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Tuesday, April 30, 2002
Steve Sexton's Wally-wrapup is getting some flack for various reasons.
CalASUC seizes on it as a 'hit piece' against Student Action. Considering Student Action just threatened to bodily drag Sexton out of a room and take remarkably punitive actions against him with OSL, I guess my first reaction would be 'They started it.' But a 'hit piece' involves taking half-truths and outright lies and building a false picture out of them. Sexton charges that: 1. Wally threatened him with arrest and a complaint with OSL 2. Wally refuses to talk to the Daily Cal 3. Josh kept the Daily Cal from covering Lobby Day out of spite Put together, these seem to me like a defensive and secretive administration that refuses to be accountable. Which is exactly what Sexton prints. Maybe this would look like a 'hit piece' if CalASUC could prove any of the three charges above were lies. So far, her only defense has been 'Wally was kidding' and 'Sexton is biased.' (Not to mention that her example of bias-- that Sexton charged SA with blocking access to Daily Cal's last year-- actually happened. Sexton didn't make this up to make SA look bad; they did that all on their own.) CalAnon teases the column for the concluding line pledging to be fair and balanced. He attacks people on several fronts, then claims that in the coverage of Berkeley news, the Daily Cal will continue to be, in the seemingly grand tradition of Fox News, "fair, balanced, and unafraid." Doubt that'll happen under your tenure, bub.I think Nolo misses the point behind this column. Around this time a year ago the Daily Cal had been cowed over the Horowitz ad. A semester ago it dealt with the Bell cartoon in the Berdahl tradition of nervously calling for calm. In both cases there was a siege mentality, a sense of 'Make this go away,' etc. Now Sexton has declared that the Daily Cal will be bold, unafraid, and willing to handle touchy, sensitive stories. Despite the ASUC's threat of higher rents, and the threat of having offices occupied, they're willing to pursue tough stories. Screwups like the Sex DeCal story and poor Mr. Leeray are besides the point; this is a column about where the Daily Cal is going, not where it's been. The question to follow now is if it'll live up to that pledge. We'll see. FULL DISCLOSURE: I applied to be a Daily Cal columnist, so I'm all biased and stuff. Plus I stole a bunch of free tickets to this IMAX thing from them... Also, I don't like Wally.Email This Post! Monday, April 29, 2002
Calstuff Exclusive!
Calstuff Correspondant A.C.B reports Alex Kipnis has decided to settle the Jen Lee case. They are asking for a recount in which the intent of the voter will be looked into.If true, you heard it here first.Email This Post!
BLAST FROM THE ZIONIST PAST: here's a letter written in response to lil' Willy Youmans back when he was a student at U Mich. Email This
Post!
Time for this week's Obscure Cal Trivia Challenge!
A problem with last week's contest was the question was easily Google-able. But not this week's. Once again, the rules and rewards: "Here's how it'll go. Every Monday night around 7, I'll ask a question of exceedingly obscure Cal-related trivia. Maybe about the ASUC, maybe about the Football team, something. You loyal readers e-mail me with the answer. Points will be given for 1. Speed and 2. Completeness. Winners will get the option of making me do one (1) favor for you. This includes, but is not limited to, a poem in your honor, a picture, a post on Calstuff about something of your liking, etc. Calstuff retains right of refusal for favors deemed too extreme. If no one wants a favor, I'll buy them a Ben and Jerry's Bar of their choice. No one shall be allowed to win twice in a row, and no Brothers of Alpha Delta Phi, California Chapter will be allowed to compete. " Everyone knows the Heuristic Squelch is Berkeley's humor magazine. But you may not know about the humor mag that preceded it. This publication lasted for almost one hundred years before folding. It was once so popular, an alumnus donated money for the construction of a building devoted entirely to this humor magazine. So here's the questions: 1. What's the name of that publication? 2. What year were they founded? 3. What's the name and location of their onetime building? SUPER BONUS EXTREMELY HARD QUESTION: Sent in by Calstuff Correspondant AOP, OK, you're a brilliant scholar of all things Oski-esque. So you already know that the statue outside the Berkeley Art Museum is named 'A Hawk for Peace.' And since you're that good, you must know the name of the one in Faculty Glade. But tell me, smart guy, what's the relationship between the two sculptors who created those statues? Email This Post!
I'll bet the Commencement Speaker Committee was exchanging high-fives and tossing down Zimas after coming up with Jonny Moseley. High achiever, good story, something of a rebel. And most importantly, after years of their picks getting protested and shouted at, they'd finally come up with someone Everyone Could Agree On.
Ha! Welcome to Berkeley! Jason Simon, head of the association that picked Moseley, woke up this morning to find campus relentlessly flyered with 'Attention: Class of 2002. DO YOU WANT JONNY MOSELEY TO BE YOUR COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER? IF NOT, VOICE YOUR OPINION LOUD AND CLEAR!' A list of e-mail addresses follows. Another flyer bemoans that Moseley isn't a 'political, cultural,' leader. A third undercuts that point by asking 'Why don't we have a Cal Olympian?' Double deductions for whoever put those two together: you're asking for two mutually exclusive things. Either your group wants Albright Redux or some Cal Grad with a medal. Make up your mind. Quelle bitchery. There's always someone who wants to taint a perfectly good Commencement Speaker. Probably the best thing to come out of this is next year's Selectors will shrug their shoulders and decide there's no point making decisions based on likelihood of getting protested. We've just demonstrated that Cal hates everyone.Email This Post!
Jim Fung writes
Hi kevin, I'm not defending the call for a new election, but the ballot design was indeed confusing for me. At first I thought I was supposed to rank the candidates, by putting a "1" next to my first choice, a "2" next to my second choice, etc. Eventually I figured out my error and erased it. Sunday, April 28, 2002
Ian points out that having a problem with the ballot design and wanting a new election are two different things.Email This
Post!
Brando makes some good points RE: Jen Lee
1. Why did she wait so long to file charges against the Election? There's no answer that makes her look good. 2. What kind of President would she make if this is her idea of working with students and other political parties?Email This Post! Saturday, April 27, 2002
I'd like to spend some time today calling Senator Jen Lee selfish and arrogant, but I'm not sure what the right way to go about it is.
I could start with September, when Senator Lee, demonstrating fine Christian humility and deference, was manhandled into the Senate Finance Chair position despite the obvoius talent and experience of Senator Joanne Liu. Perhaps also with her blatant gerrymandering of funds towards Asian Christian groups at the expense of all other ethnicities, religions, and student groups in general. But I'm going to stick with her lawsuit against the ASUC asking for a new election, a request breathtaking in how completely it would screw over the student body for her own narrowminded self-interest. No one wants a new election. Student Action doesn't. APPLE doesn't. Neither does Cal-SERVE, DAAP, or any Independent. God knows the Students don't want to go through that again. Jen Lee wants to have a new election because she was number 11, Jesse was number 1, and it's 'confusing to voters when they reverse the order.' Because, God Knows, students aren't smart enough to look at the names of the people they're voting for. That's $50,000 of student money for a new election! According to Unicef's website, that money could buy blankets for 11000 children, buy measle vaccines for 350000, a battery of vaccines for 29000, and buy enough Vitamin A tablets for 8300000. Or how about Math textbooks for 500 Berkeley students? A full scholarship for 10? No, lets use that money so one single person can lose again! My new slogan is WWJLAWAD. (What Would Jen Lee and Wally Adeyemo Do.) Whenever I'm tempted to use large sums of public money for my own personal aggrandizement, I'll have to ask myself, WWJLAWAD? And the answer will be: 'Do whatever makes me feel more like a big swinging dick. Email This Post!
