OPINION & EDITORIAL
Students overlooking diversity
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Also by Jackie Lantz:
- Students overlooking diversity (March 11, 2005)
- Progressives in Madison, unite! (February 25, 2005)
- Legislation harmful to voters (February 11, 2005)
- Dean wrong for chairmanship (January 18, 2005)
Related Stories:
- Ethnic studies a puzzle for many (November 8, 2005)
- Diversity is more than race (September 6, 2001)
- In the Name of Diversity (September 6, 2001)
- UW's diversity programs need consistency (November 25, 2002)
- Enough is Enough (September 17, 2003)
by Jackie Lantz
Friday, March 11, 2005
Our university, like most others, claims it strives to be inclusive, diverse and a welcoming environment for students of all ethnicities and backgrounds. The most noticeable way Madison works to achieve this goal is by requiring students to take a three-credit ethnic studies class. By taking this one class, we are all supposed to be better prepared for life in a multicultural environment.
A noble ideal, but unfortunately that is not exactly the affect of the ethnic studies requirement. Rather than increasing diversity and preparing students for a diverse life after college, the requirement is seen by many students as an obstacle to overcome.
This attitude stems from the first exposure to registration during SOAR. While flipping through the timetable, my SOAR guide suggested that I look for a class designated by an “e” in order to get the ethnic studies requirement “out of the way,” implying that I can then devote more time to “real” classes. My experience at SOAR is not unique; far too many freshmen are led to believe that the ethnic studies requirement is just a hurdle and not the educational opportunity and growing experience it could be.
One of the reasons why the ethnic studies classes are not taken as seriously as they should is because of the types of classes offered that fulfill the requirement. Many of the classes that satisfy the ethnic studies requirement are large lectures with no discussion section. While they do provide valuable information and expose undergraduates to cultures they may not have grown up with or been exposed to, the effectiveness of these courses is limited. There is minimal interaction with the material, leaving a disconnect between the student and information. Discussion sections provide the ability to build on the information provided in the lecture and help cultivate a true understanding of other cultures. Without these opportunities, most of the potential these classes have is squandered away.
The University has to start getting serious about diversity and creating a welcoming environment for all students and the ethnic studies requirement is just the beginning. With a renewed vigor regarding ethnic studies, the environment on campus will become more inviting. Coupled with an increasing seriousness in the courses offered, the University needs to step up its enrollment process to reflect a hopefully changing environment on campus.
It was only a few years ago that the UW was in quite a bit of trouble for their Photoshop debacle when they pasted a photo of an African American male into an all-white group at a football game to show diversity on campus. How embarrassing. While that incident may be in the past, the racial homogeny on campus is not.
In 1998, the UW Board of Regents adopted Plan 2008, a comprehensive plan that includes increasing the diversity in applicants, increasing retention of students of color and improving accountability within the UW System. It is important that these goals be achieved, for both the campus and the students. A diverse learning environment not only prepares us for our future, but also provides intangible benefits that help us shape our ideas and opinions.
Despite the work that has been done to improve diversity on campus, there is still a lot left to do. The overwhelming homogeneity at the UW is a disservice to all of the students in Madison, but the responsibility doesn’t just lie at the feet of the UW administration. It is up to us, as students, to demand more from our University in order to see real changes made.
Jackie Lantz (jslantz@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:36am):
How about an article about how Madison's progressive organizing community fails to address institutional racism within itself? It's true, you know, how white Madison liberalism is its own unique brand of racism. Maybe not something the Herald would give column space to, but certainly worth an IMC or Observer column.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:01am):
I hope I never hear the word diversity again after I graduate unless it applies to ice cream.
