E Wayne Ross – Page 121 – Critical Theories in Education

Almost the best job in North America

Well, I’m back to the grind of blogging after taking some time off to attend the American Educational Research Association meeting in San Francisco (and then visit friends in California wine country). It’s a tough job, but I guess someone has to do it.

After whining about all the stress of preparing a few presenations for AERA I was stunned to see that Money Magazine says I have almost the best job in America.

My buddy Ken, who obviously has lot’s of time on his hands to read superfluous publications like Money, tipped me off to my supposed good fortune.

Well, best get back to the excruciating work of professing…

Duke University Equestrian Team Hoping To Avoid Investigation Into Their Sex Scandal

TopStory-Duke-Equestrian.article.jpg The Onion: Duke University Equestrian Team Hoping To Avoid Investigation Into Their Sex Scandal

April 6, 2006 | Issue 42•14

DURHAM, NC—Mere weeks after members of their university’s lacrosse team were accused of sexually assaulting exotic dancers, ranking Duke polo and equestrian team members are downplaying rumors that they repeatedly engaged in acts of exotic sexual misconduct during the infamously out-of-control parties held at the team’s off-campus barn.

“We’ve done nothing wrong, veterinarians will find no evidence—DNA or otherwise—showing that horses have been assaulted, and of course no charges have been filed,” said senior Nat Hennerty, captain of Duke’s equestrian squad and a two-time Most Valuable Rider, in a prepared statement to the press Tuesday. “I urge the media, the alumni, and the people of the community to remember that we at Duke are an elite university and disregard any obvious hearsay.”

“Especially anything regarding suspicious bruises or abrasions suffered by the men of the team, allegations that certain horses have not been cantering normally as of late, or photos supposedly showing Duke student-athletes wearing nothing but English riding boots and engaged in sexual congress with tranquilized horses while whipping them with riding crops,” Hennerty added.

While no formal accusations have been made, students claim the outrageous behavior of Duke’s elite equestrian squad has become campus legend.

“I’ve never been to one of their parties, but everyone at Duke has heard the rumors,” said a sophomore who spoke on condition of anonymity, saying she wished to protect herself from possible retaliation by the “privileged elites” who make up Duke’s top-tier riding clubs. “Everyone’s drinking, the lights in the stable go down, someone gets some saddle soap and a curry-comb…. pretty soon everyone’s bareback, they’re playing ‘strip dressage,’ strange lathered-up fillies are prancing around… It’s only a matter of time before someone becomes Catherine the Great.”

Although no Duke equestrian sports team has ever come under official scrutiny, an informal examination of team medical records shows that Duke riders are four times more likely to suffer unusual injuries, such as broken bones from startled horses stepping back onto riders’ feet, deep horse bites in or around the groin area, or massive internal trauma along with explosive perforation of the colon. Duke teams also lead the nation, and organized horsemanship in general, in the sudden destruction of large livestock for unrecorded or sketchily documented reasons.

Despite the rumors and mounting evidence of mount abuse, few in the university believe that the team will be subjected to the possible disgrace of a joint university/SPCA investigation.

“These guys were brought up to believe that they can have any horse or woman they want, and that’s unconscionable—but a formal investigation would tear this campus apart,” history professor Woodrow Peterson said. “After all, the Duke University community barely tolerated the systematic sexual abuse of two black women at the hands of its students. If word got out that valuable horses had been treated that way, this place would explode.”

Briton’s love of The Clash, Led Zeppelin sparks plane security alert

Via Rock and Rap Confidential:

Briton’s love of The Clash, Led Zeppelin sparks plane security alert
Apr 05 12:29 PM US/Eastern

A love of punk and hard rock anthems by The Clash and Led Zeppelin led to a British man being hauled off a plane bound for London by police on terrorism fears, newspapers reported.

Indian-born Harraj Mann, 23, played “London’s Calling” by The Clash and Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” through the stereo of a taxi he caught to Durham and Tees Valley Airport in northern England.

