their opinions.”
Following last Friday's misconduct hearing, the five-member review board decided to put the student group on probation until Dec. 1. The review board also required the student group to make a public apology and create a leadership development plan to make sure club leaders are aware of university policies and procedures. The group will retain university funding and campus organization privileges.The College Republicans say they do not plan to appeal.
"I'm hoping that from here, we can just move forward taking what we've learned," said Karen Hall, a 19-year-old sophomore and vice president of the organization.
In a prepared statement, the new leaders of the group explain that"the club did not support holding a bake sale with discounted prices as a parody of affirmative action. However, without proper support, individuals went forward with such a bake sale."
The group also apologized"that individuals using our club's name failed to adhere to university policies."
Proving that muddled thinking is not confined to campuses, the Detroit Free Press weighed in with an editorial denouncing the bake sale as “tasteless”and perhaps deserving of disciplinary action. The university charged the club with a violation of the student code and threatened sanctions. The students folded under pressure from the administration and issued an apology. When the president of the group refused to back down, he was asked to resign and did. The students’ retreat is understandable, if not very courageous. The university was in effect putting them on trial for bias, with the likelihood that a notation of racial discrimination would become part of their academic record and follow them to post-college job interviews. This is a major example of a politically correct college abusing its power.
Rausch says, in part:
If anyone has any questions or comments, you can reach me at rauschk@student.gvsu.edu. It would be greatly appreciated if everyone could write a letter to the state and local parties along with the university. Thank you.
Paul Leidig and the local Republicans who support him have undermined the cause of free speech at GVSU in the hopes of pandering to certain social groups which may find it offensive. I resigned because I would not be associated with a group willing to so quickly apologize for something that was not wrong.
For Leidig's comments and more background on the case, see here and here.
I have read of your action supporting the removal of the president of the campus young Republicans. His only"offense" as I understand it, was to defend his right to free speech -- a value one would think you would support.
Instead, you caved in to those who lead the fight against freedom of speech under the guise of protecting people from"being offended." I can assure you that as the sponsor of a student organization myself, I would have acted in entirely the opposite way. You bring no credit on yourself or the Republican Party when you sacrifice basic principles to political convenience.
You owe the offended student an immediate (and public) apology, which should be tendered with your own letter of resignation as faculty sponsor of the Young Republicans.
Sincerely,
Charles W. Nuckolls, Ph.D. Professor Department of Anthropolgy Brigham Young University
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is helping the students to fight back.
Grade inflation is an increasing problem on campuses around the nation, from Chapel Hill, N.C. to right here in Tuscaloosa.
Two UA professors - David Beito, an associate political science professor, and Charles Nuckolls, an anthropology professor - are suggesting that grade inflation has been drastically on the rise for the past 30 years. The percentage of A's handed out at the University in 2001 was 30.5 percent, up from 23 percent in 1988. When everyone makes an A plus in jogging class, we don't think much of it. On the other hand, if everyone were making such extraordinarily high scores in Calculus, we would wonder when the standards became so lax.
While the article has some devastating information, the article has some errors. Our report on Grade Distortion never claimed that the College of Education had the highest increase in the percentage of A's only that it had and continues to have one of the highest percentage of undergraduate A's on campus. Unfortunately, the article did not mention the high percentage of A's in Women's Studies (nearly 80 percent of entry level undergraduate grades!).
The article also lets go unanswered the administration's claim that grade distortion (the combination of inflation and disparities between disciplines) results from higher ACT Scores. For example, it does not cite our correspondence with Bob Ziomek, director of ACT program evaluation. He stated that that the “ACT average doesn’t explain the whopping increase in A’s being awarded. ACT scores are fairly flat while the number of A’s and B’s being awarded are out of sight.” Here is the Crimson White article:
Grade inflation has become an issue at universities across the nation, but David Beito, an associate political science professor, and Charles Nuckolls, an anthropology professor, said UA officials are not addressing what could be a growing problem.....
Beito and Nuckolls reported great difficulty in obtaining the information about student grades, and they said administrators are trying to cover up the University's grade inflation problem. "This is a public institution," Nuckolls said."One would think that the public could get the numbers. This should be an issue of accountability."
Beito and Nuckolls said they would like to see reports on student grades published regularly and possibly posted on the Internet. Provost Judy Bonner said there are no plans to post grades. "It is not anything that I would like to see available," Bonner said."It is not useful to anyone."
Read the rest here A report by two UA professors indicates that the percentage of A's awarded in undergraduate courses has increased dramatically over the last 30 years. But getting to the University grade information itself is difficult.