Ballot counting postponed...again....
Dear Candidates,
I turned in my application to be a Daily Cal columnist yesterday. There wasn't a box, so I gave it to this old guy standing there who said he'd take care of it. I'm wondering if that was a good idea.Email This
Post!
Interesting post from Will Youmans, one of the heads of SJP. Apparently Cal's sister school is in kinda-Palestine, and has been damaged by the IDF.
What he doesn't say-- and which would make an interesting Daily Cal story-- is the back story as to why we have a College in Israel as our Sister School, why the IDF has gone after it, and what, if anything, being a 'Sister School' means. Assigned to Nate Tabak.Email This Post!
Brandon Mills picked 'Have a poem written about you' as his prize for winning the Obscure Cal Trivia Contest. Specifically, a Shakesperean Sonnet.
The Man, the Myth, the Legend Friday, April 26, 2002
My plea for new Berkeley Blog has borne sweet, sweet fruit. No fewer than three new Cal Blogs.
Filling a gaping hole in the scene, Progressive at Cal has written on President Cutter W, fair pay for UC employees, and Barry Goldwater. Another anonymous poster who seems to have the inside track. Promising an unusual and water-filled look at Berkeley is the Puddle And not least is Potato Chucker, from the ACLU/Cal Dems contingent of campus. He's already written on the future of the Palestinian movements at Cal, Gun Control legislation, and Japanese internment. My advice to all: don't think of what you're doing as competition, don't write unless you enjoy it, and don't burn yourself out. Also, consider adding the full list of Cal Blogs to your own. It's polite and will make them link to you in turn. Email This Post!
Calstuff Correspondant P.A. writes
You wrote: Chi Psi didn't provide staff, didn't comply with security regulations...Correction noted... although it doesn't rebut the claim that Frat Brothers were serving hard alcohol to minors.Email This Post! Thursday, April 25, 2002
Here's the Sample Column I'm submitting to the Daily Cal. I was supposed to do three, but since I'm busy with Cal-FACTS this week, I only had time for 1. Send comments, if you like.
The Daily Cal reports that this year's Commencement Speaker will be Olympic medalist Johnny Moseley.
They posted it as soon as they heard, they did some real investigating, and they've scooped the competition. Now, THIS is exciting Journalism! :) Email This Post! Wednesday, April 24, 2002
Whew, almost done!
Turns out Election Results might get pushed back until about Wednesday of next week. Reason being, Elections Chair Faisal didn't doublecount the votes. While not technically required, there's been a tacit understanding that votes will be doublecounted. This is partly because since the difference between 20th and 21st usually hinges on .45 of a vote, getting just one vote entered incorrectly will affect the election. I left Senate before finding the outcome of this one. Will keep you posted. Email This Post!
I've got the inside story on what pushed Dean Kenney over the edge vis a vis Frat stuff. The reason she was teetering on the edge, of course, is a series of systematic violations of University policy by the Frats. But she mentioned that.
Last weekend, however, were two particularly flagrant parties. The way Calstuff Correspondent BFDD tells it, the parties at Pike and Chi Psi, Pike High and Luau respectively, both were exceptionally bad. Chi Psi didn't provide staff, didn't comply with security regulations, and did things like had Brothers serving hard alcohol to attendees. That's a strict no-no. The Pike Party, while technically complying, became way too overcrowded. Apparently when a fire alarm went off, the party was so packed the firefighters weren't able to push their way inside to see if there was a fire. Also, a Kappa girl apparently cracked her head walking back from the Pike party. I find that last one pretty amazing. We're not talking a hike to the Big C, here. Kappa Kappa Gamma is literally across the street from Pike. And it's not a big street. There's minor stuff, too, but these are the violations that broke the camel's back.Email This Post!
Jim Fung writes
If you take a look at the ASUC budget for last year and proposals for next year, SJP isn't an ASUC-funded group anyway.Um.. good point!Email This Post!
44. What are your important sources of information about Cal news, events and activities? (Check all that apply)
Daily Cal (Checked) Billboards/posters Tables on campus Local and national media From fellow classmates/word of mouth (Checked) UC Berkeley web site California Alumni Association web site Other web sites (Checked) Email This Post!
The winner of the first Calstuff Obscure Trivia Contest is... Brandon Mills!
In response to the question: He wrote Andrew Latham Smith was probably the best Cal Coach in history. The success of his teams caused the ASUC to build Memorial Stadium, earning it the nickname "The House that Andy Built."Way to go, Brandon! E-mail me with what prize you want.Email This Post!
While we're on the topic of 'Things that interest Kevin,' I want to order all truly loyal readers to go out and start their own Cal Blogs. Doesn't matter if you have a story to write on, if you're worried about Anonymity, or what: start a Blog. Do it because you'll like it, do it because you'll be doing me a favor, and do it because Cal Blogs truly are something Cal needs more of.
One thing I especially want to debunk: the concept you're in competition with existing blogs. Bullshit! Blogging is about commentary and dialog, not competition. Every new perspective to the ring helps the existing members. Case in point: I'd probably have all the SJP/Protest issues to myself if Angry Clam wasn't there. But the product would be poorer: I wouldn't have the access to Clam's background info on the players, or be able to cover the issue as exhaustively as he does. He wins because he can cover an issue well, I win because I can draw upon his work in my own writing, and readers win because the finished product is better. Adversaries are even better. I know I'd kill for a Progressive Cal Blog out there. So here's my offer: If you want a trial run, e-mail me. I'll put you on board Calstuff for a couple of weeks as an Associate. See how you like posting, do a bit of writing, and if you like it, set up your own. You'll be getting 100 hits a day right off the bat. Email This Post!
It's a slow news day, so I think I'll write on my Love/Hate relationship with the Order of the Golden Bear.
