Planning on walking near the Heart of Campus^TM tomorrow? Curious as to what aborted fetuses look like? You’re in luck!

(Fair warning: pretty much every link in this post points to images which many may find highly disturbing)

On Wednesday and Thursday between 7:30 and 4:00 the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) will be displaying images of aborted fetuses, lynchings, and holocaust victims, amongst other things. Their purpose is to equate the images and consequently point out the genocidal nature of legalized abortion. This assuredly will lead to much hand-wringing, yelling, and other unpleasantries. As one would expect, the Women’s Center will be protesting the event. (Which is unfortunate, since the Women’s Center is implicitly excluding pro-life women from its organization by taking an officially pro-choice stance.) It also means I’ll have to look at pictures of aborted fetuses, people hanging from trees, and holocaust victims every time I go to the EMU the next couple of days. Sigh.

I must say that I do have rather mixed views of GAP’s tactics:

On one hand, even if abortion is genocide, then there’s still no particular reason to directly equate it to the holocaust, lynchings of African-Americans, or other evils. Not to sound like a nitpicking relativist, but something can be unequivically bad without being the same as something else unequivocally bad. If abortion is evil, then can’t it be its own evil? Don’t images of aborted fetuses speak volumes on their own?

And even if an image speaks volumes one way or another, it’s oftentimes inappropriate to push it in unsuspecting people’s faces. There are numerous students who know what an aborted fetus looks like, have an ironclad point of view one way or the other on the issue, and just want to go to their classes without having to see such images again. A very good friend of mine had relatives murdered in the holocaust and purposely avoids viewing images of the atrocities. He isn’t ignorant and he isn’t avoiding reality– he’s seen plenty of images and depictions of that particular genocide. But he does want to go about his day without an emotional load to bear. In a similar vein, a fellow Commentator staffer was bothered by the full image of the last Insurgent issue’s cover that I put up on the blog– for day or two when he visited the blog he pretty much had to view an image that offended him.

On the other hand, the images are undoubtedly powerful. People oftentimes benefit from being confronted by images they find offensive or disturbing– it either strengthens or challenges their existing worldview. I can’t imagine a picture of a late-term abortion could possibly strengthen a pro-choicer’s or weaken a pro-lifer’s respective belief in the righteousness of legalized abortion. Similarly, I can’t imagine a picture of an airstrike victim could possibly strengthen a hawk’s or weaken a pacifist’s view of military intervention. (Of course, in both cases opposing images can be found to invert argument strengths, which is why sensible people generally argue with reason rather than emotion.)

Additionally, images of lynchings in the deep south and of the holocaust were extemely important in convincing people of the respective times that there were unbelievable evils being committed. If a person believes that abortion is an extreme evil, wouldn’t they be negligent to not attempt to confront people with images such as these?

Anyways, enough of me saying what everyone already knows. Tomorrow and Thursday could be interesting, to say the least. If you don’t want to see the images, walk another route or avert your eyes.

Oh, and there was a bit of controversy over whether or not the UO College Republicans were hosting the GAP. I talked with Chair Anthony Warren earlier tonight and he told me that someone from the CRs had indeed reserved the amphitheatre on behalf of the group but that otherwise there was no official connection or involvement on the part of the College Republicans.

Ahh, Ailee Slater, where would we be without you?

Today’s gem is about the wonders of Scientology, a religion cult founded in the 50s by hack sci-fi writer cum avid boater L. Ron Hubbard. Her first real claim made me spit coffee all over my monitor, the folks in the next cube must think I’m insane:

Perhaps the reason that Scientology is of so much interest to celebrities as well as to U.S. citizens in general, is that the religion of L. Ron Hubbard is at once logical and completely juxtaposed to the American way of life.

Yes, she just claimed Scientology is logical. I suppose that if one thinks believing a malevolent space-emperor killed a bunch of aliens on Earth 75 million years ago, imprinted their souls with false memories, and thusly caused all of human suffering is logical, then, yes, Scientology makes perfect sense. I mean, giving birth in silence and not talking to your kid for a week after seems totally reasonable to me, it must be the “medical establishment” keeping such technology out of the hands of the masses.

