CMC 2012 Facebook Group: Response to Jules

Quick background: The CMC Admissions Office created a Official Facebook Class of 2012 Group and denied Claremont students access to view or join the group. This is unlike the Class of 2011 group last year, created by our very own Ben Casnocha. Casnocha's initiative led to a group of 242 members, a little short of the 269 (approximately) that enrolled. Without any 'Official' interference, we had an incredible 131 discussion topics, 938 wall posts and 19 student posted photos. I would compare these statistics with the 2012 group, but we can't view the group.

Jules Dormady '08 responded to CJ's original post. He gave two reasons for censorship: 1) Answer questions that accepted students have about the school. 2) Provide a place where freshmen can meet each other.

Here's my response:

1) If students have questions, then why are we stopping current CMC students, you know- the people who go here, from answering them? Its a clear contradiction. More voices and more answers should only benefit the incoming freshmen. After all, diversity in opinion is equally, if not more important than superficial diversity. How are handpicked students any better than the entire student population at responding to queries?

Jules, why was the student-created group insufficient last year? Shouldn't CMC pride the initiative of students such as Casnocha. Blocking off the community to a regulated discussion does not benefit existing or incoming students.

You stated that the group was not meant for, "[CMC Students to] share their views about the college or other topics." So how does your talented VSAC committee answer student queries?

There was a thread on the CMC website last year. If its still active, the most common questions were about student perception regarding academics, social life, career, dorms, alcohol to name a few. I joined these groups partly to know existing CMC students and hear what they have to say.

2) Again, why was last year's group insufficient? I think the 938 wall posts and 131 discussion topics (got pretty intense in those forums) are proof of our extensive interaction. I recall a student even commenting on the degree of student involvement, from existing and incoming students, weighing into his final decision. I fail to see how freshmen can 'meet' by our exclusion.

Now, for the admitted students website.

I was one of the first students to create a post on that forum. I was excited and couldn't wait to meet more CMCers. We had a few people respond initially, but within a month, the forum was inactive.

The reason- It was really, really bad. It was difficult to access, the threads could not be nested and we couldn't communicate easily. There were only a few CMC students to speak with and you couldn't see anyone's profile. The Facebook group was created in reaction so that we could do more, meet more people and learn more about each other.

Here are the links for the other 5C's and their open groups:

Pomona College
Scripps College
Harvey Mudd College
Pitzer College

Congratulations to all admitted students. Hope you make the right choice. If you see this page, make a request to the Admins. Ask them if you can join the CMC community.

Pomona Speaker Yen Le Espiritu's Wrong on Trade and Economics

Yen Le Espiritu will be speaking tomorrow at Pomona College's Smith Campus Center at 4:15 PM. The title of her talk is "Border Crossers: A Critical Perspective on Asian Immigration to the United States." She is sponsored by the Working for Responsible Dialogue Series (WORD) -- whatever "responsible dialogue" is.

What does she mean by Border Crossers?

Heres's what she means. Or so says Giaoacchino Campese who quotes Yen Le Espiritu on p. 180 of this book, Religion And Social Justice for Immigrants, edited byPierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo.

I quote Giaocchino Campese, quoting Yen Le Espiritu, "'U.S. colonizers, the military, and corporations that invade and forcefully deplete the economic and cultural resources of less-powerful countries.'"

Corporations invade? The American East Indian Company? Shocking!

Because we know all the countries that cut themselves off from the world economy do fantastically well. Right? I mean North Korea, Cuba, Burma, and Zimbabwe are utopias, right?.

Ronald's sure lovin' it, and it isn't a happy meal. Guess they didn't like the secret sauce. Shame on you, Ronald, for invading these otherwise peaceful people! Next time, no ice!





(Full disclosure: Aditya and I worked on those admittedly bad jokes.)

No Place for Hate? Not at CGU...

C.G.U's Second Annual “Mirrors and Windows: Facing Religious Prejudices and Stereotypes” will take place all day on Sunday, April 13.

Sheikh Sadullah Khan, Executive Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Irvine will be the keynote speaker.

By the way, he currently advises "the development of the post-graduate Islamic Studies program at Claremont Graduate University" and is listed as one of the Islamic Studies Council Members.

But Sadullah Khan is also a bigot who has said some very disturbing things about Israel. The disconnect about talking about "stereotypes" is apparently lost on CGU.

Here is a summary from a UC Irvine student that has been following Sheikh Sadullah Khan's more outlandish statements.

