NO INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY AT VASSAR

How they must fear conservative thought! They have just banned the only Conservative Student Organization there

"For those of you who may be following the events at Vassar College, a shocking and reprehensible twist: The only Conservative organization at Vassar College, the Moderate, Independent, Conservative Alliance (MICA) was officially de-authorized last night in a vote that succeeded by an overwhelming margin.

The ostensible reason for the de-authorization by the Vassar Student Association (VSA) was that MICA had missed the proposed deadline for holding its forum on free speech. The deadline was set to occur before Vassar’s October Break. According to The Miscellany News, not exactly a reliable source, though on this they are correct. Under the resolution passed by VSA on Sept. 18, MICA was to hold a forum before October break.

At the VSA meeting on Sunday, Oct. 9, Ambrose went to the VSA to ask for an extension for the dialogue… Rodems said that the resolution states that Council will revisit the issue after October break if the forum does not occur before break, and told Ambrose not to do a rushed job. No one made a motion for any amendments to the resolution. The forum was not held before October break, and MICA posters in the dorms advertise that it will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

MICA requested a deadline extension on the forum, moving it back two weeks so that they would have more time to prepare. Their request was dismissed, and the forum did not take place before the assigned date (instead it is set to occur Wednesday, October 26th, the date requested by MICA).

While the VSA certainly has a right and a responsibility to penalize MICA for not meeting the agreed upon date, the inflexibility, strictness, and severity of their response, absolutely out of character given their dealings with other organizations on campus, was completely out of line given the mild nature of MICA’s infraction. The VSA’s decision to completely de-authorize MICA demonstrates that the VSA was not acting purely on the basis of MICA’s failure to hold the forum, instead it surrendered to the poisonous atmosphere of hostility directed towards MICA and let unreasonable and inappropriate factors, factors which exist outside of the purview of both MICA and the VSA, influence the severity of its response.

I had hoped that at a prestigious place like Vassar College that reason would prevail. Unfortunately the actions of those who identify themselves as “concerned students” and those of the VSA have dashed this hope. The real twist to this story, that it seemed like students at Vassar College were standing up on principle for free speech, has indeed flopped. And, though done in the name of censure, the aim was to censor. It it has succeeded.

Note that the name of this org is MICA Moderate, Independent, Conservative, Alliance. Apparently they are the only group on campus to the right of Howard Dean and now they are "de-authorized.""

Source





RELIGIOUS SCHOOL POPULAR: HOW SURPRISING!

Anything would be better than the average British "Comprehensive"

Parents trying to secure a place for their children at England's first state-funded Sikh school stapled cheques for the school fund to their applications, an inquiry by the Local Government Ombudsman has revealed. The watchdog has ordered Guru Nanak Sikh Secondary School, in Hayes, Middlesex, to review its admissions procedure after concerns that parents received the impression that giving money to the school would help to win a place. It had 223 applicants for 60 places this year. The main criticism of the popular secondary, one of only two state-funded Sikh schools in the country, was that it accepted "evidence of either financial or other donations" to a gurdwara (a Sikh place of worship) as proof of a family's commitment to the faith.

Tony Redmond, the Ombudsman, said that the way the school used this information to determine whether families met the admissions criteria was flawed because of a "lack of objectivity and transparency". The school also accepted "evidence of having supported the school or the Nansaker Trust", a Sikh charity established by the school's founder. Some parents had misinterpreted this to mean a financial contribution and they included cheques for the school with their application forms, although these were returned.

Mr Redmond said: "Although I have seen no direct evidence for this, I believe it could easily give rise to the suspicion that financial support for the school or the trust is a factor in the offer of places."

Greg Hall, the deputy head teacher at Guru Nanak, a former private school, said: "The idea that you can buy a place does persist among a few parents and it is categorically not true. We spend a lot of time making this clear, both on the application form and at parents' evenings. In fact offering money would be damaging to the application because we would regard it as a bribe." Mr Hall said donations to the gurdwara were part of the Sikh custom of sewa, voluntary service to help the needy. This was as likely to involve cooking for the temple or offering bags of rice as donating money, he said. However, the school does plan to simplify its admissions procedure and accept more evidence of devotion from priests rather than parents.

More here





Kentucky: School districts turn to random drug tests : "There's not much cramming students can do for this kind of pop quiz. As school districts grapple with keeping illegal drugs from students, some are turning to random drug testing. At least two have added random tests this fall, and more could be on the way. 'It's not such a radical movement right now,' said John Akers, executive director of the Kentucky Center for School Safety. 'But it's a slow moving, steady moving trend right now toward drug testing.' There is no exact count, but education officials think at least 36 of Kentucky's 176 school districts require drug tests at some level. ... Mark Cleveland, superintendent of Owen County Schools, said his district conducted its first random drug test at its middle school Tuesday. 'Seven or eight' students took the tests, along with three district administrators and the principal, Cleveland said .... 'You don't want to violate someone's civil rights, but at the same time you want to make sure that the schools are safe,' Cleveland said."

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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