She does bring up the growing use of anti-psychotic drugs in children, but I think part of it is the same misnomer I spoke about here. I also wonder just how many kids are on anti-psychotics versus things like Aderall or Ritalin. I think it’s a perfectly good idea to question the use of speed-like substances to regulate the behavior of “hyperactive” children, or the use of compulsory psychological treatment, as Szasz has been for quite some time; however, it’s useless to confuse the issue by getting the terminology wrong.

This bit from the penultimate paragraph, though, is my absolute favorite of the piece:

As humanity and science continue to develop, it will be interesting to observe how much we continue to rely on the advances of technology, rather than the natural, balancing health capacities innate to the human body.

Since our ancestors came down from the trees all those years ago, we’ve been relying on technology for our survival. What on Earth do you think a rock tied to a stick is? Thing didn’t fall from the sky like that. Furthermore, I think there’s a good argument to be made that everything humans do is perfectly natural, as last I checked we were still constrained by the laws of physics. Natural has become a synonym for primative, and frankly I’m sick of it. Most of us are alive purely by the graces of technological progress during the last 100 years: vaccines, antibiotics, improved farming technology, cold storage, and on and on. Without those things most of our parents would’ve died and we never would’ve made it past the gamete stage. If all of these “chemicals” are so awful for us, why are we living longer, healthier lives? If all this progress is so terrible, can somebody explain to me why a life expectancy of 46.9 is preferable to one of 77.7?

Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity Charles Martinez, in the ODE:

[O]ur graduates will go out into a world that is much more diverse than Oregon, and we have a responsibility to educate them in an environment that will enhance their ability to compete in the ‘global marketplace.’

Maybe I’m being over-sensitive, but I think if I were an Oregonian – diverse or non-diverse – the phrasing of this would come a bit close to “you’re a bunch of hicks” for my liking. (Also, and I feel churlish even pointing this out, there is nowhere even the slightest indication of how the efforts of the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity will enhance the ability of the benighted non-diverse masses to compete in the ‘global marketplace.’ As near as I can figure, it’s some sort of osmotic process involving physical proximity to the diverse.)

For a refreshing change of tone, everyone who hasn’t done so already should check out Bill Harbaugh’s diversity blog, as linked by Michael below. Problems are stated. Policies are suggested. And – this is the good bit – the applicability of the latter to the former is addressed:

We would like to see some specific goals, some plans for achieving them, some evidence these plans will work, and some estimates of the cost. The current diversity plan does not even include a reference, footnote or bibliography. I can’t find even one mention of how the proposed ideas have worked at other universities. There is no discussion of costs, no estimate of how many people will be helped, or of the tradeoffs. The plan we are preparing will do our best to document these things.

Cuatro de Mayo, the alcoholic’s Cinco de Mayo, is upon us! A number of the OC staff will be at Sixth Street Bar & Grill at around 8:00 tonight quaffing down Margaritas of various sizes. Will anyone be able to trump the current record of Four El Dorados in one night? Will the Sixth Street staff have enough glasses for all of us to drink at once? And which significant other will have the hardest time dragging their passed-out partner home? You’ll have to come by and see for yourself!

Ben Lenet has an opinion piece in today’s Emerald, the first of what we can assume will be many since he’s apparantly now a columnist. So what insights does BenLen have into the modern American political scene? Let’s take a gander:

In these troubling times, where we are faced with the threats of terrorism, global warming, rising health costs and an education system that struggles to stay afloat, I hoped the Republican Party would use its control to govern effectively. Instead we’ve been treated to almost six years of smoke and mirrors resulting in no tangible benefits for middle and lower class Americans.

With the midterm elections only six months away, I hope all of us will see through the distractions and wedges and elect politicians who have the bravery and character to confront the real issues.

What a brave stand! Why, with balls like that you’d almost think he wasn’t co-chair of the College Democrats. What else does Ben have to say?