How about realizing that regardless of race, we're all a bunch of spoiled brats who have the privilage of going to college, muchless a top flight institution.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 7:36am):
I totally agree with the first poster. I'm sick and tired of Madison liberals trying to pass themselves off as universally tolerant, pointing their fingers at others, while THEY are the big wedge between lily-white Madison and its non-white residents. It's so easy for these ignorant upper-middle-class buffoons to go out on the street and accuse other whites of being racist, but when it's time to put up or shut up they seem to disappear, unable and unwilling to rise to the challenge.
They bitch about the City of Madison not doing enough to help the homeless, then they take a road trip to D.C. for a cheap media sight gag at Bush's Inauguration. In the three years I've lived in Madison I have NEVER seen anything that resembles a genuine committment to equality or diversity.
As far as I'm concerned Madison is just fine the way it is. The only thing I'd change is to make the cost of living cheaper. Now THAT would help a lot of the poor people they claim to care about so much!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 8:01am):
Please, for the love of God, don't ever write another article.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 8:43am):
The problem is that the students don't want to be forced to pay and spend time on side requirements on the way to their degree. It really is foolish to force people to take these classes that they don't want to take and that truly have no bearing on their field of study (and don't bs me, we all know they don't). But of course the ethnic studies departments would lose jobs if these classes were not forced on students, so they put out propaganda about how racial diversity enhances education or is needed or something else that has never been shown. Keep putting these useless classes in undergraduate school and watch more and more people opt for technical school.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 9:43am):
When I was in college eight years ago at SIU-Carbondale, about one third of all the courses I was required to take were pointless General Studies classes, which never help a student and only help the school rake in more money.
Considering that the cost of a college degree is skyrocketing, and that most students now take more than the traditional four years to graduate, it's about time the nation's higher educational institutions eliminated unnecessary program requirements. General Studies courses should be eliminated or reduced to the courses that are relevant to a student's chosen area of study. Since I majored in Computer Science I should have only been required to take classes in Mathematics, Physics and classes in programming and computer architecture and design. Who cares about Eastern Peoples And Cultures and Religious Studies courses? Non-major electives is another degree requirement that has got to go. Why should I have to take classes in something totally unrelated to my chosen major? I would even go as far as eliminating the minor. If I'm majoring in Computer Science, obviously uninterested in minoring in something else. Who's idea was that anyway?
Times have changed and so has the world's needs. Stop wasting valuable time and money on classes that are unimportant and concentrate on what is. We're tired of bullshit!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 9:50am):
I have yet to hear of an intellectually stimulating ethnic studies class here at UW.
They are little more than propoganda machines. The prof. is usually some politico that loves the opportunity of the soapbox. Real debate is strongly discouraged by rampant groupthink. Most folks just shut up, put down whatever idiocy will get them a good grade, and move on.
Whatever the original purpose of the ethnic studies requirement, it has long since been eclipsed by the unfortunate boomerang effect of resentment to paternalism.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 10:32am):
"Diversity" is pointless at it's very best. At worst, it is a politically correct form of racism.
If "diversity" really were about ending racism, then it would focus on getting people to ignore irrelevant differences such as skin color, while focusing on universal values. The diversity movement wants the opposite: hypersensitivity to skin color. It also demands that we treat all cultures as equal, when they plainly are not. Some cultures promote reason, freedom, and prosperity, while others lead to fearful superstition, tyranny, and grinding povery. Anyone who notices that they are not equal will simply be intimidated into silence by the "diversity" advocates.
The university would be much better off to eliminate the ethnic studies requirement altogether.
--Lizzy
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 10:38am):
In addition to all of the excellent arguments that previous posters make, it bears mentioning the ethnic studies departments are where the least qualified and most outspoken professors always seem to reside. Since there are no legitimate academic standards inherent in "ethnic studies," it is no coincidence that we have tenured idiots throwing their bombs from the confines of these departments.