The taxi driver, however, grew suspicious of his passenger after listening to the lyrics of his chosen songs and alerted the authorities after they reached the airport.

Two police officers boarded Mann’s flight to London’s Heathrow airport shortly before take-off last Thursday.

“I got frogmarched off the plane in front of everyone, got my bags searched, asked every question you can think of,” Mann, a mobile phone salesman, told his local newspaper, the Hartlepool Mail, on Monday — a story that was picked up by the national press on Wednesday.

“I was being held for questioning under the Terrorism Act,” he said.

By the time Mann was set free his plane had already departed.

The offending lyrics by The Clash include the lines: “London calling from the faraway towns, now war is declared and battle come down.

“London calling to the underworld, come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls.”

“Immigrant Song”, for its part, starts: “The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands, to fight the horde singing and crying Valhalla, I’m coming!”

A spokeswoman for the Durham Police confirmed that a man was escorted from the London-bound flight, questioned by police and released without charge.

“Safety is paramount and we respond to concerns from members of the public in the way they would expect us to,” she said.

“In this case the report was made with the best of intentions and we would not want to discourage people from contacting us with genuine concerns regarding security.”

www.rockrap.com

Rouge Forum Update (April 4, 2006)

The Rouge Forum No Blood For Oil web page is updated.

We have added a section on the current protests related to immigration “reform.” Here is one of many related pieces.

In these days of regimented curricula, high-stakes tests, and the sheer soldiering through the day that typifies much of schooling, closed schools, closed by social strife, are often better than open schools. And, to the converse, schools that are seized in the midst of social strife, as in the case of some universities in France now, may well offer lessons about real freedom schooling.

Those who want to “Save public education,” need to recognize that behind not-so-public education for “knowledge and the common good,” lies the force and violence of the cops who will be used, invariably, against poor and working class kids–trying to drive them back into the warrens that are called schools–forcing them back to be subjected by curricula and teaching methods that promote lies and obscurity–alienating kids so much from learning that they learn to believe it has nothing to do with them–a remarkable achievement of unpublic apartheid schools today.

Given the nature of the protests against racism and nationalism related to the many immigration bills, it must be underline that it is not possible to strip racism and nationalism from imperialism–and war—as many elites would like to do. The kids seem to recognize that, if their self appointed leaders do not.

The reason that poor and working people flood into the US is, in part, because US backed regimes in their home nations make life nearly impossible and, on the other hand, because low-wage employers in the US feed on them and draw them in, use them, then seek to kick them out, or to shift the burden of their needs onto other workers inside the US. The minor differences between the many “immigration” bills in Congress only serve specific interests among elites, ie, the growers’ interests, the meatpackers’ interests, some xenophobic nationalist interests, and the interests of the US military as well, desperate for bodies to fight its wars.

There is no way out of this dilemma under the system of capital, which requires nationalism, racism, imperialism and war. Nor is there any way out of the immigration dilemma for the US ruling class. Just as they are trapped in Iraq, unable to stay and win the war, unable to leave and leave the oil—and the social/political damage this debacle has created; so they are unable to deal with the reality of 12 million, or more, workers in the US, who have decided to not just stay, but fight back.

Despite the fact that these demonstrations are often misled by adults who seek to drive kids to church, the polls, or even the military, it remains that the youth have taken courageous, direct action—examples for all the rest of us who should be both inspired and shamed by their nerve in facing down ridiculous levels of police repression in order to stand up for their own, and others’ , dignity.

Many, many demonstrations are scheduled for the next few weeks. Depending on shifts in the law and congress, perhaps the biggest will be the mass walkout now set for May 1, Mayday, all over the world, perhaps rekindling the international communist holiday that it once was–dovetailing nicely with antiwar actions scheduled for the April 29th weekend.