I'll number the logical progression, so everyone can follow along. 1. I violate the Most Important Rule for potential OGB candidates: never ever want to be in the OGB. Regrettably, that's not the kind of person I am. Once I find out about all the cool stuff OGB does, like debates and such, I tell everyone I know how much I want to be in it. 2. I find out this DQ's me from ever being accepted. I am briefly pissed. 3. I come to the conclusion that this is a sensible rule. OGB needs to keep out the ambitious and the status-seekers in order to remain focused on Cal Service. Any rule that keeps out the masses of ASUC people is fine by me. Now, here's where things get complicated! :) 4. It occurs to me that agreeing with my own disqualification once again qualifies me for OGB! After all, the purpose of the rule is to keep out the ambitious. But if I agree I never should be in OGB, then I can't be ambitious; I'm not even in the race! 5. Gladdened by this discovery, I realize I am once again Re-Disqualified! After all, how could OGB see the above as anything but a rhetorical trick to turn night into day? OGB shouldn't let dangerous people like me in! 6. I agree with the above. 7. Which makes me Qualified once more! Wait, no it doesn't, because clearly this is another bit of self-deception! But then I post about the whole inner dilemmna, proving I'm inwardly honest! But no, I'm using seeming transparency to try and get in again, except that argument makes sense, so in again! 8. BAM! Head explodes. Which is where I am right now. Of course, the there was also the realization that I'm not getting in no matter what rules I break. I can think of four or five people offhand who are twice as deserving as me. (COUGHCOUGHBrandonMillsCOUGHCOUGH.) Since they're not in, a single ASUC Director with a weak resume is hardly in the running. OGB forever! Wait, nevermind that! Email This Post!
UPDATE:
Attorney General Mario DeBernardo has dropped the charges against APPLE Candidate JC Pratt. No word if the results of the election can now be released, due to the new charges that Smoking Bear reported on. Email This Post! Tuesday, April 23, 2002
I'm gonna apply to be a Daily Cal columnist after all. Since I don't have time to write three mock-columns that'll never see the light of day, I'm just reusing old Calstuff posts of appropriate length and interest. Specifically: Student Action Executive Slate announcement, Deconstruction of Sex DeCal article, and today's SJP post.
Strangely, all three mock the Daily Cal one way or another. It wasn't intended that way. Just happened. Oh well. And while I was working on that, I thought it'd be a good idea to start a list of all stories broken by Berkeley Bloggers. I've only got Nolo, Angry Clam, and myself so far. Smokie, Tarkin, Praglib and others: please send me your own lists. And to clarify, this is hardly a ranking of 'Who's the best.' Merely a facet of Berkeley Blogging that is reasonably easy to measure and of particular interest as regards the Daily Cal. I'm not out to punish Angry Clam for concentrating on On-the-Spot protest coverage and in-depths on the local radicals, for example. Stories broken by Calstuff: 1. Theft of California Patriots 2. Punishments of SJP Folks 3. University Frat Party Suspension 4. Student Action's Executive Slate 5. APPLE's Executive Slate 6. Cal-SERVE's Executive Slate 7. Further delayal of Elections results 8. Power Outage on campus 9. Elections policy of AAA 10. Candidacy of Kevin Deenihan for AAVP (Juuuust kidding.) Stories broken by Angry Clam 1. SJP Protest coverage 2. Death of GBUM 3. Rebirth of GBUM 4. Suicide on Evans Hall 5. SJP Plans to protest Israeli Independence Day 6. National Distribution of Unit 1 Prostitution Video Stories broken by Nolo Free 1. Cal Admissions Figures Email This Post!
Joan SAPPLESERVE writes about SJP
Hey Kevin,Keep them coming, people. Email This Post!
Before the big SJP protest, the Administration promised that if students occupied a Lecture Hall, there'd be significant consequences. In the past this has proven an empty promise, but it's not so certain this time around.
The message is too long to quote in full, but there are numerous interesting aspects. The gist is that the Administration is taking some sort of action against the Arrestees, although it's unclear if they're just 'considering' it at present or are actively prosecuting. Unclear also if SJP has been suspended. From what I can see, they've received a preliminary suspension while the investigation continues. Furthermore, as a consequence of organizing the demonstration and sit-in, the University of California at Berkeley has decided to suspend Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) as an organization on campus pending an investigation. This means, that as long as the investigation continues, SJP is functionally barred from holding events on campus, tabling, distributing literature, and organizing. It could also potentially mean that SJP may be banned as a student organization at Berkeley.I'll leave it to Angry Clam to debunk their claim that this is punishing a 'non-violent civil disobedience' act just like all the stuff from the past several years... Occupying a building and fighting cops does not a Gandhi make. There's a few other silly things they say that I'm too busy to deal with. Here's an interesting point, tho: In fact, the policy that makes SJP subject to these charges (the Chancellor’s so-called ”zero tolerance” policy) was implemented only a few days before the protest, specifically to make SJP subject to higher standards and harsher consequences.SJP might have a point! It is, of course, ludicrous that it wasn't until a few days before the protest that the Administration actually said 'Occupy a building, we prosecute.' But it hadn't been said before then, and SJP folk probably thought they'd be getting the same kid glove treatment they usually get for criminal actions. The Administration never clearly marked the rules of engagement. I'm not saying Cal shouldn't throw the Blue and Gold at the Invading Forces to a certain extent. But I think the Admin must bear some of the blame for their Occupation: SJP occupied Wheeler playing under the Old Rules; who knows what would've happened if the Administration had bothered to demarcate the New Rules? I'm uncomfortable prosecuting to the hilt when the criminals didn't understand what they were getting into. UPDATE: I'd like to note how pathetic it is the Daily Cal didn't run a story on this a week ago. This is such an easy, obvious, important story. The Administration made various threats... 79 students got arrested...and is now deliberating how exactly to deal with them. Get Karen Kenney and a few other Administrators, write up how tense and politically tricky this decision must be, and then bring in the SJP people facing possible prosecution. End with a list of possible scenarios. Writes itself! Don't wait for the comparatively boring announcement of what they'll actually do.. the investigation is much more interesting. Do it now! UPDATE UPDATE: New angles keep popping up. What will the Faculty do if the book is thrown? How about fellow-Progressives? Do the Administrators fear for their personal safety? How will they avoid a Circus? Does IAC agree with this? Did SJP expect prosecution? Angles! Email This Post!
Matt L writes on Calstuff's initial reaction "This is going to explode on the Greek scene, devastate Greek/Universityrelations, and possibly lead to some very immoderate actions." (Since removed from the original post below.)
You are obviously new to the Greek scene and more naive than I expected.Anyone else?Email This Post!
Breaking news...
From: Tina Barnett Email This Post! Monday, April 22, 2002
Fellow Endorsee Sean Byrne suggests a new feature for Calstuff: OBSCURE CAL TRIVIA CONTEST!
Here's how it'll go. Every Monday night around 7, I'll ask a question of exceedingly obscure Cal-related trivia. Maybe about the ASUC, maybe about the Football team, something. You loyal readers e-mail me with the answer. Points will be given for 1. Speed and 2. Completeness. Winners will get the option of making me do one (1) favor for you. This includes, but is not limited to, a poem in your honor, a picture, a post on Calstuff about something of your liking, etc. Calstuff retains right of refusal for favors deemed too extreme. If no one wants a favor, I'll buy them a Ben and Jerry's Bar of their choice. No one shall be allowed to win twice in a row, and no Brothers of Alpha Delta Phi, California Chapter will be allowed to compete. Question 1: In Memorial Stadium is a Bench dedicated to Andrew Latham Smith, one of Cal's greatest Football coaches. The Bench was dedicated in 1927 before a crowd of 80,000. Engraved on that bench are two quotes. What are they? Bonus points given for contextual history, geography, and other interesting tidbits. Email This Post!