Dismantle the program, fire the "professors," and devote these resources to teaching people from ethnic minorties to qualify for university under the same standards as everybody else.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 11:06am):
Actually, despite these many posts, I do agree with the message you're trying to convey. As we can see here, people get very defensive and when it comes down to it, enraged by things they don't understand and are threatened by. So far, the Board of Regents does have to get going and actually implement what it set out to with plan 2008. When people say they're sick of diversity, or think they know how campus climate is, why don't you (previous posters) stretch outside your tiny homogenous life and try asking someone different for a change. Our goal should not be to perpetuate the intolerance or consistency of institutionalized -isms, but break through all of the bs rhetoric you folks are regurgitating and seek truth... what do you know, we would be living in a better place.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 11:11am):
Hey...
did you all know that DIVERSITY is MORE than racism? Hmm... yes it means diversity in race, gender, sexual orientation, ability... and on and on....
Next time, before generalizing, get your definition straight.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 11:30am):
"did you all know that DIVERSITY is MORE than racism? Hmm... yes it means diversity in race, gender, sexual orientation, ability... and on and on...."
What it apparently does not mean is INTELLECTUAL diversity. It means people of different races, different sexual orientations, different genders, all mindlessly spewing the same multiculturalist bullshit.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 11:38am):
again, what you are so quick to judge is what you don't understand and are afraid of.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 11:43am):
Yes, that is the standard mindless drivel. If you don't agree with the multi-cultis, then you must be fearful and ignorant. They get away with that kind of nonsense only because they are clustered in departments of bs studies, and are therefore completely sheltered from reality.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 11:59am):
i do agree that the liberals here are just as elitist as anyone else.
the board of regents can't keep raising tuition and expect inner city blacks (like myself) to come up here. Why not spend less money on a school where you can walk down the street as a non-athlete and not be looked at like some oddity?
---
nonetheless i completely disagree with "lizzy"s post and a few others here.
would the university really be doing students a favor by requiring math courses for people who will never deal with advanced math in thier lives, but not requiring that students have some fundamental knowledge of culture beyond white suburbia?
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 12:00pm):
If you just want laser-like focus on career training why don't you just go to a tech school?
I enjoyed the diverse classes that I took when getting my BA at the UW. I enjoyed the diverse group of people that I worked, studied and partied with too. I think that forcing a little diversity on this white male from small town wisconsin who otherwise probably wouldn't have had the courage to interact with those who were different from me was one of the most valuable things I got from the UW.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 12:17pm):
"again, what you are so quick to judge is what you don't understand and are afraid of."
We're not afraid of it, you idiot, we just want to cut out the waste. The core curriculum for my chosen major, along with a few relevant courses, are all that I should be required to take. It only makes sense.
Another thing: All the stuff we learn in General Studies classes we forget as soon as we're done with it. Why bother? I also agree with two of the above posters that these classes are really just soapboxes for aging hippie profs to force their anarchist ideologies down our throats. So what if they think pot should be legalized! I think the university should do something to make a college education more attainable.
It won't mean less revenue for the university, it merely expedites the degree-earning process by cutting out the BS. There will still be an even flow of incoming freshmen every year, so there won't be any downswing in enrollment. In fact, prospective students will come flocking to this campus in record numbers! Who wouldn't?
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 12:24pm):
"I think that forcing a little diversity on this white male from small town wisconsin who otherwise probably wouldn't have had the courage to interact with those who were different from me was one of the most valuable things I got from the UW."
Pal, that's OK for morons like you who have a guilty conscience, but folks like me who can achieve tolerance and understanding by interacting directly with people of different cultures and nationalities simply don't need to read about it in some textbook. I prefer to get that kind of info straight from the source, thank you very much.
Why should I pay UW a few thousand dollars more for something I can better acquire through osmosis? And textbooks aren't always accurate, by the way.
If taking a few extra classes on diversity-related subjects is what you feel you need then be my guest. Just don't look at everyone else and think that they have the same problem you do.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 12:31pm):
"would the university really be doing students a favor by requiring math courses for people who will never deal with advanced math in thier lives, but not requiring that students have some fundamental knowledge of culture beyond white suburbia?"