Many Rouge Forum members will be at the AERA meeting in San Francisco this coming weekend. Come see us at the MASSEs SIG (Marxian Analysis of Schools, Society and Education).

best, r (apologies for an unusually long message this week)

Thanks to Phillip, Gil, Sean, David, Stephanie, Cal, Barry, Joe, Henry, Scott of the Flex Program, Candace, Hoffie, Annie, Tommie Lee, Marc and Bonnie, Beverly P., Sharon A., and Alcorn.

And a message from Susan Ohanian regarding Substance News:

Substance, the newspaper of the resistance, is in crisis. They did not receive a single new subscription last month and renewals are coming in slowly. George and Sharon Schmidt made a tremendous sacrifice in the name of standing up to test secrecy. We owe them a huge debt. As a result of their legal appeal, people have the right to publish test questions (not whole tests but some questions). This is extraordinary. Fighting this battle cost George, a high school English teacher, his
job. He is now blackballed in the entire Chicago area.

Substance cannot continue to publish without our support. The immediate need is money to pay the printer for the April issue. But there is an ongoing need for subscribers.

Do we want a voice of resistance or don’t we? A subscription for one year is $16.

Please send what you can. We cannot let our voices be silenced.

Substance
5132 Berteau Avenue
Chicago, IL 60641-1440

Susan Ohanian, National Resistance Editor

MLB: E’s picks for 2006

E’s picks for 2006

NL East

Atlanta

(They win for the umpteenth year, this time w/o Rockin’ Leo)

NY Mets

(Because Tommy Glavine has a great year at 40. Whelan is happy for a while, until Cards take out the Mets in the Division Series)

Philadelphia

(Aaron Rowand a steal for Thome)

Washington

(Soriano is more liability than asset in LF and Fick can’t make up for that)

Florida

(Not enough experience to go with Willis and Cabrera)

NL Central

St. Louis

(Unstoppable, they take it all this year)

Houston

(Will Clemens return? Berkman, Preston Wilson good adds)

Chicago

(If Prior and Woods stay off the DL)

Pittsburgh

(Jim Tracey leads B.C. boy Jason Bay plus Sean Casey, Burnitz … too bad the Pirates traded Aramis Ramirez last year otherwise they might nip at Houston’s heels)

Milwaukee

(Corey Koskie to the rescue…nah!!)

Cincinnati

(Gave up good hitting for average pitching)

NL West (aka the worst division in MLB)

San Francisco

(Bonds is bum; should quit before he does dishonor to Hank and The Babe)

San Diego

(Gibson makes a comeback from glory days at Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills and nearly sends Pads to the playoffs; then gets traded to the Tigers in the off season, refuses to go citing previous experience at the River Rouge Ford Plant and chooses to retire from playing and becomes manager of the Florida Marlins, but Marlins move to Las Vegas before spring training 07, which prompts Gibson to make a speech castigating the role of casinos in American society and announce his return to academia.)

Los Angeles

(No way they could finish third in any other division)

Arizona

(Lots of moves, I like Estrada as the catcher, but unless they hire Dr. K. D. V. to manage they’re finishing out of the money)

Colorado

(I like Ray King a lot and Jose Mesa, but adding these guys to the bullpen is not going to change the fortunes of the Rockies)

AL East

Toronto

(Because they’re on TV a lot here; I hate the Yankees and am tired of the Bosox (sorry Ken))

New York Yanquis

(Adding Damon makes a difference)

Boston

(Losing Damon hurts)

Baltimore

(Go Rockin Leo! Did I mention I saw Palmeiro hit #3000 last year, right after he had a “vitamin” shot)

Tampa Bay

(Should have hired Gibson to manage this year)

AL Central

Cleveland

(The Tribe takes the division; Perry buys me tickets to go to the playoffs)

Minnesota

(Everybody loves the Twins this year but can pitching be the difference in the AL?)

Chicago

(Two in a row? I don’t think so.)

