Missouri Football players on strike

[fsquid]

The Mizzou president said he had made attempts to open dialog with anyone willing to discuss the issues, right up into his resignation speech.

But for other reasons, he had little or no support from the University System Board.  There were some other issues going on here besides a football team making threat strikes.

Interesting editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after Wolfe was first hired:

Wanted: College president. No experience required
Monday, December 19, 2011 | 3:37 p.m. CST
BY ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

The obvious problem facing the UM System Board of Curators and Timothy M. Wolfe, its out-of-the-blue choice as the university system's new president, was this:

How do you explain the selection of a former software executive with no significant academic credentials as the leader of a four-campus university system?

Answer: You take a sow's ear and turn it into a silk purse.

On Wednesday, Wolfe visited the university's St. Louis campus and said he plans a two-month "journey of enlightenment" to bring himself up to speed on the needs of the various campuses.

This is great. Next time we're lost, we're going to tell our spouses that we're on journeys of enlightenment.

On Wednesday, curators praised Wolfe's Columbia roots (he grew up there and got a bachelor's degree from Mizzou) and said he understood academia because his parents were professors.

And then there was curator Pam Henrickson's explanation that Wolfe would bring "fresh eyes. Somebody to come in and say, 'Why do you do this?'"

This would not be a good way to hire someone to, say, fix your car. Whatever happened to straight talk?

http://digmo-01.missouri.edu/a/143910/what-others-say-wanted-college-president-no-experience-required/

big state universities are big business.

[I-10east]

Never in the Big Ten thank god...

Big 12, my bad.

[BridgeTroll]

[Adam White]

Having gone to the most liberal type of college programs and then later to the most conservative (and alternatively the most liberal sort of job to arguibly the most conservative career), I would agree that universities tend to be more liberal, since their nature lends itself towards a belief that society can move towards a utopia (a staple belief of the left side).  It is interesting in seeing how the larger liberal population divide themselves into smaller, intense groups...

With that said, I think we are seeing the effect of social media on activism.  A person can find a society of people who believe exactly as he/she does via Facebook, etc.  When always surrounded by people of same mind, that horrible group dynamic takes over and the group moves toward its more extreme edge. 

Regardless of beliefs, people get worse when their numbers rise.

True.  And when fecal swastikas get put out  and people are being screamed 'ni--er at, and the like (with no appropriate response from the administration) then its time to do something about it.  The students being intimidated are paying the same money as the ones doing the intimidating.

I agree with you 100% on that. It appears that when leadership was required, it was sorely lacking.

[RattlerGator]

We do black students no favors by infantilizing them and making them think it is somehow the President of the university's job to respond when someone happens to call another person nigger or cracker or whatever. Good grief, people. Get a grip.

That president acquiesced to them in all manner of ways. It wasn't enough. Did you not read that laughable list of demands they presented to him? Harkening back to an earlier question tossed my way: Adam and Stephen, do you not know what Marxism-Leninism is ? ? ?

Here's the list in its entirety:

1. We demand that University of Missouri System President, Tim Wolfe, writes a hand-written apology to Concerned Student 1-9-5-0 demonstrators and holds a press conference in the Mizzou Student Center reading the letter. In the letter and at the press conference, Tim Wolfe must acknowledge his white privilege, recognize that systems of oppression exits, and provide a verbal commitment to fulfilling Concerned Student 1-9-5-0 demands. We want Tim Wolfe to admits his gross negligence, allowing his driver to hit one of the demonstrators, consenting to the physical violence of bystanders, and lastly refusing to intervene when Columbia Police Department used excessive force with demonstrators.

2. We demand the immediate removal of Tim Wolfe as UM system president. After his removal, a new amendment to thd UM system policies must be established to have all future UM system president and Chancellor positions be selected by a collective of students, staff, and faculty of diverse backgrounds.

3. We demand that the University of Missouri meets the Legion of Black Collegians' demands that were presented in the 1969 for the betterment of the black community.