More Madison liberal whining! First of all, no one is forcing you to take any math classes beyond what is required for your major. Second, you can have all the negative opinions you want to have about white suburbia. If you think white suburban dwellers are elitists, that's your stupid problem. No one wants to stand around listening to you bitch about something that you willingly deprive yourself of. Live out in the boondocks if you're more comfortable there. You're just one less pesky neighbor we'll have to live next door to.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 12:37pm):
It is upsetting that you cannot even speak intelligently enough, you have to resort to cheap foul language... perhaps you need another English course as well...
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 12:52pm):
"Pal, that's OK for morons like you who have a guilty conscience, but folks like me who can achieve tolerance and understanding by interacting directly with people of different cultures and nationalities simply don't need to read about it in some textbook."
Yes, as we all can see you are very tolerant and are in no need of any help in that area.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:09pm):
did people miss the entire huge thing about employers no longer hiring UW-Madison students because they weren't culturally aware. Using words like "multi-cultis" is a sure sign that you have no cultural awareness, and you need to wake up and realize that there are people out there who aren't exactly the same as you. The shit is disgusting, please don't raise your kids to be sheltered pricks.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:14pm):
Another misuse of affect/effect. Bad editing.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:30pm):
"It is upsetting that you cannot even speak intelligently enough, you have to resort to cheap foul language... perhaps you need another English course as well..."
Well, don't let it get to you, Okay? I mean, it's not everyday you run into people who become more intelligent than you without taking the same classes. Apparently, you feel that we are automatically culturally ignorant just because we didn't take any classes, as if there is no other way to learn about such things. We really, honestly have to enroll in a diversity class before we could possibly gain any knowledge of other cultures, religions, etc. It's as if no one can rightfully consider themselves to be enlightened unless we pass your trial by fire. Only then will the gates of multicultural paradise swing open before us and we shall be led unto the multitudes of the self-initiated, who shall welcome us with open arms! Glorious! Glorious! We have reached the Promised Land! Drink of the nectar that flows freely throughout the Kingdom. Eat of the fruit of universal love, compassion and understanding, for thou hast earned thine rightful place among us! Come and rejoice! Rejoice, our new brethren!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:36pm):
"The shit is disgusting, please don't raise your kids to be sheltered pricks."
But isn't that the whole idea behind a college education, to live comfortably as a sheltered prick, to mock the vagabonds that mill about in the streets, to scorn the base degrees by which one did ascend? No?
Actually, the only useful thing I ever learned in any diversity-related class is just how little the rest of the world knows about western civilization. And since they want so much to live as we do, why should we even try to learn about a way of life that they are trying to escape? We all aspire to become sheltered pricks, and coming here to the US is their first chance to get a taste of how sweet it really is.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:44pm):
"did people miss the entire huge thing about employers no longer hiring UW-Madison students because they weren't culturally aware."
The conservative whiners always gloss over this point. It's not just a matter of "hippie professors" trying to jam this stuff down your throat; it's the Fortune 500 companies who are trying to compete in a global marketplace and want graduates who aren't culturally ignorant.
I also don't get how conservatives can't stand to have to defend their views. Nothing strengthens your ability to speak about and convert others to your point of view like having it challenged. Instead of relishing in the challenge of intellectual combat with peers and professors, they sit there and whine about how nobody's "tolerating" their obnoxious intolerance.
Anyone who honestly believes conservatives are repressed in American society had better have been in a coma since 1965, because that's the last time liberals actually ran the country.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:53pm):
"did people miss the entire huge thing about employers no longer hiring UW-Madison students because they weren't culturally aware."
You mean the last two years I spent here at UW-Madison have been a total waste? Sheesh! I'd better transfer outta here quick while I still know nothing!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:55pm):
Conservatives are oppressed here at the UW.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:55pm):
"...the ethnic studies departments are where the least qualified and most outspoken professors always seem to reside."
