"Some students want ‘trigger warnings’ on study material; Explicit alerts seen by others as disturbing trend" by Jennifer Medina | New York Times May 18, 2014
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Should students about to read “The Great Gatsby” be forewarned about “a variety of scenes that reference gory, abusive, and misogynistic violence,” as one Rutgers student proposed?
Would any book that addresses racism — such as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” or “Things Fall Apart” — have to be preceded by a note of caution?
Should sexual images from Greek mythology come with a viewer-beware label?
Colleges across the country this spring have been wrestling with student requests for what are known as “trigger warnings,” explicit alerts that the material they are about to read or see in a classroom might upset them or, as some students assert, cause symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in victims of rape or in war veterans.
The warnings, which have their ideological roots in feminist thought, have gained the most traction at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where the student government formally called for them. But there have been similar requests from students at Oberlin College, Rutgers University, the University of Michigan, George Washington University, and other schools.
The debate has left many academics fuming, saying that professors should be trusted to use common sense and that being provocative is part of their mandate. Trigger warnings, they say, suggest a certain fragility of mind that higher learning is meant to challenge, not embrace.
I just shot my load, sorry.
The warnings have been widely debated in intellectual circles and largely criticized in opinion magazines, newspaper editorials, and academic e-mail lists.
“Any kind of blanket trigger policy is inimical to academic freedom,” said Lisa Hajjar, a sociology professor at the university here, who often uses graphic depictions of torture in her courses about war.
I think kids should be shielded from all bad things the US government does until they are plopped in the middle of it.
“Any student can request some sort of individual accommodation, but to say we need some kind of one-size-fits-all approach is totally wrong,’’ Hajjar said. “The presumption there is that students should not be forced to deal with something that makes them uncomfortable is absurd or even dangerous.”
Bailey Loverin, a sophomore at Santa Barbara, said the idea for campuswide trigger warnings came to her in February after a professor showed a graphic film depicting rape.
Colleges have a problem with that, yeah.
She said that she herself had been a victim of sexual abuse, and that although she had not felt threatened by the film, she had approached the professor after class, suggesting that students should have been warned.
Loverin draws a distinction between alerting students to material that might tap into memories of trauma — such as war and torture, because many students at Santa Barbara are veterans — and slapping warning labels on famous literary works, as other advocates of warnings have proposed.
“We’re not talking about someone turning away from something they don’t want to see,” Loverin said. “People suddenly feel a very real threat to their safety — even if it is perceived.’’
The most vociferous criticism has focused on trigger warnings for materials that have an established place on syllabuses across the country. Among the suggestions for books that would benefit from trigger warnings are Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” (contains anti-Semitism) and Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” (addresses suicide).
“Frankly it seems this is sort of an inevitable movement toward people increasingly expecting physical comfort and intellectual comfort in their lives,” said Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit group that advocates free speech.
“It is only going to get harder to teach people that there is a real important and serious value to being offended. Part of that is talking about deadly serious and uncomfortable subjects,” Lukianoff said.
The term “trigger warning” has its genesis on the Internet. Feminist blogs and forums have used the term for more than a decade to signal that readers, particularly victims of sexual abuse, might want to avoid certain articles or pictures online.
Feminists against free thought, for free sex, great.
On college campuses, proponents say similar language should be used in class syllabuses or before lectures. The issue arose at Wellesley College this year after the school installed a lifelike statue of a man in his underwear, and hundreds of students signed a petition to have it removed.
See: Sleepwalking Through This Post
But about the women....
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That article triggered these links:
More illegal guns traced to Mass., despite tough laws
Roxbury traffic stop yields .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol
Campus police to carry guns at University of Rhode Island
Related: Rhode Island Seeking to Make Schools Safe
Arming the cops based on that strange and bizarre story full of contradictions?
Slain TSA agent’s kin file $25m claim
Related:
Accused denies killing TSA agent at LA airport
LAX Hoax
LAX Question Answered
Parking This Post About the LAX Shooting
Explosions at LAX
It's important to explode myths these days.
LAX Question Answered
Parking This Post About the LAX Shooting
Explosions at LAX
It's important to explode myths these days.
