Saturday, September 27, 2014

Slow Saturday Special: Brown Down on Protest

At least the kids are learning a lesson about obedience to authority:

"Brown may restrict events after Kelly disruption" by Michelle R. Smith | Associated Press   September 27, 2014

PROVIDENCE — The president of Brown University has said that the Ivy League school may stop allowing the public to attend certain events after protesters shut down a speech last year by New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, prompting concerns from some that the university is isolating itself from its city.

President Christina Paxson issued a report this week about the disruption, which happened on Oct. 29 during a speech by Kelly about his department’s stop-and-frisk policy. Several Brown students and members of the public shouted Kelly down as he attempted to speak.

That is what needs to be done with the official representatives of tyrannical authority now. They brought it on themselves.

The disruption at the Providence campus led to debate on whether concerns about policies that some see as racist trumped the free exchange of ideas.

Paxson wrote in her report that Brown students have the right to voice their views and challenge those with which they disagree, but they cannot interfere with the free exchange of ideas.

In other words, you have to sit there and listen to the bullish**. 

BOOOOOOOOO!

Paxson said students are bound by the university code of conduct, which says halting such events is unacceptable. Members of the public are not bound by those rules.

‘‘Although Brown’s usual practice and strong preference is to keep events open to the broader Providence community, the university may occasionally restrict events to Brown community members,’’ she wrote, ‘‘especially if there are concerns about security or safety.’’

University spokeswoman Marisa Quinn said the possibility of closing such events did not represent a change, but rather ‘‘a renewed emphasis on the importance and value of thoughtful management and planning.’’

However, faculty members and students said in interviews that such talks are typically open to the public, except in special circumstances, such as a highly anticipated speaker when space is limited, and that they believe it is a policy change.

Several said they worried it could cut the school off from the community and inhibit debate on controversial topics.

That's 21st-century AmeriKa.

Brown is one of the largest private employers in the state.

************

Sami Overby, a Brown sophomore who was among those who disrupted the event, said it would have the effect of ‘‘restricting and silencing voices of the community’’ who were most affected by the policies they were protesting.

When the idea was floated last year by the administration, some community members objected. Fred Ordonez, who participated in the protest, said at the time that such a move would show that the school does not care about the community.

Teny Gross, an antiviolence activist in the audience to hear Kelly, said the university has an obligation to be open to the public.

Some in the Brown community said the policy change is reasonable. Biology professor Ken Miller wrote a column for the campus newspaper last year decrying what happened, saying it goes against the basic principles of academic freedom....

Remember when Iran's former president Ahmadinejad was banned from speaking at Columbia?

In New York, the contentious stop and frisk policy is in legal limbo after a judge ruled last year that it sometimes discriminated against members of minority groups.

Continues operating as is.

--more--"

Another down university:

"After recent deaths, MIT calls for moment of reflection" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe correspondent   September 26, 2014

MIT is asking students, faculty, and staff to collectively pause and reflect Monday after the death of an undergraduate this week, the sixth death of a member of the university community in as many months.

“The community here at MIT is in pain,” chancellor Cynthia Barnhart said by phone Friday. “We’re asking everyone at MIT to do something we [often] don’t do here, to stop.”

She said that at noon Monday the university has scheduled a first-of-its-kind, campuswide event called “All Doors Open.” Everyone affiliated with MIT is asked to pause for about 15 minutes to remember those who died and to reflect on how the community should respond. 

I'm sad about the deaths at Military Industrial Tech, but remember and reflect on those deaths from U.S. airstrikes instead.

****************

Phoebe Wang, a sophomore from Pennsylvania who was studying mechanical engineering, was found dead Tuesday in her Memorial Drive dormitory, officials have said.

Although they have declined to release details, authorities have said that Wang’s death was not being treated as a criminal matter.

It is the second death at MIT this semester. The body of graduate student Austin Travis was found in his Forest Street apartment on Sept. 3. The cause remains under investigation.

Three other graduate students and a professor have died since March. One of the graduate student deaths was ruled an accident. The three other cases have been ruled suicides, according to authorities and news reports.

Uh-huh.

Suicide and mental health issues affect colleges around the world. MIT is known to have one of the nation’s most comprehensive counseling programs, in part due to improvements the school made after a series of suicides over the past two decades.

But....

--more--"

RelatedMIT mourns student found dead in dorm room

M.I.T. mind-control experiments getting out of control?

"Ex-student behind lockdown wanted reference letter" by Lynne Tuohy | Associated Press   September 27, 2014

MANCHESTER, N.H. — A 21-year-old man who prompted a lockdown at his former high school when a student spotted a gun tucked into his waistband had gone there to ask a teacher for a letter of recommendation to college, police said Friday.

Even though he "did not graduate?"

***********

The 90-minute lockdown at Manchester High School West began at about 8 a.m.

This the cover story for another drill?

Thursday, when a female student spotted Damian Johnson of Manchester walking through the cafeteria with a gun in his waistband, according to court documents. She told school officials she recognized Johnson as the father of her best friend’s children....

?????

After being spotted with the gun, Johnson put the gun and a knife into a black backpack belonging to a 17-year-old student at the school.

The student told police she let him put the weapons in there because she did not want him to get arrested.

Johnson entered the classroom of Beverly Robie, who told police she knew him as a former student.

Robie told Johnson she thought the police were looking for him, and he asked her not to call them, telling her he did not want to go back to jail, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. She told police he agreed to her calling the police to let them know where he was.

Police said there were four students in the classroom with Johnson and Robie when officers entered.

Police Chief David Mara said Thursday that Johnson was apprehended without a struggle and had not acted violently or threatened anyone during the course of the lockdown.

Sergeant Brian O’Keefe said Johnson was convicted in 2011 of stalking and two counts of simple assault and in 2012 of unarmed robbery.

The school in New Hampshire’s largest city is about 20 miles south of Concord. It has about 1,300 students.

--more--"

RelatedSWAT teams respond to N.H. school

The police state is everywhere these days.

Also see: Pa. school stabbing suspect can move to psych hospital

You might want to grab a cup of coffey for the link.