Really? Attention Ward Churchill: job opportunity!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 1:56pm):
"Conservatives are oppressed here at the UW."
Now THERE is some truth!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:03pm):
"again, what you are so quick to judge is what you don't understand and are afraid of."
Maybe YOU are the one who's afraid, afraid that if schools across the country decide to avoid offering diversity classes it will mean fewer jobs for all you liberal arts graduates. You'll be stuck earning a living selling hemp clothing and lava lamps. You will, of course, still have the secret, unspoken option of starting a Starbucks franchise. Hey, it's a living! But they're goin' fast, kids, so you better hurry!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:12pm):
"I also don't get how conservatives can't stand to have to defend their views. Nothing strengthens your ability to speak about and convert others to your point of view like having it challenged."
Why not? It's what you narrow-minded liberals have been doing in this town for God-knows-how-long.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:13pm):
Jackie, I love your column but please do something with that hair!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:27pm):
Here's a little diversity training for those Ethnic Studies advocates:
You know how liberals like to bash country music, including the "inbred rednecks" who listen to it? Well, these "enlightened" souls would be surprised to learn that country music is actually fifty percent black. That's right. Mix a little European ethnicity with a little African ethnicity and you have bluegrass. I'll bet these liberal stuffies didn't know that the banjo, the only authentically American musical instrument, has African roots. They probably never heard of Charlie Pride or Trini Triggs either.
So if we're gonna get serious about Ethnic Studies, why not make it truly diverse by adding a few chapters of reading dedicated to American culture. You'd be surprised just how little those International students know about us. Do you really think schools in their home countries teach them anything about American ethnicities, beyond the pop music and movies they watch? All those hit songs and movies don't necessarily offer an accurate view of life in the US. Sound like a plan?
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:27pm):
""Conservatives are oppressed here at the UW."
Now THERE is some truth!"
If you dont like it go to anywhere in the state that isnt Madison or Milwaukee. Most likely it will probably be the reverse of Madison (IE the "Deep North" conservative mindset).
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:29pm):
"1965, because that's the last time liberals actually ran the country."
And we are all praying that it stays that way.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:42pm):
I do feel truly bad for the white male conservatives who are so oppressed, not only in Madison, but also in the liberal media, in academics, in popular music, in blue states, in being discriminated against because they can't openly discriminate against others anymore, pretty much everywhere. Lord its tough to be a white male conservative.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:42pm):
True that, whine on brothers, i mean bitches.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:51pm):
I have a question. I moved here back in '96. Like most of my fellow liberals, I'm not particularly sympathetic toward white male conservatives, or conservatives of any ilk, for that matter. What I've always wanted to know is why do Madison liberals, of all liberals, insist on categorizing ALL white males as automatically conservative? Are you Madison liberals doing this just to be obnoxious, or has someone brainwashed you into thinking that if you persecute all the white males in the world, some sort of universal utopia will come about? Universal harmony will happen only if one specific group is eliminated? And it doesn't matter to you if the last white guy you bashed on the street is liberal or not, only that he is a white male? Precisely how far do you expect to get with that mentality? Do you expect anyone to take you seriously?
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 2:52pm):
"Maybe YOU are the one who's afraid, afraid that if schools across the country decide to avoid offering diversity classes it will mean fewer jobs for all you liberal arts graduates. You'll be stuck earning a living selling hemp clothing and lava lamps. You will, of course, still have the secret, unspoken option of starting a Starbucks franchise. Hey, it's a living! But they're goin' fast, kids, so you better hurry!"
Kind of funny how you assume that we are all liberal arts majors... last time I checked I wasn't... there you go with your generalizations again...
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:04pm):
Actually, you have a point. White male liberals should not be bothered, nor should every white male on the street be automaticly considered conservative. Only white male conservatives should be anihilated. White male liberals would be exterminated next since they're no longer needed. the only option we are willing to afford the white male liberal is that he become gay in order to avoid death by slow torture.
