music
When the world learned of the Lawrence Summers remarks about women and science, I thought the man needed better judgement. I didn't wish that he would actually cease to be President of Harvard on account of this. I had mixed feelings about the guy.
Of course women can and do teach, prove theorems, make money, kill people, and manage organizations. Still, fewer women than men are identified as billionaires or army Generals. Taib.
People at the top of society in America find it in the Nation's best interest to not leave large groups of people undeveloped, their talent untapped. Maybe they think life is more fair that way. Maybe they recall having a door closed to them because of their height, gender, accent, family income, hairstyle, skinshade, body-mass-index, girliness, religion, or nationality.
Sentimental stuff.
They say they're doing diversity for the Nation, as in: otherwise we'll go to war with a country that has invented something that we never found because the person who would have found it is in jail or couldn't get hired because of our laws.
They don't always bring up their personal reasons, as in: I always wanted a son only got daughters and my daughter is really very good at volleyball (taught her myself, blush) and you know i've seen in her eyes how she wants to win olympic medals one day even if it hurts and, you know, i just want that girl to be happy.
The occasional political-correctness-challenged professorpresident (pp) thinks out loud: in future, who'll make dinner, and lunch, during the making of mr. dr. important if he's born/married to a fellow future dr. important? or who'll mostly raise the kids he wants to help raise?
Folks shout down the pp quickly because sometimes pp's are dim-witted, but often because folks don't want the arguments clouded or to risk rolling back the gains of their pet movement. That's politics, people.
Links, a diversity of pps:
speech and resignation
trying to make sense (of it all)
friend of the court
Exercises
Do academics care about truth? Do academics care about power?
5 comments:
1. Taib means fine. good. (as in, ok, now we move on to the next point.) One of my teachers in Yemen, I miss them both, used to say that. I also miss S.O. who used to say "ya3ni,"(that means) and Anna whose favourite was "3afwan" (as in excuse me, pardon. this word is also is the response to thank you.)
2. for music, the first two that come to mind are Garbage's "Shut Your Mouth" and Fela's "B.O.N.N." - at least i think it's in Beast of No Nation that he sings "Abeg o, make you hear me well well, human rights na my property, you can't dash me my property" - that's the most reverent part of the song, by the way.
Maybe I'll go with Garbage, or maybe with something more fun to listen to than either of these.
White Flag wins because my brother is travelling (first time in Europe) and the song reminds me of him.
ya3ni: that means, that is, that is to say, I mean, it means.
The new pp at Caltech is Jean-Lou Chameau.
http://mr.caltech.edu/media/Press_Releases/PR12978.html
I just love him. I know I can trust him. Knew it from the day he was introduced to Caltech.
To be clear, pp was intended to mean professorpresident, not political-correctness-challenged professorpresident.
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