Instead, President Bush has spent the last four and a half years dividing us. It seems that every few months the Republican Party rolls out an issue for the sole purpose of dividing and distracting. I would never say that these issues aren’t important — they are. Nevertheless, they are nowhere near as pressing as lessening our dependence on foreign oil, providing health care to children or insuring education for all. So instead of tackling the real issues, every few months we are thrust into debating “wedge issues” (issues brought up for the sole purpose of distracting and dividing).

This is funny coming from Lenet. He was one of a number of people who attempted to get the Student Senate to sign an Iran resolution– a resolution with no relevance to campus issues or the Senate’s constitutional duties. At the 4/26 Student Senate meeting, in fact, a presentation on the Diversity Plan by Dr. Charles Martinez was pushed aside so that the Senate could listen to Lenet and his cohorts attempt to justify sending the resolution to be enumerated by the Rules committee.

I said I’d have more, and here it is:

Some of the faculty have decided to put together their own diversity plan (it’s a blog, keep watch on it), that aims at increasing the pool of qualified minority Ph.Ds in the future by spending money on future Ph.Ds, rather than spend it on diversity programs that attempt to fill positions from a pool of qualified minorities who already posess Ph.Ds – a pool that is claimed to be very small. Their argument is that by increasing the number of people with with Ph.Ds, minorities included, diversity at universities will increase as a natural result of their being a large pool of well-qualified Ph.Ds.

The proposed plan doesn’t specifically target minorities, but rather targets the economically disadvantaged (it’s not hard to draw out the full implication). The new plan calls for using existing funds that are being used for the current, and not necessarily effective, diversity programs.

Speaking of funds, the Charles Martinez and John Moseley sent budget to those of us who asked. The figures are for the OIED’s budget as well as the funding for other diversity programs. Read below…

(more…)

The ODE reports that some scientific illiterates will be hosting a talk by IDer Geoffery Simmons at 7:30 tonight in the Fir room. The foreward of Simmons’s book is by noted statistical liar* and Intelligent Designer William Dembski, just to give you a picture of where the guy is coming from. So if you’d like a good laugh, or you’re interested in having your IQ lowered by a few points, or you want to see the inevitable smack-down by a UO Chemistry professor feel free to attend.

Personally, it’s a long commute from Texas and I prefer my fairy tales to be better written.

________________________________
*DRINK!

You know, Diversity!

I, and others, went to the diversity plan open session on Friday, and I’ve been meaning to share my thoughts on the subject, but have been too busy.

There were a large number of faculty there. Of those who spoke, a large portion were from overseas. Of the people attending who were not part of the diversity plan committee, the opinions were largely against the proposed diversity plan.

There was some choice commentary from some of the people in attendence. My favorite was a short story about how Russia was lost to communism due to people talking about diversity and righting things with the serfs after they were freed in Russia.

“Stop this now, before it is too late,” was the passionate end to another anti-plan speech.

And there was talk of elephants in the room. To the Republicans on campus: There are some faculty members here who understand that intellectual and political diversity is valuable. Everyone in the room was treated to Prof. Bill Harbaugh’s brief report on the current state of Political Diversity at the UO.

Among the definitions of Cultural Competence that has been circulated: “Cultural Competency: Cacophonic Clause Created to Clear Campus of Conservatives.”

Several people asked the Vice Provost if he could name a budget figure for his office. He could not or would not. He stated that if anyone sent him an email asking for the figure, he would provide it. I have sent such an email and have been assured by an administrative assistant that the figure will be provided to me tomorrow or the next day.

I’ll have more soon enough. Stay tuned.

What: The Commentator’s Weekly Meeting
Who: You, if you’re at all interested in working at the Commentator
When: On Wednesday, May 3rd at 6:00 PM
Where: The OC Office, EMU Room 319

I have it on good authority that Wednesday is Danimal’s last day of law school, so this post has been appropriately categorized.

Addendum by Michael G.: Thursday is Quattro de Mayo.  Two words: El Dorado.