Critical Mass

The San Francisco Chronicle reported today that an a capella singing group from Yale was attacked after singing the National Anthem at a New Year's Eve party in San Francisco:

The 16 singers showed up late to the party wearing preppy sport jackets and ties, and launched into "The Star-Spangled Banner."

A couple of uninvited guests started mocking them, and allegedly the words "faggot" and "homo" were tossed -- and so were a couple of punches. [. . .]

But witnesses said one of the uninvited guests -- who happens to be the son of a prominent Pacific Heights family -- pulled out his cell phone and said, "I'm 20 deep. My boys are coming."

According to Rapagnani and others, the Yale kids barely made it around the corner when they were intercepted by a van full of young men.

"They were surrounded, then tripped -- and when they were on the ground, they were kicked," Rapagnani said.

According to police reports, the cops arrived about 12:40 a.m. to find 20 people fighting in the street.

There's got to be more to the story than this, but we'll just have to see how Anthemgate plays out to figure it all out.  Why Anthemgate, you ask?  I say, if the Chronicle can use the term Fajitagate, why not?

The Christian Science Monitor had an interesting piece today entitled Roads Scholars about a group of students from Whitman College who spend three months on the road touring the American West to better understand its dynamics and history.  The students receive credit in "politics, environmental studies, biology, and writing & rhetoric" for their efforts. 

"Semester in the West is all about rocking students off balance a bit with their preconceived notions of what the West is," [lead professor Phil Brick] says, during a stopover in dusty Wells, Nev. "So often the cast of characters out here is divided into two groups: heroes and villains, friends and foes."

Although Whitman is a small liberal arts college, Mr. Brick and colleagues were careful to not devise a curriculum that might be mistaken as a boot camp for aspiring environmentalists. Issues were examined through the lens of many different characters - ranchers, miners, native Americans, tourism promoters. "If anything, we went in the opposite direction," Brick says.

In fact, though most of the students "grew up in liberal urban communities," by "venturing into some of the most politically conservative terrain in the country," "They ended up being rocked."  Shockingly enough, when removed from the urban landscape which, though home to millions in America, certainly does not reflect the lives of most ordinary Americans, one's views on reality and pragmatism versus idealism can be dramatically altered.

The Chicago Maroon's Editorial Board has decided to endorse "Gender Neutral Housing." What's more digusting than their position is their reluctance to admit it. They are determined to weigh in on controversial issues, but so afraid to offend anyone.

First they want to, “allow students to live in an environment that conforms with their notions of gender.” But they also want to stress that, “People with religious, cultural, or personal reasons for wanting gender-specific housing should have that option.” What do they think? Well, one would have to get to the bottom of the drivel to find out the real kicker:

Forcing different types of students together is for everyone’s benefit and is one of the best ways to overcome the stereotypes and prejudices that are rampant in our society.

You heard it, the best way to create diversity is to shove it down people’s throats until they like the taste. Wow, there’s tolerance for ya. Did people ever stop to think that some things were taboo for a reason?