• Quotes Will Baker, a neo-Nazi
  
• Considers one of three Big Lies to be "Zionism is essential to Judaism"
  
• Thinks "Zionism is a nationalistic movement with a sense of racial superiority serving the interest of a specific group, exploiting religious sentiments, distorting history and vulgarizing interpretation of destruction as its sinister components"
  
• Paints Zionists as "opportunists"
  
• States "Jews who came [to Israel] brought with them a Western arrogance"
  
• Considers (assumedly) any country "hipocritical" if it refuses to assist the Palestinian Authority because the majority party (HAMAS) refuses to recognize Israel, renounce violence, and abide by prior agreements.
  

Here's an article about what Sadullah Khan has said about Israel and Zionism.

On June 5^th, the Los Angeles chapter of CAIR sponsored a community town hall meeting at the Islamic Center of Irvine (ICOI), a mosque that propagates venomously anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. In a Khutbah (sermon) given at the ICOI last month, entitled ‘The Abuse of a Religion to sustain a Racist State,’ the ICOI’s Director of Religious Affairs, Sadullah Khan, stated, “Jews who came [to Israel] brought with them a Western arrogance…” In the sermon, which is found on the ICOI website, Khan liberally quoted alleged neo-Nazi William Baker and described Zionism as “racist,” “diabolical” and “sinister.”

Curiously, the sermon has now been taken done. A copy of the full sermon can be found here.

I think we ought to get together to protest this religion conference.

Michelle Malkin on Fake Hate Crimes

(h/t: Jonathan)

Michelle Malkin goes down the list of fake hate crimes in recent years in The New York Post.

She's writing in the wake of the probably faked Columbia noose incident.

Any of these incidents sound familiar? Any of the conditions sound alike at our campuses?

Mix identity politics, multicultural studies, cowardly administrators and sympathetic media - and you've got a toxic recipe for opportunistic hate-crime hoaxes. Today's Tawana Brawley-copycats couldn't ask for better enablers.

* In 2001, Arizona State University student Ahmad Saad Nasim admitted to police that he'd fabricated two anti-Muslim hate-crime incidents against himself.

* In 2002, black students at the University of Mississippi scrawled racist graffiti in campus housing.

* In 2004, Kerri Dunn, an assistant visiting professor at Claremont McKenna College, was sentenced to prison after staging an anti-Semitic hate crime against herself.

* In 2005, a lesbian student at Mt. Tamalpais HS in Marin County, Calif., faked several anti-gay incidents to garner attention and sympathy.

* Last fall, George Washington University student Sarah Marshak admitted scrawling swastikas on her own dorm-room door.

* Last December, an idiot Princeton student, Francisco Nava, falsely claimed he was targeted and beaten because of his politics.

Campuses remain fertile ground for hate-crime hoaxes because administrators - whipped up into p.c. frenzies when the "crimes" are first reported - are reluctant to crack down on minority students and professors who perpetrate the lies. In many of these cases, charges against the con artists are reduced to wrist-slaps or dropped completely.

And the university grievance-coddlers come up with excuses to rationalize away the manufactured hate: They meant well. At least they "raised awareness." Nobody was hurt.

Dunn Part II? Response in Next Post

Dear Members of the Pomona College Community:

Saturday afternoon, a Pomona student discovered that his vehicle and two vehicles parked near his car in the Lawry Lot (the lot north of 6^th street) had been marked with anti-Semitic, anti-queer, and ethnic slurs and images. Campus Safety responded and later asked CPD to respond because of the nature of the slurs. CPD is conducting an investigation into the incident and will attempt to determine whether or not the vandalism was targeted toward specific individuals. It is believed that the incident could have occurred sometime between last night and today. This situation constitutes a bias incident.

Pomona College is committed to being a supportive and inclusive community and bias-related incidents will not be tolerated. Any time a community member becomes aware of a racist, sexist, or heterosexist incident on our campus, a potential bias incident or hate crime, they are urged to take appropriate action to combat the incident. These actions might include:

- calling campus safety,

- photographing the incident,

- identifying the perpetrator,

- intervening in the moment if it is safe to do so,

If you have any information regarding this specific incident, please contact Campus Safety (x72000), the Office of Campus Life (x72239) or my office directly (x18017).

Anyone in need of support or wishing to discuss this incident is also welcomed and encouraged to contact any one of the following resources: Staff at the Queer Resource Center, Dean of Students Office, Office of Campus Life, Asian American Resource Center, Office of Community and Multicultural Programs, Monsour Counseling and Psychological Services, the Chaplains, Office of Black Student Affairs, or the Chicano/Latino Student Affairs office.

Sincerely,

Dean Feldblum