4. We demand that the University of Missouri creates and enforces comprehensive racial awareness and inclusion curriculum throughout all campus departments and units, mandatory for all students, faculty, staff and administration. This curriculum must be vetted, maintained, and overseen by a board comprised of students, staff and faculty of color.

5. We demand that by the academic year 2017-18, the University of Missouri increases the percentage of black faculty and staff members campus-wide by 10 percent.

6. We demand that the University of Missouri composes a strategic 10-year plan on May, 1 2016 that will increase retention rates for marginalized students, sustain diversity curriculum and training, and promote a more safe and inclusive campus.

7. We demand that the University of Missouri increases funding and resources for the University of Missouri Counseling Center for the purpose of hiring additional mental health professionals, particularly those of color, boosting mental health outreach and programming across campus, increasing campus-wide awareness and visibility of the counseling center, and reducing lengthy wait times for prospective clients.

8. We demand that the University of Missouri increases funding, resources and personnel for the social justice centers on campus for the purpose of hiring additional professionals, particularly those of color, boosting outreach and programming across campus and increasing campus-wide awareness and visibility.

And last night, they asked they asked their "white allies" to segregate themselves out so there could be a blacks only safe space. Are y'all white people on the left paying attention to this shiznit?

[Adam White]

Adam and Stephen, do you not know what Marxism-Leninism is ? ? ?

Do I? Yes, I do. When I lived in the USA, I was a member of the Socialist Party USA and was registered as a Socialist voter in the State of Florida. In the UK, I am not a member of any political party, but am a member of the Fabian Society. I have to be honest, though, and admit I did vote for the Communist Party candidate for Mayor of Hackney, even though I don't agree with the views of Marxist-Leninists.

I have read Marx (some Marx, nowhere near all of his writings) and have read bits and pieces of stuff by Lukacs, Parenti, Ollman, Bookchin and others. I could go into great detail about where I fit on the political spectrum and what my beliefs are, but I'll spare you and everyone else (unless you want me to).

So yeah- I know what Marxism-Leninism is and what the difference is between Marxism and Marxism-Leninism.

[RattlerGator]

Wow, you keep peeling back the layers Adam and I keep being surprised! And disappointed. You seem like a fine guy, cuz, but . . . my goodness. Both approaches are soul-crushing efforts that inevitably lead to totalitarianism. And with each inevitable failure, acolytes do what y'all have done.

Do you know what Marxism is?

Do you know what Marxism-Leninism is?

Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . it has never been truly tried; blah, blah, blah.

I know this with 100% certainty: they are both scourges of the earth and willfully blind.

I spent one solid week in Cuba in February. Mostly in Havana. It was a great trip, a fun trip. But abject failure all around, wherever you cared to look. And although Cubans clearly love their country, and even with a Committee in Defense of the Revolution rep on every block in Havana, the people with talent or drive very clearly want no more of that Marxism or Marxism-Leninism foolishness.

They've been tried all over this planet. They don't work, thank God.

[Adam White]

Wow, you keep peeling back the layers Adam and I keep being surprised! And disappointed. You seem like a fine guy, cuz, but . . . my goodness. Both approaches are soul-crushing efforts that inevitably lead to totalitarianism. And with each inevitable failure, acolytes do what y'all have done.

Do you know what Marxism is?

Do you know what Marxism-Leninism is?

Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . it has never been truly tried; blah, blah, blah.

I know this with 100% certainty: they are both scourges of the earth and willfully blind.

I spent one solid week in Cuba in February. Mostly in Havana. It was a great trip, a fun trip. But abject failure all around, wherever you cared to look. And although Cubans clearly love their country, and even with a Committee in Defense of the Revolution rep on every block in Havana, the people with talent or drive very clearly want no more of that Marxism or Marxism-Leninism foolishness.

They've been tried all over this planet. They don't work, thank God.

Very interesting that you have been to Cuba. I'd like to go someday - if only because I've heard a lot of good things.

Anyway - I am not going to defend Cuba, but I think one cannot view Cuba without fully considering the impact of US actions (whether it be active attempts to destabilize the country or the embargo).

