The Onion is on top of things, as usual.Flava:
...the Stigmores spoke openly about the time their daughter attended a class in which her political science professor “completely ambushed” her with standard course material that did not fit comfortably within her world outlook. Feeling unsettled, the college student reportedly had no way of coping with the challenging position that did not require her to consider the opinion, analyze its shortcomings, and think of possible counterarguments.Here's the rest.
Alexis, then a dean’s-list student in her junior year, described spending 40 harrowing minutes of class in a distressed state, forced to look at the world through the eyes of a set of people she disagreed with.
I'm trying to tell myself that it's the onion, what do you expect, and if this was a story of a snowflake who egged the library because their poly sci prof made them participate in some kind of KKK sensitivity, then I wouldn't have a problem.
ReplyDeleteBut, to make fun of a young lady who apparently had other issues going on (or mental issues whatever) that lead to her death, I think, is beyond insensitive imho.
EMH, I read this as referring to the perceived increase in sensitivity among students these days, and admin's/parents haste to cater to it at a cost to what students learn in class. What do you think it's referring to?
ReplyDeleteI had two friends tweet this nearly simultaneously: one is a radical postcolonial feminist and the other a conservative Catholic (both academics.) No better proof that it's on point.
I've re-read the article for clarification.
ReplyDeleteNo where does it mention the demise of the fictional student. Her parents took this upon themselves to create this special space so that no else suffer the ignominy of having to deal with 40 minutes of discomfort.
I read the implied "fact" that the student didn't even show up for the dedication to mean she had moved on and put it behind her and it was her parents that couldn't let it go.
The plaque reads "In loving memory of..."
ReplyDeleteIt does, indeed. And that's at odds with the text of the article, and the headline, which read "in honor of" (one honors the living -- including the living who graduated in 2009 and are off living their own lives while their parents continue to obsess about 40 minutes of their college experience, which is how I read the situation, too -- and commemorates the dead).
DeleteI'm guessing that whoever does their graphics started with a stock photo, and didn't change the first line of the plaque. Clearly they don't have the same level of quality control for their images as we do here at CM.
"Quality" control.
Delete;-)
This isn't real, right? Or have I been reading the Onion wrong all this time?
ReplyDeleteNote the final paragraph of the report:
ReplyDeleteSources confirmed a separate donation has also been made to provide a safe space and counseling services for straight white men at the college who won’t shut the fuck up about how they’re the real victims on campus these days.
In classic The Onion style they add a final hint at the end.
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DeleteWe have some so-called safe spaces on our campus. They are ostensibly where people might have some hope of escaping the very privilege-blind bullshit that this article is making fun of.
DeleteExactly. My office has had a sticker labeling it a "safe zone" for years (well, until it fell down sometime last year. I need to find another one.) All that means, however, as the sticker says (paraphrasing a bit), is that you'll be treated as a human being regardless of race, religion, class, sexual orientation/expression, or the like -- which should go without saying, but I don't mind saying it since it apparently needs to be said. It does *not* mean I won't challenge (or at least gently push a bit at/lead you through dissecting) your most cherished beliefs -- at least not if they have something to do with the paper you're writing, and you're failing to approach the subject critically/analytically.
DeleteSomehow we need to get back to (or to) an idea of a "safe space" as one where people can express a wide variety of points of view and be treated with respect (but also urged to think about their ideas, and others', critically). Maybe we can find a way to teach students to do that while we're figuring out how to teach them to talk about sex/to potential sexual partners (this, of course, presumes we've figured out how to do either/both, which is not exactly a foregone conclusion, though we might have developed some skills along the way).
Like.
DeleteOh, that's a great one, Onion. But that room is waaaaay too small. And there needs to be a couch and a water fountain in there too, doesn't there?
ReplyDeleteCouches might lead to unfortunate uses, or even misunderstandings about the line between comfort and creating further discomfort. On the other hand, that pappadam (or is that the name of an Indian break? Whatever those round things are called) looks pretty big.
DeleteThey do THAT in the library. That, and frequent the Starbuck's that's 10 feet from the periodicals stacks. They certainly don't use the place for READING!
Delete@CC: Close. It's a papasan chair.
DeleteThanks. I knew it was something like that, but was (obviously) too lazy/tired to google. And then I spelled "bread" as "break." Apparently it was time for bed, or at least dinner (I'm away from Oilmont for the summer, so not in the CM timezone).
DeletePappadam are tasty, but a bit small and fragile to sit in/on.