Face it, white males are the root of all evil. God only knows they HAVE to be destroyed. So f@*# all you white boys! You no longer have a justification for your existence. Your golf courses will be plowed over to make room for low-income housing, your mansions will be converted into free hospitals, and all your personal assets will no longer be personal; they will be used to pay for all the changes we plan to make. Your lear jets will instead be used to transport emergency food and medical supplies to foreign countires where there is a desperate need. Oh, the list goes on!
Think we'll miss ya? Nah! The more distant from our memory you become, the easier it will be to write whitey out of the pages of the history books.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:11pm):
"Sociology 220: Ethnic Movements in the US" is an ethnic studies course (also meets Comm B requirement and several others) that is interesting and is small enough to facilitate discussion.
The point of ethnic studies courses is to instill a sense of empathy and tolerance. Sadly, something I do not see reflected in many of these comments.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:15pm):
"Kind of funny how you assume that we are all liberal arts majors"
Kind of funny how you assume that all white males are conservatives. I'm a liberal, forcing me to take a ethnic studies class will not make me more liberal than I already am, nor will it necessarily change the perception of a conservative. How much is enough for you?! I don't need a snobby little pseudo-liberal goofball like you to give me your stamp of approval. I'm from New York City, a place that's far more diverse than that cheesy little Wisconsin hick town you grew up in. I grew up in a sea of diversity, whereas you grew up in a ethnically homogeneous hamlet. Then you come to Madison and, immediately upon your arrival, declare yourself universally tolerant and assert that all others are hatemongering scum. What gives you the right to pass judgment on me, to tell me that I need diversity training in the worst way? Grow the hell up, kid!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:16pm):
"The point of ethnic studies courses is to instill a sense of empathy and tolerance. Sadly, something I do not see reflected in many of these comments."
No, what you're seeing here is backlash. Better get used to it.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:19pm):
"Some cultures promote reason, freedom, and prosperity, while others lead to fearful superstition, tyranny, and grinding povery."
You're totally right lizzy, except it is your own president that lead to fearful superstition and tyranny! And I don't know what ethnic studies classes you guys have taken but you must have had some bad luck. Some of the best profs I've ever have had were in ethnic studies. Everyone should be required to have at least one class with Prof. Werner, perhaps the smartest human being alive.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:22pm):
"Conservatives are oppressed here at the UW."
So when liberals complain about American policy we are told that if we don't like the country then we can leave it. So the same goes for you guys. You choose to attend a liberal university, if you are just going to bitch and moan about it every day why don't you go somewhere where you won't have your beliefs challenged anymore, like maybe UW Osh Gosh or something.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:24pm):
Hey, if anyone posting here is really concerned about tolerance, I'd like to bring up the anti-male crap that was posted on Adam Lichtenfeld's column yesterday. One or two man-hating cunts had a blast bashing men, including and especially liberal men who posted there. Did anyone else catch it? Could we accurately and fairly regard those two hate-spewing jellyrolls as the voice of liberal Madison? I really have a pressing need to know. I am a woman and a liberal and I am shocked by what I read!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:33pm):
I actually think the article was very well thought-out and made a good point. If you are going to require students to take an ethnic studies course, they might as well get something out of it. The size of the lectures is indeed a problem, as it is not conducive to good discussion of issues.
But why do all the comments here ultimately resort to someone bashing the College Republicans or "conservatives." Isn't that flying right in the face of what diversity is supposed to teach us - acceptance of other cultures and views?
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:43pm):
I just went to www.mendotabeacon.com , the website for the conservative newspaper. Did you know you can now post comments on it? Those are some articles worth debating.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:47pm):
To those who love to bash conservatives, I have a bone to pick with you.