'Anon' writes on Secret Societies
One more entry to add to your list of "Secret Societies" at Cal. There's one I know of called "The Back Room"; it's a bipartisan group of current and prior ASUC folk who run the show over some interesting entertainment. They even have their own bylaws. You didn't hear it from me. HOW INTERESTING! And also completely new to me. I've never heard of this before, if it does in fact exist. Anyone out there confirm that it does? Email This Post! Saturday, April 20, 2002
Calstuff ASUC Exclusive
The last one for sure. A source close to Attorney General Mario DeBernardo revealed that he filed charges against APPLE Candidate JC Pratt several days ago. Mr. Pratt spent $205 on his Senate campaign, $5 over the limit of $200. Besides the nitty-gritty of the charges, the main effect is to push back vote counting by another week unless some sort of settlement can be reached. And we all pray one will be. You read it hear first... Also: Calstuff Correspondant Tony Falcone reports that from watching a sample of ballots being entered, Peter Gee had a surprising amount of votes, with myself garnering a 'fair bit.' Whether this sample corresponds to the whole ballot is yet to be seen. Email This Post!
Having achieved entry into the prestigious Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, Calstuff now has enough time to attempt to join other secret organizations at Cal. Which raises the question: how many secret organizations are there? I count over 20 Fraternities, something like 10 Sororities, and a few Societies. Then there's the homegrown two: Order of the Golden Bear and Oski Committee.
Rally Committee has secret aspects, as does several others, I'm sure. So that's the list so far. Know of a secret Cal organization that isn't on this list? E-mail me. Email This Post! Thursday, April 18, 2002
Apparently CNN will be doing a followup on campus RE: the Israel stuff. Senator Frankenstein just got a call from them asking for an interview.
Lucky bastard.Email This Post!
Calstuff Correspondent S.W. writes
In what can only be described as a massive power trip, the judicial council is set to deliberate (of their own violition and not because anyone asked them to) on whether to extend the statue of limitations or not. In fact, they are deciding whether to make it indefinitely so that theoretically five years from now a candidate of this election could be disqualified. As far as I'm concerned, this is a gross violation of their duties as judicial counselors, their job is not to seek violations out but rather to respond to cases brought before them. By extending the statue of limitations they are changing legislation, not interpreting it. They are changing themselves from judges into judge dread.Email This Post!
Praglib writes that he has, in fact, seen the bogus '1 in 4 raped' statistic bandied about this year.Email This
Post!
Berkeley Observer writes
You are oh-so-right on the money when you speak of BCR's carefully cultivated martyr complex. I don't know his name, but whatever BCR member was charged with warming the crowd in D'Souza's absence (he was late) was just jaw-droppingly shameless in his attempts at crowd-baiting. One got the sense that they really, /really really/ came looking for a (verbal) fight Tuesday night. Typical questions, all posed in mock sincerity: "Who here doesn't like Bush?" "Who here doesn't like the California Patriot?" "What do you think of Republicans?" etc. The reason is obvious and you've already pointed it out; look at all the fawning praise they receive from the Chancellor/Daily Cal/national media whenever they're victimized. Luckily, virtually none the the anti-D'Souza contingent bit. But witnessing BCR's duplicitous, manipulative side vis a vis Tuesday's little pre-show left a decidedly bitter taste in my mouth nevertheless. Dispensing with purported scruples so that you can arrogate yourself to the moral highground in the resulting fight -- it doesn't get much more cynical than that.Email This Post!
I appreciate his endorsement, but Senator Gallagher's Senate Bill thanking the President for a job well done was a terrible idea. It failed with one vote for, nine against, and ten abstentions. I would've abstained.
I think I've written about this before, but Berkeley's Republicans keep falling prey to an irritating persecution complex. Tempted by the fun and games of getting on Fox News and having donations pour in, they have a tendency to adopt a siege mentality, and do things not because it's right and proper for Conservatives and the University, but because it'll piss of the Left. Case in point: the BCR meeting where a member announced he was starting a gun club. Why? 'I'm hoping we'll get some publicity from the Leftists,' he said, 'in fact, I'm counting on it.' Maybe he should start a gun club because he likes guns. Angry Clam has written on same, but how many BCR members hoped in their hearts that the Dinesh D'Souza speech would be soundly protested? Too many. It's the Republicans who went to the D'Souza speech solely to hear D'Souza speak who are the future of Conservative campus leadership. Of course, those particular Republicans can do what they like with their money and time. But using the ASUC Senate for it is a waste of student money and time, something you'd think Republicans opposed. Pointless resolutions like the Flag Bill and the G-Dub bill have no effect on students. Not only that, but they legitimize the opposite 'Berkeley Stands Against Racism, War, and Connerly' bills by Leftists. The common sense position is that UC Berkeley doesn't need a foreign policy. In order to provoke controversy and attack Leftists, Gallagher has actually vacated the moral high ground and descended to their level. He can't argue that their resolutions are wastes of time and breath when he's done the same. If these Republicans want to play an eternal game baiting the Leftists and trying to claim Victim status, that's their business. But keep it out of my ASUC. Playing the game there tarnishes both sides at the expense of ordinary students. And guys, I attack you because I love you. Aww. Email This Post!
It's Take Back the Night week.
I haven't seen it this week, but my particular bete noire is the '1 out of 4 women in college are raped.' claim. It's false. Not only is it false, it's counter-productive: by defining every kiss as rape, it demeans the real victims of rape. But I haven't seen it this year, so perhaps it's finally been put to rest. About time.Email This Post! Wednesday, April 17, 2002
CALSTUFF MEANINGLESS EXCLUSIVE:
Student Action has agreed to settle the Attorney General's meaningless lawsuit against them. They will take a meaningless couple of censures. Remember: choose Calstuff for all your meaningless post-election legal news!Email This Post! Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Today's Daily Cal is actually good!
The stories on the Lecture Series moving and on Tax Resisters have been already done elsewhere, true, but both have solid reporting. The three other front page stories are all well-written bits, and the long piece on Frat/High School tensions is the jewel of today's paper. A thorough examination of an issue featuring revealing anecdotes, multiple angles, and relevant statistics. On a completely unrelated note, I'm considering applying to be a Daily Cal columnist this fall. Part of the application involves writing three seven hundred word columns. E-mail me with what I should write about. Incidentally, doesn't that seem like a lot of work for a columnist job? What kind of people besides self-involved 13 unit English majors have time to write 2100 words in just over a week? Perhaps that's why so many self-involved English majors seem to get the job. Another source of whiny English major bias: three columns at 2100 words only gives time for the self-involved rant and the feelings-based ideology rant. Doing research and conducting interviews for a column, which is what I would like to do, is out of the question. I should write one of the columns on Shirts, just to spite them. (Note: I really did like the Daily Cal today. The columnist stuff just happened to be at the same time.)Email This Post! Monday, April 15, 2002
BTW: I'll be undergoing Frat initiation this week. If posting quantity or quality is lower than usual, that is why.Email This
Post!