But Cuba is an example of a Marxist-Leninist government. As was the USSR. In fact, all such regimes were based on philosophies derived from Marxism-Leninism. And Marxism-Leninism (in my opinion) is inherently undemocratic.

[RattlerGator]

I am not going to defend Cuba, but I think one cannot view Cuba without fully considering the impact of US actions (whether it be active attempts to destabilize the country or the embargo).

Yeah, and that's what more than a few folks in the group (this was an Ivy League -- Penn -- travel group) tried to assert. But, Adam, the USSR crashes and China rises in the last couple of decades. European nations trade with them regularly and European tourists visit regularly. Are US actions really relevant? Cuba (who first implemented the embargo against us, not vice-versa) could trade with the entire world. We as a nation couldn't stop that.

Sorry. No excuses. They were and are an abject failure while much less accomplished nations (like the Dominican Republic) have zoomed past them since 1959.

Back to the topic of this thread: Mizzou has now named a black man as interim president. So predictable. And there was rich boy Jonathan Butler, the hunger striker, privileged as all get-out, leading the assembled protesters in chants of "I am a revolutionary!" Yeah, right.

It has become a clown show in Missouri and I doubt if the majority of taxpayers in that state are either amused or entertained.

[Adam White]

I am not going to defend Cuba, but I think one cannot view Cuba without fully considering the impact of US actions (whether it be active attempts to destabilize the country or the embargo).

Yeah, and that's what more than a few folks in the group (this was an Ivy League -- Penn -- travel group) tried to assert. But, Adam, the USSR crashes and China rises in the last couple of decades. European nations trade with them regularly and European tourists visit regularly. Are US actions really relevant? Cuba (who first implemented the embargo against us, not vice-versa) could trade with the entire world. We as a nation couldn't stop that.

Sorry. No excuses. They were and are an abject failure while much less accomplished nations (like the Dominican Republic) have zoomed past them since 1959.

Back to the topic of this thread: Mizzou has now named a black man as interim president. So predictable. And there was rich boy Jonathan Butler, the hunger striker, privileged as all get-out, leading the assembled protesters in chants of "I am a revolutionary!" Yeah, right.

It has become a clown show in Missouri and I doubt if the majority of taxpayers in that state are either amused or entertained.

George Washington and most of your so-called "founding fathers" were privileged - yet it's common American belief that they were "revolutionaries" as well. I don't think social standing is relevant.

[Adam White]

Sorry. No excuses. They were and are an abject failure while much less accomplished nations (like the Dominican Republic) have zoomed past them since 1959.

An "abject failure" tied with the USA for life expectancy (34th in 2013). The UK is 19. Cuba's healthcare system only ranks two places below the USA's.

Maybe it's time for a bit of self-reflection!

[Tacachale]

Perhaps we could move the communism discussion to a separate thread and get this one back on topic.

[Adam White]

Perhaps we could move the communism discussion to a separate thread and get this one back on topic.

In Soviet Union, communism discussion moves YOU to a separate thread!

[RattlerGator]

wow.  a whole week eh? 

Jealousy & envy are your middle names!

But I don't blame you, Stephen J&E. It was a great trip. Great cigars, great drinks, beautiful wimminz. Cuba's a wreck, though; cite all the propped up stats you want. It's a freaking wreck. Like multiple writers told us while there -- to hell with your damn state-controlled health care, let me choose and I'll figure that out for myself.

But they have no freedom of the press, they have no liberty, the Stasi-like Committee in Defense of the Revolution is on every block, and they are still locking people up for political reasons.

Meanwhile, Mizzou has a bogus "revolutionary" ginning up bogus racial complaints, aided by the Ferguson Grievance Mongers. Fidel, I'm sure, is so proud.

[AKIRA]

If a state, even one with such a health care system, needs a CDR to threaten and commit violence over political belief, then yes, that state is a failure.

But on the true topic at hand, I think the swasitika was probably a lie, and I do not believe the cottonball story as reported.