Conservatives have often been criticized by liberals for being pro-abstinence, like we're all a bunch of gung-ho Christian fanatics. But if you look at a few cultures around the world, you'll find similar values and attitudes that promote modesty, sex only in the context of marriage and cleaning up foul language in the media. But I have never once seen any liberals in this country going after them. Why not? Aren't they practicing the same kind of "oppression" that conservatives are practicing here?
True, the radical right takes things too far when they call for censorship of anything that appears to their narrow-mindedness to be even remotely suggestive. I thought their rant about the Teletubbies and SpongeBob Squarepants was unbelievably immature. But why stop here? Bear in mind, I'm talking about cultures that are not even influenced by Christian values. Anyone?
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 3:56pm):
Conservative Fox is about the most foul network I can imagine on broadcast television.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 4:15pm):
"Conservative Fox is about the most foul network I can imagine on broadcast television."
Yeah, and so are the other big three networks. Competition, my friend.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 4:17pm):
"I just went to www.mendotabeacon.com , the website for the conservative newspaper. Did you know you can now post comments on it? Those are some articles worth debating."
And it looks like you dipshit liberals aren't wasting any time emitting your foul stench on their website too. Mitchell Pond, grow up! You won't be a freshman forever.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 4:31pm):
Haven't they published a book yet: Diversity for Dummies?
That shit would be much easier than listening to some Ivory Tower squwk box ramble on and on every semester.
Actually, I'm a big believer in the importance of learning about other cultures. Instead of these silly required courses, I suggest just huffing a bong with some people from other cultures. The conversation is much more stimulating.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 5:16pm):
I huffed a bong with a dude from Pakistan last summer. Whoa! You don't know what your missing until you huffed some pure Karachi hash! Awesome!
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 8:34pm):
What else does the UW need to do to promote diversity? They accept every minority applicant who applies. One of my friends who is a student of color has flunked out five times now, yet they still let him back in every time with full grants and scholarships. He hasn't paid one cent to the university yet out of his own pocket. If you want tolerance and equality stop continuously pointing out cultural differences. I don't view people as blacks, whites, and everything else, I view people as people, and I treat them as such. And I've never understood why if you're a student of color you all of the sudden have this big cultural experience to share with the community? What more does a black guy from Milwaukee have to share, culturally, than a white guy from Minneapolis?
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 8:47pm):
That is a very good post. Has anyone ever asked the students of color/other cutlures if they like being treated like some social experiment by other students? I mean, common dammit!! If I'm a brotha from Chicago the last thing I want to deal with is being forced into sharing what it's like to be a black man from Chicago.
Let me be me, please.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 9:37pm):
Culturally unaware?
Job-seeker: Why didn't I get that job? I have a 3.5 average and have had an internship.
Employer: Yes, we see that. A plentitude of A's and good experience from your summer internship. But you missed the most important thing. You are not culturally aware.
What a laughable exchange! I know we are competing in an increasingly globalized economy, but still. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Knowing the mating rituals of the Maori probably isn't that critical for a person seeking an engineering position.
Oh, yeah. I fear differnt cultures; and I fear diversity. That must be it. No, I fear wasting my time taking notes in Indoctrination 101.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 9:46pm):
The "deep north" of Wisconsin is conservative? Apparently the person who posted that has never been up there or read an electoral map. It is anything but monolithically conservative. Sounds like we need an ethnic studies course that focuses on the culture of Northern Wisconsin.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 10:58pm):
First poster here again. Glad to see this has degenerated into minutiae and sniping; it reaffirms just how much work and progress still needs to be done for the entire campus community. Props to Jackie for initiating this discussion, but I was damn serious about my assessment of Madison's progressive organizing community. If groups like PD intend to have any meaningful impact on people of color communities, they need to get out of the "white man's burden" mindset and return to a basic principle of grassroots organizing: altering the balance of power BY EMPOWERING PEOPLE instead of speaking for them.
Anonymous (March 11, 2005 @ 11:54pm):
What the hell are you talking about? I think that's a shit idea for a column.