Using ADVANCED CALSTUFF TECHNOLOGY, I'll be taking you inside the lines on Jennifer Kline's Vanity piece on how she covered the ASUC elections the last two weeks. This account of courage under fire follows a young reporter as she tries to interview people, tries to interview other people, and tries not to trip in three inch heels. If all goes well, we'll convince the Daily Cal not to print silly articles about their reporters taking bribes.
The words in bold are mine.
Saturday, April 13, 2002
Sounds like good fun.
Friday, April 12, 2002
The Daily Planet, (Motto: printing libelous op-eds and boring neighborhood planning articles since 1982,) has a good article from a peace activist caught in the middle of the Israeli/Palestinian war just as the conflict truly began. The guy is completely nuts to be hanging around in that particular land of death, but he appears like a nice guy. And he's there for the right reasons:
Lipton was encouraged by most of what he saw at the camp. Although some residents had kalishnikov rifles and expressed rigid opinions, the bulk of the Palestinians he spoke to seemed more interested in ultimately achieving a middle class lifestyle than in seeking revenge against the Israelis. “They didn’t show a lot of rancor towards the Israelis. They just wanted to run their own lives,” said Lipton.Those are the Palestinians I want to support. Why don't we ever hear from them? Then we're back in Berkeley, the town that proves that Democracy is just another word for 'Drench yourself in blood and lock yourself to something and you'll get what you want.' I should do the same asking for Krispy Kremes at my front door every morning.Email This Post!
CALSTUFF ASUC EXCLUSIVE
Last in a series. In what was probably a great backroom deal, the leaders of the three major parties inked a deal not to file charges against each other. They even went to the trouble of affixing signatures to a document, then sending photocopies to the Daily Cal. Notable that this deal excludes Aloha Candidate Kris 'What, he's not dead??' Cuaresma-Primm. Kris' relative outsider status in Elections has led to a series of small but significant campaign violations. Since most of SA disdains Kris, they might go for him. Email This Post! Thursday, April 11, 2002
The Daily Cal, picking up with surprising swiftness on Angry Clam's reporting, eulogized the death of the 'God Bless You' man in today's paper. Students set up a memorial, and Praglib and I planned a Senate bill to put up a plaque near where he always stood.
Well, turns out he's NOT DEAD. Read Angry Clam for details on the mixup. Mother of all Corrections to come on the Daily Cal's part. Update: Just noticed that the Daily Cal writer who handled the original article was Brittany Adams. You'll remember Brittany as the writer of the badly flawed Sex DeCal class article, firmly debunked here, but not before making the BBC and Drudgereport. Good to see Brittany is consistent in the level of fact-checking she does.Email This Post!
CalASUC gets breathless and Conspir-y over the recent anti-Student Action ad in the Daily Cal. Apparently the author of it posted a similar message in Queer Berkeley, which was subsequently deleted. From this she extracts that Queer Council is somehow behind the Dark Deed, with possible involvement from Peter Gee. I can only imagine Joan up late at night, tracking down leads, and piecing together a gigantic plot to put a HALF PAGE AD OF DOOM in the Daily Cal.
Of course, she could've just IM'd me and asked what I knew. Calstuff received a copy of this e-mail over a week ago. Hello All,The text of the ad followed. An APPLE-affiliate got a copy of this about a week and a half ago, and forwarded it FYI to the APPLE list. The general reaction was 'Stay away from stuff like this with a ten-foot pole.' Frankly, I'm a little insulted that Joan thinks the other parties are stupid enough to spend $600 on a Daily Cal ad when there's a lot of better avenues to spend it on. Speaking as the guy who bought APPLE's lit and buttons, I would've killed for an extra $600 to spend. Email This Post!
Latest article I'm submitting to the Squelch:
The Absolutely Coolest Commencement Speech Ever
The new Hardboiled is out, with all the hopeless identity confusion and postmodern language games that entails. Are we brown? Yellow? Asian American? Asian American Pacific Islander? Indians count. No, wait, they don't count because 'Indian' itself is a social construct. Plus they're the ones imposing identity on others. And then, holy crap, we've got Pakistanis, Sri Lankins, Bangladeshis, Pilipinos, Indonesians, and everyone else to fit in, too. Kind've weird that it's only a 12 page issue, what with all this to work out.
Somehow Israel and Palestine intrudes, with the dirge-esque recitation of Israeli actions. Not even token attention to countering Palestinian bombers is paid. An article discussing the recent Gujarat violence takes a similar, and odd, one-sided path. The author takes an overview of the Hindu-Muslim conflict, and places every death firmly at the foot of India's governing party. The analysis of American/Extremist-Hindu ties is interesting, as is the way Hindu immigrants use religion to adapt to the USA. But completely ignoring the role of Muslims in the Gujarat attacks is odd at best. Forget if they're at fault; the writer leaves them out entirely. Next is a hit piece attacking the San Quentin learning coordinator for racial cluelessness. Could be fascinating if some context had been provided, or perhaps a chance for the coordinator to respond. The interviews with up-and-coming Asian artists are the best in Berkeley, as usual. Why can't Satellite do stuff like that? Links provided once they're put online. Email This Post! Wednesday, April 10, 2002
Hiya Instapundit readers, Palestinian coverage below. The most interesting stuff is the Videos, courtesy of the Indymedia folks, and analysis of the Administration's lackluster approach to the possibility of massive campus violence.
Anyway, last time I talked about Calstuff, it was just me and maybe a few other campus blogs out there. But since then, Berkeley has created an entirely new phenomenom: a circle of well-connected, news-breaking, good-writing all concentrating on the affairs of this campus. You can see the links on the left side under 'Cal Blogs.' And while a lot of what we do is commentary on other news sources, I think the Cal Bloggers have actually created something much more important: the first entirely original form of news in a long, long time. Nobody else is doing what we do. It's like a spontaneous, instant newspaper. Between us, we've broken the Cal Patriot story, given the best and most intensive coverage of the Palestinian protest in any news outlet, uncovered scandals in the ASUC, been first with political manueverings in the City Council and ASUC, and there's much much more. Glenn Reynolds writes An organization that put together a network of freelance journalists under a framework that allowed for that sort of reputation-rating, and that paid based on the number of pageviews and the ratings that each story received, would be more like a traditional newspaper than like a weblog, but it would still be a major change from the newspapers of today. Interestingly, it might well be possible to knit together a network of webloggers into the beginnings of such an organization. With greater reach and lower costs than a traditional newspaper, it might bring something new and competitive to the news business. Way ahead of you, big guy. That reputation-rating, profit-making stuff is still on the way, but the gestation of a network of webloggers has already happened here. Of course, it's far easier to build something like this in the self-contained, small world of a college campus, but what has sprung up spontaenously here can be put together elsewhere. And I'm confident more will join the fray at Cal and elsewhere.Email This Post!
