[1322] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
u of chicago 'controversy'
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Wally)
Mon Jun 24 14:31:54 2002
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 11:22:40 -0400
From: Wally <wally@SUB-ZERO.MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
yo. just spent a month at u chicago; hyde park sucks, people there hate
students, and the school itself is more socially fucked up than mit, if
you can believe it. the place to meet people and get picked up? the
library (which is, for the record, absolutely stunning).
anyhow -- alumni and students are somewht upset at the 'dumbing down' of
the place; they say the true character of the school is going away, blah
blah blah. makes me realize how we must sound to people with better things
to do than bicker about tiny freedoms. two URLs and a quote:
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i42/42a01001.htm (i'll forward the
article)
http://www.realuofc.org
from wayne booth:
"My point echoes Herman Sinaiko's: you cannot think simply about Western
Civ. but have to think about the whole history and future of the Core. I
do have a good deal of remorse about the loss of Western Civ. if it is a
full loss. But I have gone through many such moments of remorse and
protest, and I have learned how little particular protests accomplish. We
usually lose. I cannot resist telling you what happened to me at the
moment Herman talked about, when the College lost its 14 requirements. I
was teaching down at Earlham College, and I read in The Maroon about it,
and I was absolutely furious about it, because I had taught for three
years in that Core, and I believed it had been the best educational
experience I had ever had. So I wrote an angry letter to President Larry
Kimpton, saying, "You betrayed my College. I am furious. And I will no
longer give a cent to the University of Chicago." Two weeks later, I
received a letter back from him,saying, "Dear Professor Booth, We think we
can get along without your $25 a year." (laughter) That taught me how much
protest accomplishes."
[just so you can tell your friends not to worry, they're not the only ones
who've given up on trying to make a difference! heh.]
cheerio,
wally
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