Detroit

(No way Leyland can salvage the Tigers)

Kansas City

(Gardenhire will be so distracted trying to fill out a line up card with Mientkiewicz and Grudzielanek in the first two slots he can’t concentrate on managing)

AL West

Oakland

(I always liked those shoes)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

(Would finish first but for that name)

Texas

(Millwood with hitting behind him should make a difference)

Seattle

(What the hell happened in Seattle the past couple of years? But I love that “Ichiro” cheer)

NL Wildcard: New York Mets
AL Wildcard: New York Yanquis

World Series: Cleveland v. St. Louis (Cards prevail)

B.C. universities fight for corporate secrecy

One would think that the public should have access to information about the financial dealings of public universities. But B.C.’s three leading public universities say otherwise and are arguing that access to such records fall outside democratic interests and that the transparency principle of government does not apply when universities are acting as “service providers to a private company.”

The Georgia Straight reports that the province’s three largest universities have argued that the public should not have access to financial dealings of their spinoff companies. According to documents filed with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in a case involving Simon Fraser University, both UBC and the University of Victoria have justified this position, in part, with the claim that universities act as “service providers” to private-sector organizations.

The dispute centres around a freedom-of-information request to SFU, which was filed by David Noble, a professor at York University. Noble, a critic of the corporate influence on universities, sought information in February 2004 from SFU’s University/Industry Liaison Office on companies spun off from SFU research.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers has intervened on Noble’s side, claiming that SFU should not be allowed to use it’s wholly owned company to deny public access to documents involving licensing deals.

You mean those mean old liberal professors AREN’T victimizing right-wing students?

David Horowitz and his gaggle of right-wing emenies of academic freedom (like the so-called “Bruin Alumni Association” at UCLA) have been a on rampage in recent months. Horowitz has humped his “Academic Bill of Rights”as the solution to a phantom problem: liberal professors who ideologically abuse conservative students and give them lower or even failing grades because of their political views.

Hororwitz has never provided any systematic evidence to support his claims about classroom bias (nor does he supply evidence that liberal professors are murders, a claim made in his recent book-length rant about liberal/left professors).

Well, as it turns out there is empirical research on the issue in question and the evidence suggests that there is no relationship between students political views and their grades, with one interesting exception: in some disciplines favored by conservative students (e.g., business and economics), students with liberal politics are the ones receiving lower grades. Hmmm…

Inside Higher Ed reports: “Markus Kemmelmeier, a sociologist at the University of Nevada at Reno, has been watching the Academic Bill of Rights debate with growing frustration, because he thinks there is proof about the question about classroom bias that has been ignored. “I just don’t see evidence” of bias, says Kemmelmeier, one of three authors of an in-depth study on the topic that was published last year in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.”

Kemmelmeier’s research shows conservative and liberal students do equally well in courses with politically charged content (e.g., sociology, women’s studies, African American studies, education, cultural anthropology) and the results casts doubt on conservative activists’ claims that liberal faculty members routinely discriminate against their conservative students.

These results are from a four-year longitudinal study that began in the late 1990s, Kemmelmeier surveyed 3,890 students at a major public university in the Midwest. Asked to describe their political orientation, 2.7 percent identified themselves as far left, 34.6 percent as liberal, 42 percent as middle of the road, 20 percent as conservative, and 1.2 percent as far right.

Mr. Kemmelmeier then compared the transcripts of a variety of students taking the same courses, specifically courses taught in the economics department and the business school (which Mr. Kemmelmeier considered “hierarchy-enhancing,” or conservative) and those taught in American culture, African-American studies, cultural anthropology, education, nursing, sociology, and women’s studies (which he considered “hierarchy-attenuating,” or liberal).

He found that in the latter courses, students’ political orientations had no effect on their grades — which, the study says, suggests that disciplines such as sociology and anthropology “might be more accepting of a broad range of student perspectives,” while economics and business classes “appear to be more sensitive to whether student perspectives are compatible with those of the academic discipline.”