Instapundit has linked to me twice today, first as an example of the future of Blogging and again for my coverage of the Palestinian protest. All these favors unnerve me; now I owe him one in return. You come to Berkeley, Glenn, you can crash at my Fraternity and go drinking with us.
However, the best person for on-the-spot coverage of the Palestinian protest is Angry Clam, who knows all the players and personalities better than anyone else on campus. And although Instapundit mentions him, I should stress that CalAnon has been sterling in monitoring the media reaction to the protest.Email This Post! Tuesday, April 09, 2002
End of the day quote from Israeli Action Committee Co-Chair Randy 'Head Jew' Barnes:
I was proud of the way the pro-Israel students conducted themselves, and I think that those studens who were not involved in the demonstration on either side who passed by or stopped to watch got to see a good comparison between the groups and what we stand for.
The Great Berkeley Palestinian Protest is over.
The final tally: about 300-400 Protesters total. One cop assaulted. One protester arrested for it. Wheeler Hall occupied for awhile. Bunch of SJP folk received citations for that. And this was the BEST CASE SCENARIO. Courtesy of Indybay, I bring you videos of the Wheeler Hall Occupation. Here's video 1, video 2, video 3. Angry Clam has more commentary. Email This Post!
Walked by the Palestinian protest around 12:30. Larger crowd then I expected, but relatively peaceful at that point. Didn't seem to be a large presence of Jewish protesters, which is probably for the best. Every news organization had a truck there; their cute little antennas looked like a tiny grey forest.
Cop presence of about 15-20 Officers. They had blocked Telegraph off, which seems like the wrong route to block for me. Four others standing in front of Wheeler, others walking around in packs of about three. None seemed particularly tense. Of course, that was awhile ago. I don't know how it ended, which is when I'd expect incidents to happen. More feedback on the protest as my sources trickle in. UPDATE: Angry Clam is reporting that they have in fact taken Wheeler Hall. Email This Post!
The Daily Cal endorsements are out. I lost my own betting pool, guessing Jesse, Kevin, No One, Evan when the endorsements actually went to Sean, Sunny, Kevin, Evan.
JoanSAPPLESERVE2 is right, if bitter, when she notes that A. the endorsements are strongly correlated with losing and B. they don't produce any votes. She's also write about the level of hatred for the Student Action inside the paper. When picking their bets for the endorsement, APPLE people generally picked Jesse and SA people generally picked Sean or Kris. Turns out SA had the right of it. Several surprises worth writing about. The first has to be the level of bitterness infusing the endorsements. Whoever wrote them, while witty, seems to have felt if you didn't get the endorsement you're a worthless piece of crap. Kris Primm is 'driven by the desire to please' and his campaign promises are 'downright lunatic.' Annabel Chang 'would be a waste with such incompetence.' Jen Lee, Noah Kagan, and Hoku Jeffrey are dismissed as 'completely out of touch.' All this venom towards a list of Senators and Student Leaders who, if I don't necessarily agree with them, are definitely assets to Berkeley. Most have already proven themselves as competent leaders. Characterizing them as the out of touch crackpots discredits the Daily Cal's objectivity. Kevin Deenihan's endorsement is flawed as well. First off, the picture is horrible. Second off, saving 'he saved the program $15,000' is a complete lie. That money was cut months before Kevin became Cal-FACTS Director, under the direction of Todd Dipaola and Jose-Luis Lopez. Second, they repeat Deenihan's mistaken assertion that Peter has only a month and half of AAVP experience as gospel. When he made the statement Kevin didn't know about Peter's other position, and has promised to send a correction to the Daily Cal. Finally, the Daily Cal dimisses Tony Falcone as someone who 'seems to have mistakenly run for the wrong office.' What kind of logic is that? Because he's extraordinarily qualified for External VP, it somehow means he's not qualified for Academic Affairs? It doesn't follow. Saying 'his vision for the office seems more than a little out of focus' is really surprising. This is the candidate that wrote a three page paper, small font, on his plans and vision for the office. Perhaps the Daily Cal should rexamine its 'only a minute' Forum policy and set up longer personal interviews instead, if it wants to make this criticism. Strange that the Daily Cal never mentions Kevin's party affiliation. Squelch! Party forever. Ow... schizo. Salam gets spanked for her flub at the Daily Cal Forum. The Daily Cal should've asked her to clarify the somewhat ambiguous statement, however. For some reason, Squelch candidate Romie Littrell gets taken seriously as a candidate, despite doing a Squelch bit like all the other candidates. Someone took the trouble of paying $600 for a long anti-Student Action Ad in the Daily Cal, as well. Their claims are entirely accurate. They missed the Line-cutting incident, though. Email This Post! Monday, April 08, 2002
Today's self-restraint award goes to Angry Clam, for not Blogging on the sexual interests of people who've recently jumped off Evans Hall.
Calstuff congrats Angry Clam.Email This Post!
Watching the video of Berdahl's news conference brings out a lot more interesting stuff, especially in the Question and Answer section. Here's one significant exchange.
REPORTER: What steps has the University done to defuse the situation?Kevin's translation: We have done Noooottthhhinnnnggggg!!!!Email This Post!
Berdahl has given a news conference on tomorrow's protests.
Signs are starting to come in now that the Administration will be proactive about tomorrow's protests. A source noted that the Administration has plans in the event of any attempts to close a building, and will 'counteract it.' Berdahl's statement falls a bit short of any concrete steps, but it's probably as much as you can do through talking. If you don't feel like reading, here's the important bit: While we can not prevent people from saying ugly and hurtful things, hateful statements, whether anti-Jewish or anti-Arab, are reprehensible. Further, let me make clear that we will not tolerate any action that threatens the physical well-being of anyone. Acts of violence or vandalism or personal attack have no place here and will be treated as criminal actions.What I get from this is 'We aren't gonna stop you from marching, or yelling, or whatever. But we've got a reasonable amount of cops, and more importantly, we know your face and ID number. Push a Jew or slap an Arab and you'll be out of Berkeley faster than you can say 'Junior College.' And that's pretty good. But all football players know that once a scrum has started, you won't get punished for jumping in. And that's what's worrying: a few hotheads with nothing to lose will start a fray, and everyone else has a readymade excuse for why they jumped in. Then a Star of David gets jabbed in someone's eye, a shafiya gets shoved up someone's butt, and Berkeley gets on CNN again. Email This Post!
Coper10: Bloodbath at Berkeley tomorrow. True?
SmarterChild: I'll have to think about that one for awhile. Coper10: Berkeley Riot. True? SmarterChild: Yeah, true.Email This Post!
A reader asks which building SJP will be barricading. Good question! First of all, it's not certain they'll try to. My sources on that are secondhand.