Anonymous (March 12, 2005 @ 1:09am):
From now on, I'm reading the Mendota Beacon. I'm sick of this anti-white male crap. I won't agree with everything they print over there, but at least I know I won't have to put up with you left-wing extremist assholes anymore!
Anonymous (March 12, 2005 @ 1:10am):
Jackie, why do you always wear turtlenecks? Is it to hide the bolts in your neck?
Anonymous (March 12, 2005 @ 11:17pm):
In the end, who really cares how many people of different backgrounds come to UW.
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 1:00am):
I'd like to know why this diversity issue is such a matter of life and death to so many people. Is some powerful human rights organization threatening a boycott of UW-Madison if the university doesn't achieve some kind of goal soon?
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 1:58pm):
"Like most of my fellow liberals, I'm not particularly sympathetic toward white male conservatives, or conservatives of any ilk, for that matter. What I've always wanted to know is why do Madison liberals, of all liberals, insist on categorizing ALL white males as automatically conservative?"
"Liberals" are by far the most close-minded, biased and discriminating people that you will meet in Madison. They believe that they know it all and that anyone who does not agree with them in every particular is stupid. They're almost as bad as the "gods-on-my-side" right-wingnut fundies but the liberals are usually more cruel to people personally so I don't which is worse.
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 2:02pm):
That's the thing...it doesn't matter. The dopey liberal wanks just need something to cry about. They are control freaks...it is their desire to try and tell the world how to live.
I am going to go burn a tree and eat a steak now. I might kick some cats around later too.
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 5:22pm):
Judging from the comments on this site, "diversity" is just a word that white people made up so they could argue about the plight of the white male, his burden, and, evidently, his lava lamp. Nobody cares about REAL diversity issues like tuition, etc... which is great for the university, I guess.
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 8:55pm):
Madison progressives are the most racist group of people I've ever met. Very similar to the white working class people in my South Side neighborhood, they only know people of color from sociology.
What's even more bizzare, most of the privilaged people of color are the same way -- the one's that come from rich, white suburbs and get all into this identity shit at 19 years old. They have to take a fucking class in Dusties radio that most black people grew up with.
Do away with the dumb ethnic studies and start recruiting people of color from outside of Milwaukee. Let that stupid city have it's race riot.
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 9:00pm):
Gee, it seems like more of my friends from small Wisconsin towns have friends who are people of color than the rich loud-mouthed liberals from New Trier.
By the way, do something useful and tell your daddy to start hiring minorities or I'll get my housecleaning cousin to kiddnap your brat little sister and extort her for money in Mexico.
--- ISO member
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 9:18pm):
These liberal losers remind me of the wanks who held a protest for the "homeless" and later retired to their apartment for a pizza.
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 10:05pm):
One of the homeless tried assulting me because they thought I was a "queer."
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 10:09pm):
If you did share what it was like to be a black man from Chicago with Madison progressives, they wouldn't believe you. One of them actually told me that people in the projects are starving and scrounging for food.
A) The projects have almost all been knocked down.
B) People are not scrounging for food, they have Access cards. Evidently they didn't understand that line in the Benie Siegel song -- to busy listening to fake hip-hop like atmosphere.
Anonymous (March 13, 2005 @ 10:53pm):
Yes, some powerful human rights organization is threatening Madison over diversity. It's called the United Nations of People Hanging Out in Steep and Brew and the Catacombs.
Anonymous (March 16, 2005 @ 8:35pm):
As a parent of a bi-racial child who is considering attending Madison, I must say the comments have been interesting. We are well aware of the lack of diversity at this school compared to other schools.
I am a bit concerned that students are required to take such a class.
Diversity is about being open to everything that is different about ourselves. This extends well beyond the color lines. If less focus was spent on race and more focus was spent on tolerance of differences among us the world would be a better place. The majority of the population is not racist but is likley uncomfortable about what they do not know.
Understanding different cultures is great but understanding the human being is even greater.