In economics and business classes, the study found, conservative students earned better grades. It also found that conservative students were likely to gaduate with higher GPA’s in those courses than liberal students who entered college with similar SAT scores.

War made easy

The article below was published on March 29 as a Znet commentary and is excerpted from Norman Solomon’s speech to an antiwar rally in Sebastopol, California, on Sunday, March 19. His latest book is “War MadeEasy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” For information, go to: WarMadeEasy.com.

Why Are We Here?

By Norman Solomon

On March 18, during her national radio response to the president, Senator Dianne Feinstein accused the Bush administration of “incompetence”in the Iraq war.

What would be a competent way to pursue the war in Iraq? How would you drop huge bombs on urban neighborhoods in a competent way? How would you deploy cluster munitions that shred the bodies of children in a competent way? How would you take hundreds of thousands of people from their home land and send them to a country to kill and be killed — based on lies — in a competent way?

How do you ravage the housing and health care and education of communities across the United States, while war-profiteering corporations post bigger profits — how would you do that in a competent way?

Senator Feinstein went on to say that it’s so important, for the war in Iraq, for the United States government to “do it right.”

How does one do this war right, when every day it brings more carnage? The only way to do this war right is to not do it at all. Reporting on a new assault by the U.S. military in Iraq, a headline on the March 17 front page of the San Francisco Chronicle said: “Biggest air attack since the invasion seen as delivering a message.”

Delivering a message.

Forty years ago, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara said it was necessary to drop bombs on North Vietnam in order to deliver a message to the Communist leaders in Hanoi. The former war correspondent Chris Hedges, in his book “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning,” recalls that when he was reporting from El Salvador, one morning he and other reporters woke up at their hotel and discovered that death squads had dumped corpses in front of the building overnight, and in the mouths of those corpses were written messages threatening the journalists.

In Yugoslavia, during the spring of 1999, the bombs fell with the U.S.-led NATO forces delivering a message. And when, at noontime one Friday in the city of Nis, cluster bombs fell courtesy of U.S. taxpayers and ripped into the body of a woman holding a bag of carrots from the market, that too was an instance of sending a message.

Time after time, leaders send messages by inflicting death. On September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden sent a message at the World Trade Center. And in the fall of 2001 the U.S. military sent a message to Afghanistan, where the civilians who died, if we are going to count numbers, were at least as numerous as those who died at the World Trade Center.

And now, George W. Bush continues to send a message with the bombs and the bullets. And we’re encouraged — if not to avidly support — to be passive. To defer. To be inactive.

When people across the United States gather to oppose this war, they are refusing to participate in sending the message of death.

Almost 40 years ago Martin Luther King talked about what he called “the madness of militarism.” And it’s with us, here and now; it’s with us in the United States every time a child is malnourished, every time people need medical care and don’t get it and suffer and sometimes lose their lives, while the military budgets of this country — over half a trillion dollars a year — are spent not on defense but on military expenditures, which dwarf anything that could be accurately described as defense. The madness of militarism that Dr. King talked about is expressed every day by the likes of Senator Feinstein, who demands “competence” in war and says that it must be done right.

We need a peace effort, not a war effort, from the United States. Instead of doing a better job of killing, there’s a movement around this country to compel what is said to be our own government to do a much much much better job of sustaining life — instead of taking it.

The problem isn’t that this war may not be winnable. The problem is the war was and is and always will be wrong, and must be stopped.

At every demonstration for peace and social justice, why are we here? Because those are values we want to live for.

And why are we here on this earth? Why are any of us here? Not an easy question to answer. But activism is a way of insisting that we’re not here to be part of war machinery. We’re not here to be part of the killing, we’re not here to aid and abet or enable those like George W. Bush who lead the charge to slaughter in the name of freedom to serve profit. We’re here with a very different mission.

**E’s picks for 2006**

E’s picks for 2006