BTW, a source has revealed that the UCPD has promised to be out in force. That means about 10-15 Officers. Enough to dampen proceedings, but not stop anything major. Best guesses: 1. Dwinelle Hall. Plus: Very large building, lots of students go in and out. Close to Sproul Plaza. Minuses: Lots of students go in and out. Very hard to block much off, unless they're just going for the front doors. (Which would be a pretty good idea.) 2. Sproul Hall. Plus: Symbolically protesting the Administration. Photogenic. Relatively easy to block off. Minuses: Getting Administration angry could be counter-productive. 3. Wheeler Hall. Plus: Relatively easy to block off. Already been blocked off. Minuses: Been there, done that. Cops will expect it. 4. Eshleman Hall. Plus: Seat of student groups and government. Easiest of all to block off. Won't piss off students; even Republicans like smacking the ASUC around. Minuses: No one will see it, no one will care.Email This Post!
OK, I guess I can talk about ASUC stuff again. Just a few topics.
CalSERVE has a nice website. Many insiders had written them off as Point-Of-No-Return after last year's dismal election showings, but they've come back to run a very strong campaign. They have a very solid slate with good experience, and an impressive logistics operation. I'd like to know who orchestrated it, as they could teach me a few things. The Smoking Bear reveals the identity of the Anti-Student Action spammer, but misses what is the strangest part of the story: the guy apparently lives next door to AAVP candidate Tony Falcone. I wouldn't read anything into this besides another example of Small-World Syndrome, but it is interesting. Salam 'Hungry Hawk' Rafeedie continues to get whipped about. I heard her Daily Cal forum speech, and winced after the 'Murderers, Rapists, Zionists,' remark. No way of telling if it was just a poor choice of words. Fortunately, we'll have an excellent test coming up tomorrow to see her deportment: the widely feared SJP protest. My advice would be for her to sit it out, but if she doesn't, we'll see what she does. Hoorah! Public Scrutiny! Daily Cal endorsements come out tomorrow. I think my chances of getting it are a bit worse than Even. I'd be more confident if I wasn't a Squelch candidate and if Tony hadn't been on fire during the Daily Cal forum. I gave him second-best Speaker of the night, behind Evan Holland. My other predictions: Jesse will get the Prez endorsement, Evan will get the External one, and no one will be endorsed for Executive. I've been running a Pool on who'll win the endorsements. (Not too late to get in! Losers have to hug their political enemy.) No real consensus emerging, except that Evan will win the External endorsement. APPLE people think Jesse will win the endorsement, SA people think Sean or Kris will. I'm leading Tony by three-four votes. And Sajid is only beating 'No Endorsement' by a single vote. Email This Post! Sunday, April 07, 2002
And isn't Tuesday gonna be fun. Holocaust Remembrance event for the Jewish Student Union, and a protest to remember a 1948 Israeli attack by Students for Justice in Palestine. It appears that SJP is going to try and lock down a building again, like they did last year. That goes along with a more regular protest at Noon.
So here's what Sproul is going to look like at Noon on Tuesday. Two rival groups that are absolutely thirsty for blood occupying much of it. Surrounding them will be the masses of Election people, many of whom are ready to throw down for a particular side. Add to that the usual flow of Sproul traffic around 12:30, the complete silence of the Administration, and the situation looks more than a little explosive. One spark, one push, one punch thrown may be more than enough to set if off. Yow. Luckily, it may rain tomorrow. At the very least it should be cold. Email This Post!
Maya Aizenman writes:
Saturday, April 06, 2002
Berkeley Observer writes
I spoke to both of the victims of the Thursday morning assault today. Two quotes stick out in my mind: "The more I think back on it, the less I think it was a hate crime" and "I really, highly doubt that what happened was a hate crime." Those are verbatim. The Berkeley PD is not classifying it as a hate crime. No racial epithets were uttered, and the two weren't dressed overtly Jewish when the attack occured. One of the victims wholeheartedly believes that it was a botched mugging or gang initiation, and I tend to agree with him. That leaves the Hillel vandalism, which is unfortunate, but on its own in no way indicative of a trend. I'm unaware of other acts of intimidation against the Berkeley Jewish community.Sorry, B.O., but I see this as the Chancellor's logic. The new info about the mugging does take it down a notch. As Angry Clam noted 'It goes from Crazy Bad to Bad.' But vandalism, intimidation, and persistent Israelis = Nazis campaigns have created an atmosphere of anti-Jewish tension. Jews are either afraid or extremely angry, on a major US University. How insane is that? How have things gotten so bad that we can dismiss numerous instances of vandalism and (so far) verbal abuse as not so bad on a college campus? I don't agree that calling attention to the fact makes things worse. Even the Dean of Students felt that things are going to get worse before they get better. And yet the Administration is still playing the old 'Laissez-Faire' game it always plays, like nothing has changed. Unless some fairly substantial steps are taken, there will be an assault, or a protest will turn very ugly. And yet the Chancellor doesn't seem to have even talked to the head of the IAC and SJP, for example. That's what I'm calling for. To downplay the escalating tension on campus would be taking a blind eye to an explosive situation. All this media attention will get results from the Chancellor, and the campus needs that. I'm gonna stop calling it the 'Berkeley Pogrom,' tho. With a cooler head, that does seem needlessly inflammatory.Email This Post!
If you're coming here for coverage of Berkeley Anti-Semitism, don't just use Calstuff. Check out Berkeley Anonymous and Angry Clam for more coverage as it happens. Anon has great e-mails from leaders of both sides. Check them out especially.Email This
Post!
Reasonably good article in the Contra Costa Times on Berkeley Anti-Semitism.
The structure is interesting. The column mostly follows the MSA and SJP people as they do their usual routine of meetings, tabling, and telling Jews 'Your leaders are terrorists.' In a roundabout way, the article makes clear that these are the ones who feel safe, that have numerous supporters inside and outside the University, and who are planning all the 'Direct Actions.' The Jews are the ones humiliated and cryin. And who will have a memorial for the Holocaust, of all things, possibly drowned out by SJP. This isn't going to hold. Email This Post! Friday, April 05, 2002
Why aren't more people concerned about the attacks on Israeli/Jews? There's been a definite campaign of intimidation, vandalism, and now personal attacks. Nowhere else in the entire United States is this happening. And despite the attempts to spin it as mutual, the Muslim/Palestinian groups haven't received so much as a slur. When Youmans was asked by the Chronicle what intimidation his people had gotten, he could only make the ridiculous claim that Cal Jews planning to join the IDF 'intimidated' him. (Because, you know, there's nothing more threatening then your enemy MOVING THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY.)
This is one-sided, and it's about to hit the news. CNN was just here. The regional newspapers are slowly realizing this is bigger than usual. Soon the commentators will get wind, and then Berkeley will have yet another controversy. I can smell it. And when that happens, the Administration is going to be exposed as stone-cold appeasers. Even the blatant assault in daylight of two Orthodox Jews got no rise out of them. That was one block from campus. As Nolo points out, if Berdahl tries to go on TV and have it both ways, like he does here, he's gonna get killed. MSA and SJP are gonna look bad, too. They have nothing to claim for counter-persecution. Nothing. Even the slightest insult would give them a figleaf, but this has been entirely one-sided. It's a hoary old thought trick, but imagine if Palestinians were suffering this level of persecution. Hard to say how well the news would cover it, but the reaction on campus would be massive. This will get worse before it gets better. UPDATE: It's unclear if the attacks were anti-semiitic. See above.Email This Post! Thursday, April 04, 2002
New tragedy at Berkeley today.
