'Surf' degree hits the rocks


A new course in surf and beach management has been dropped - because no-one would take it seriously.

Swansea Institute's principal David Warner said they had been forced to axe the course as "it was impossible to stop people poking fun at it". The degree, due to start last month, was at the centre of a big splash in July when it was criticised at a teachers' union conference.

Teacher Peter Morris labelled it a "Mickey Mouse" course. Mr Morris, from Swansea, said surfing was "a hobby, not a subject" and that the three-year degree was "devaluing academia". The course was to have featured modules on managing surf expeditions and surf destination planning.

It was defended strongly by Mr Warner, who insisted it had not been cancelled due to lack of interest. "This is extremely sad," he said. "This is an example of a very good vocational course within a dynamic industry which now will not be run simply because of the bigots. "We do not want to get an image for doing anything other than serious vocational work, and others were just making fun of it. "After three months at least of attempting to explain to people that indeed this was a management course, it was impossible to stop people poking fun at it. "This is not fair to all our other students to be tarred with the brush of this."

All the students who signed up to the course have been accommodated on other courses within the institute. It is currently unclear whether the degree will be started next year instead. The course had required applicants to have at least two D-grades at A-level.

Earlier, Mr Warner said every course at the institute was carefully planned to give students as much hands on experience as possible in their chosen field. And he said 96.8% of graduates either found employment or went on to further education within six months of completing their studies in Swansea - one of the best rates in the UK.

More here.





UNIVERSITY OF MASS. FINDS RACISTS UNDER THE BED

No freedom even for silly speech

Less than one year after the University of Massachusetts Amherst defended the free speech rights of a columnist who celebrated the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, the university has campaigned to persecute nine students who were seen in photographs containing a caricature of one of them as the "Grand Wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan. The drawing, which was intended to mock both the Klan itself and spurious accusations of "racism" made during the course of a student government election campaign, depicted the so-called Grand Wizard with his eyes crossed and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. The mere existence of such a drawing led UMass to charge the nine students with "harassment" and threaten them with penalties ranging from criminal charges to expulsion.

"Appalling double standards are, unfortunately, nothing new at America's colleges and universities, but UMass has taken the unfair treatment of students to a new low," said David French, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which is advocating on behalf of the students. "UMass officials know that the drawing was a constitutionally protected satire of accusations of racism made against a candidate in a student election, yet they have denounced the students in public as racists and are pushing ahead with plans to punish them."

On March 26, 2004, after the elections for the UMass Student Government Association (SGA), several candidates gathered in a student organization office for a post-election party. One student at the party, Patrick Higgins, was defeated in a race for SGA President during which he was labeled a "racist" for opposing a plan to set aside a number of seats in the Student Senate solely for members of a campus group called ALANA. (Eventually the plan was judged unconstitutional by UMass's own general counsel.) ALANA claims to represent "African, Latino/a, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American" students at UMass.

In an effort to mock the charges of racism, a person at the party drew a caricature of Higgins as a member of the Ku Klux Klan on a dry-erase board. The "Grand Wizard" was depicted wearing a pointed hat and a cape, and holding a burning cross. With his eyes crossed and his tongue hanging out of his mouth, the "Wizard" had a speech bubble written over his head that read, "I LOVE ALANA!!". One of the partygoers took photographs of the caricature and posted them on his personal website. An unknown student later circulated the photographs around campus, along with others that appear to show some of the partygoers drinking alcohol.

"Anyone looking at the caricature of the student as a 'Grand Wizard' can see that it is not an expression of support for the KKK," commented Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy. "In the context of the charges leveled during the election, it's quite clear that the drawing is a satire of what the students felt was an unjust characterization of Higgins."

After controversy erupted, UMass Amherst Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Michael Gargano told the Daily Collegian campus newspaper, "I have the authority to remove these people from office.I could give them 500 hours of community service, have them conduct an open forum discussion; I have a variety of sanctions at my disposal. I'm not ruling out dismissal." Gargano further articulated his threats at a September 27 "diversity panel," stating, "[I]f the Student Government Association doesn't move on it, I will. Are we clear? Resign!"

The same "diversity panel," consisting of Gargano, SGA President Eduardo Bustamante, and several UMass faculty members, labeled the nine students in the photos the "KKK Nine," implying that they supported the Ku Klux Klan. "Accusing students without any evidence of their affiliation with or sympathy for a racist terror organization is beyond slander. It shows a grave disregard for students, contempt for the principle of 'innocent until proven guilty,' and a lack of judgment bordering on malice," said FIRE's Lukianoff.

UMass has charged all nine students with "harassment conduct less than a physical attack" and other charges related to the consumption of alcohol. During the resulting judicial proceedings, UMass has offered "settlements" that include punishments far more severe than those typically imposed for first-time alcohol offenses.

On October 7, FIRE wrote UMass Amherst Chancellor John V. Lombardi on behalf of the students, pointing out that not only was the drawing irresponsibly mischaracterized, but that it was also constitutionally protected expression that UMass, as a state institution, was forbidden to punish. FIRE pointed out that "the First Amendment protects even extraordinarily offensive satire and parody," and emphasized that any punishment decisions "must be made without reference to the 'offensive' caricature."

More here. Eugene Volokh says that the behavior of the university is clearly illegal.


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American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of other countries. The only real difference, however, is how much power they have. In America, their power is limited by democracy. To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges. They show there the same respect for free-speech that Stalin did: None. So look to the colleges to see what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way. It would be a dictatorship.

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