An Alum Asks What the Pro-Peace Protests Were About

Over at The Forum, there's the following comment in response to the post about the students protesting the "recent acts of violence in South Asia." It's worth reproducing in full, as it nicely sums up, and then dismantles, the faulty thinking of an unfortunately large number of people on campus. 

What exactly were you protesting? Many years ago, a few students from the Muslim Student Club did something similar for repeated terrorist attacks in Israel. They seemed to equate the attacks in Israel with the IDF and IAF’s retaliation. To me, this ‘protest’ — apart from scoring cheap publicity and an opportunity for facebook photo albums from a tragedy — seems to imply something similar. This, for obvious reasons is wrong at multiple levels. For starters, the unintended collateral damage of a liberal democracy defending herself is in no way equal to the amoral, barbaric acts of savagery committed by terrorist groups. More importantly, misguided protests like this one fail to recognize their intended target. Posters like “Let India and Pakistan live in peace” or the equivalent from my experience, “Let Israel and Palestine live in peace” forget to condemn the Islamist Terror groups and dangerous Wahabbi ideologies that threaten peace and freedom in the first place.

Of course, none of these arguments are relevant here, since this ’sitting protest’ hardly seems to be sincere. Its purpose was far from condemning the brutal violence of the terrorist groups responsible for 26/11 or encouraging healthy debate about the appropriate response to the threat of Islamic terrorism around the world. I strongly hope CMC’s strong curriculum in the humanities will set your ethics and values straight.

To the kids in the main photo, I hope you realize that the smirk on your face while holding those posters is an insult to the slain on 26/11 and the brave men who fought back. [ Editor's note: pictured above]

I would point out that the title of the post "recent acts of violence" is also silly. They weren't just acts of violence, they were acts of savage terrorism and deserved to be called such. 

Ross Boomer, the Forum's Censor-in-Chief, Looks for Fresh Recruits

I nearly fell off my seat when I got this missive from Ross Boomer CMC '09. [reproduced below] Unfortunately, Ross is still the editor of The Forum, despite his very unethical censorship of my views in The Forum last semester when I wrote a blog post questioning the tactics of gay activists in California vis a vis Prop. 8. 

 

Of course, the Forum, the school sponsored and paid for publication, pays its writers, meaning that your compulsory fees per semester go to covering slanted news. Often we justify subsidies on the grounds that they benefit the entire community, but this one seems to benefit only a limited number of students who receive  "fellowships" awarded with our tuition dollars. Those who were awarded Forum fellowships post infrequently at best, with the possible exception being the rather hilarious posts by Ian McGinnity CMC '11.

(For the record, I applied for that fellowship, but was turned down, for I'm sure, non-political reasons. I've also asked The Forum to link to The Claremont Conservative, a blog which has been linked to by the school-official, CMC Nation, and which is now a two-time finalist for a national blog contest. I was told no, repeatedly, which is surprising seeing as the Forum bills itself as a well, a Forum, for student views.)

Let's hope The Forum has better success this semester, though I would tend to doubt it. 

Some of the lowlights from the last semester include the following: 

1) a blog post attacking Mormons for Proposition 8 (odd for a supposedly non-politically affliated blog...)

2) Ross's post on his walk on campus. (yes, really)

Remember, parents: during this market downturn, ASCMC, which funds the Forum, is one of the few groups on campus that is increasing its mandatory fees.

 What do its fees go to? Entertainment, specifically. Some of you are struggling to make sure that your students can afford another semester and yet the students who run ASCMC are jacking up to pay for more securities guard at our parties. Having been a security guard at those parties, I can say without qualification that the money is largely wasted. In fact, last year, a student security guard got wasted at the DJ Timbo party, so much so that he had to be hospitalized! We also pay for professional security at the same time, in case you're wondering.

In any event, here's Ross's email to us all. As an aside, I should mention that I tend to doubt that they hit "thousands" a day and that they are more read than The Claremont Independent, which has produced real journalists, like John Wilson of The New York Post and Kevin Vance of The Weekly Standard.

I hope everyone had fantastic breaks (and welcome back juniors!). I wanted to let you know that the Forum is hiring for Spring 2009! We saw an amazing growth in readership last semester, with many days seeing thousands of unique viewers! Considering this success, we're interested in expanding our campus coverage and our staff. Remember, with greater numbers of viewers every day, your work is likely to be read more often by more people than with other on-campus publications. [Emphasis mine]

We remain an ASCMC-sponsored,  non-politically affiliated news blog and portal for CMC students. Feel free to read our About Us, which clarifies our current mission, purpose, and disclaimer.

What can you do for the Forum? Check out all the (paid) positions below:

Forum Fellows - Similar to last semester, we are looking for dedicated students interested in contributing weekly news and opinion (generally campus-related / college-related) in return for competitive pay. Although all students are welcome to apply, we are particularly looking for those interested in covering CMC and 5C news.  Financial compensation will be higher for news writers.

Campus Food Reviewer - Ever at a loss for where to go eat your meals? We want someone to help! Your job would be primarily to review 5C campus food menus weekly and provide suggestions. You could also occasionally highlight local places. Should have witty writing skills, and a discerning palate. 

Ask [State Your Name] - Yes. An advice columnist. From love to studying to TNC.

Writing Contributers -  Enjoy writing but unsure of being a regular fellow? We'll gladly accept (and probably publish) student submissions, and if they're REALLY good we might even pay you! 

Web Developer - We're always looking for ways to improve our interface, expand features (particularly using Web 2.0), and serve CMC students better. Whether you have tech experience or not, if you are interested in helping us develop new capabilities then let us know.

Questions? Interested? Respond to this message by next Friday, January 23  and I'll give you the hook up.

Thanks for reading us and happy new year! 

Ross Boomer '09

Editor-in-Chief

thecmcforum.com