Thousands seek gun permits in California after court ruling
NRA focused on concealed weapons
On ‘smart guns,’ progress is thwarted by noxious politics
What if.... someone else needed it to defend you or save lives?
Gun violence’s toll a relentless form of terror
That is why I view my government as mentally ill.
Gun rights advocates hope for convention impact
Also see:
"118 countries have signed the Arms Trade Treaty, but ratification is required to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms and components, and to regulate arms brokers."
Related: Global Gun Control
That's the way I'm registering it.
Also see: The Biggest Gun Dealers on Planet Earth
The brokers only want peace, people!
Speaking of murder by premeditation:
"Minnesota man convicted of premeditated murder" by Amy Forliti | Associated Press April 30, 2014
LITTLE FALLS, Minn. — A homeowner who shot and killed two teenagers during a break-in was quickly convicted of premeditated murder Tuesday, with a jury taking only about three hours to soundly reject his claim of self-defense.
Good thing I was not on that jury.
Byron Smith, a 65-year-old retiree who once set up security in American embassies for the State Department, shot Nick Brady, 17, and Haile Kifer, 18, a total of nine times after they broke into his home on Thanksgiving Day 2012. Smith’s attorney said he was fearful after previous burglaries.
He must have thought he was law enforcement too unload so many bullets into them.
But prosecutors argued that Smith waited in his basement and intended to kill the teens, with a setup lead prosecutor Pete Orput compared to a deer stand — with the teens as the deer. Their key evidence was an audiotape recording that captured the killings in chilling detail, including Smith’s taunts as they died.
The mothers of the teens cried as the verdicts from the six-man, six-woman jury were read: Guilty on two counts each of first-degree and second-degree murder. Smith showed no emotion. He was immediately sentenced to life without parole. Defense attorney Steve Meshbesher said he would appeal.
Brady’s grandmother, Bonnie Schaeffel, was among family members who addressed the court after the verdicts were given.
‘‘He seems a sour, angry old recluse who felt he was above the law,’’ Schaeffel said. ‘‘He chose to be cop, judge, jury, and executioner.’’
Why did the AmeriKan drone missile program just come to mind?
Smith’s brother, Bruce, walked past reporters afterward without comment.
The teens’ killings stirred debate around the state and in Little Falls — a Mississippi River city of 8,000 about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis — about how far a homeowner can go in responding to a threat. Minnesota law allows deadly force to prevent a felony from taking place in one’s home or dwelling, but one’s actions must be considered reasonable under the circumstances.
That is one thing that is getting lost here: the kids VIOLATED HIS HOME by BREAKING and ENTERING!
I'm sorry, but I really view that as a violation akin to rape. You are supposed to feel safe in your home of all places.
Prosecutors said Smith’s plan was set in motion on the morning of the killings, after Smith saw a neighbor whom he believed responsible for prior burglaries drive by. Prosecutors said Smith moved his truck to make it look like no one was home, and then settled into a chair in his basement with a book, energy bars, a bottle of water, and two guns.
Smith also set up a hand-held recorder on a bookshelf, which captured audio of the shootings, and had installed a surveillance system that recorded images of Brady trying to enter the house.
The audio captured the sound of glass shattering, Brady descending the basement stairs, and Smith shooting Brady three times. Smith can be heard saying, ‘‘You’re dead.’’ Prosecutors said Smith put Brady’s body on a tarp and dragged him into another room, then sat down, reloaded his weapon, and waited.
About 10 minutes later, Kifer came downstairs. More shots are heard on the recording, then Kifer’s screams, with Smith saying, ‘‘You’re dying.’’ It’s followed soon after by another gunshot, which investigators said Smith described as ‘‘a good, clean finishing shot.’’
The teens were unarmed, but Smith’s attorneys had said he feared they had a weapon.
The tape continued to run, and Smith was heard referring to the teens as ‘‘vermin.’’ Smith waited a full day before asking a neighbor to call police.
Smith did not testify on his own behalf. Meshbesher highlighted previous burglaries on Smith’s property, including one on Oct. 27 that included the theft of weapons.
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Also see: Banging on Doors in Detroit
Don't do that in Detroit or anywhere else in AmeriKa.