Details are sketchy, but there's not much to add to this: another suicide jumper from Evans Hall today. It apparently happened around 4 PM, which meant lots of students saw it. More information as it arrives. Email This Post!
TALK IS CHEAP DEPT:
Sent from Chancellor Berdahl to all group signatories: Berdahl has been sending these little missives a lot lately. With the semi-exception of the Patriot stealings, which vowed to prosecute the perps involved, they're very formulaic. First he spends a sentence or two 'putting everything into context,' by sympathizing with whatever's going around that everybody's pissed off about. Here it's the Middle East. Next the actual incident comes out: most of the time, he balances two against each other so as not to appear playing favorites. If only one incident happened, like in the Horowitz incident, he talks about it in vague 'Values' terms. Finally, Berdahl condemns the whatever happened. Not as anything criminal, but as a bad idea and the wrong path to take. So here's the latest form letter. The inclusion of the Chicano letters is interesting: he's talking about how the Middle East situation is pissing everyone off, but since the only people victimized by it are the Jews, he goes with another Leftist Minority group as kind of Honorary Palestinians. What's missing from these? Oh, right, a plan of action! After all, Berdahl has no interest in criminalizing something mundane like Anthrax attacks or Kristalnacht.So it becomes a 'bad idea' that 'violates values.' If it isn't criminalized, Berdahl doesn't have to institute new policies to deal with it. He can continue with the half-assed 'Let them duke it out' approach to violations of the rights of students. Or does he really think his plea for more civilized discussion is anything but a pathetic subsitute for real action? Hell, I'm just a more or less disinterested observer writing a Blog and even I'm not taking a 'Reasoned, Civil Approach' to this. What hope for Anti-Semites and Latino-haters? Email This Post!
CalANON, now with delightful yellow and blue colors, claims that APPLE's flyer disclaimers 'never happened.'
Nolo: If you're not sure, it's okay to e-mail me. Because APPLE did put up disclaimers... for most flyers. You can find the PDF's here. The possibly-dodgy Jello Wrestling one has no disclaimer, mostly because we stopped flyering entirely before Anthony got around to adding it. I don't feel too bad about the Jello Wrestling flap; it becomes less and less ethically dodgy the more you examine it. Schulman is a Squelch Senator, but he comes to APPLE caucus, has full voting rights that an APPLE member would, and so forth. That he's part of the Squelch party is a technicality, in the same way that I'm running on the Squelch ticket for AAVP. UPDATE: Nolo writes, Hey Kevin, I didn't mean to imply that the clarification on the flyers "never happened," just that it didn't happen on this particular case, which I found a bit amusing. I also didn't think that it was that big a deal, so I apologize if you thought that I was attacking APPLE on the basis of these flyers. I guess I didn't convey how non-serious I found the "unethical" charges well enough. Nolo. Don't worry about it, Nolo! Silly misunderstandings are what makes Blogs great! Email This Post! Wednesday, April 03, 2002
A very interesting discussion on yesterday's Palestinian march at Far-Left site Indybay.
There's two broad strains of thought on 'How to Protest,' these days. Strangely, they're both intellectually credible so long as you accept certain assumptions. The first is the 'Love Everyone,' scheme, which is the newer one. It'd be more accurate to call it the 'Community' approach. This one says that the purpose of a protest is to involve the entire community in a unified message. I guess the idea is that since political change happens on a local level, true activism means getting everyone to believe in a certain message. Then the change in policy desired will happen peacefully and democratically. This rules violent tactics out, since violence inherently divides communities and produces divisions. The second, and ancient, tactic is the 'Death to Infidels' approach. That's the one that sees protests as part of a war between the oppressors and oppressed. Peaceful protests don't get anywhere, since they don't change the existing, corrup, power structure. 'What use to organize a community,' they'd say, when the 'Democratic system' is a tool of the Corporations anyway.' So Protests are there to strike out, call attention to the struggle, and basically keep the war up. And of course, the two philosophies can't work in the same protest. Either you're calling for love and wheeling the kids and grandparents around, or you're throwing Molotov cocktails. Yesterday's march started as a Love-in, then either evolved or devolved into a 'Fuck Police and Highways' march. Naturally, the latter got the publicity. So of course the Molotovs see that as vindication of their tactics, and the Peacers see it as a hijacking of true protests. There's also big gender/age/occupation gaps in who believes in what philosophy, naturally. Email This Post!
THEY'RE EVERYWHERE DEPT.
Turns out there's p-l-e-n-t-y of Berkeley Bloggers out there. Intelligently, they by and large don't write about this silly campus. Most seem to belong to the Interactive University community, so I put them all as one link in the bottom left. Not only that, but one of them is apparently a former Professor of Calstuff! Back in my seventh grade year, a horrible one in general, I attended a summer school at Berkeley called the 'Academic Talent Development Program.' I took a class about Science Fiction, taught by Ms. Catherine Yoes. And it turns out she has a blog. Great class, that. Strangely, after taking it I never came back to Berkeley until I was accepted during my Senior year in High School.Email This Post! Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Is it a good or bad thing that the 'Point Counterpoint' piece in today's Daily Cal barely mentions the current Intifada? Both of these writers don't seem to deal with what Palestinians are doing at all.
That's perfectly understandable with Youmans' piece, which doesn't have much interest in bringing up a brutal toll of suicide bombers. So he focuses almost entirely on Israel. If you accept his basic premise-- that Palestinians will cease all resistance once they get 'the right to self-determination and the right to return to their land.' -- then the piece looks like a Ghandi-esque statement of a defiant and noble oppressed people. Of course, if you believe that many Palestinians won't stop until all Jews are out in the sea, and that a culture that approves of 16 year olds blowing themselves up is sick, the piece appears more self-serving. And for someone who is supposedly about to enlist in the IDF, Weinberg's defense of Israel is surprisingly clinical. He doesn't see Israel as anything more special than the leading edge of western Democracy 'in a sea of Dictatorships.' And that Israel must be defended because of all its rights and virtues. This is an old defense, and done better elsewhere: it's really easy to riposte that Israel's Democracy has nothing to do with its interactions with Palestinians. And considering that the difference between Israeli and Arab governance has just about nothing to do with the current conflict, you'd think he'd try harder to get to the heart of the matter. Email This Post!
Monday, April 01, 2002
CalASUC is dead; it remains to me to write her eulogy.
Dear Lord, you've seen fit to take Joan SAPPLESERVE from us. Truly, this is our hour of need, as the ASUC elections are just getting going and Lord knows I'm bored with them already. Where will we turn for insider information on Berkeley's second most secretive institution? How can we go on without Joan dredging up our old posts to embarass us? |
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