"I'm no scientist, but if China is going to burn our coal, or we burn our coal, isn't it the same environment? Why should we lose out if they're going to burn it anyway?"
Libertarianism, conservativism and liberalism can be completely understood through their relationship to the tragedy of the commons.
Libertarians are unable to acknowledge its existence. Medical science is someday going to identify the chunk of the brain that processes information about collective action problems, and will discover that libertarians lack that lobe.
Liberals suppose that when individuals profit by poisoning the commons, wise governance requires regulation of the commons.
Conservatives, on the other hand, recognize that if individuals profit by poisoning the commons, then the only sensible move is to poison the commons.
Yossarian is properly understood as a conservative:
"From now on I'm thinking only of me."
Major Danby replied indulgently with a superior smile: "But, Yossarian, suppose everyone felt that way?"
"Then," said Yossarian, "I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?"
You know, having an interesting and perceptive comment as the first comment rather unfairly raises the bar for the rest of us. Its as if there was a commons of our collective ability to make crap comments, and politicalfootball is going and poisoning the commons. Commons poisoner!
3 per Spike to counterbalance 1.
And I meant it to read 'Frist!", not even kidding.
heebie, am I understanding correctly that you attended this event? Why would you subject yourself to something like that? Did I miss something?
"We need a candidate who is willing to bomb Iran."
Given that *every single person* aside from Ron Paul who is or has run for president this cycle--including the incumbent--has explicitly indicated a willingness to bomb Iran, Giuliani's point here is a bit mysterious.
Also, it's only a matter a time before Mitt Romney attacks Obama for being rich.
5: Yeah, I took some students to it.
7: Oh! An educational field trip! Do the students idolize Giuliani, as "America's Mayor" and the "Hero of 9/11"?
Barely anyone went, actually. I carpooled with one right-thinking kid, and another student admitted up front that she didn't know anything about politics, but I think I traumatized her with my twitching throughout the talk. She tentatively said afterwards that she didn't think some parts were that bad.
"I'm no scientist, and let me prove it."
See also "I'm no scientist, but isn't the moon made from candy wrappers and if so, liberals are eating all of our candy and hiding the evidence in space."
The thing is, the statement he goes on to make isn't even about the science, its just about how to deal with the situation the scientsts tell us we have. And his response is a particularly nasty version of the conservative one pf describes, because we aren't just losing one commons, its the whole fucking planet.
"I may not be a scientists, but if everyone is going to shoot each other until we are all dead, I might as well shoot first."
10: What bits did she think weren't that bad? Why did you want to take kids/students (because they're not really that young) to it? I'm just curious because as I get older I get more and more allergic to hearing politicians talk. Plus you're a math prof. Just curious so if you don't feel like sharing, that's fine.
This sounded like a standard speech that could be given by any Republican activist trying to get out the vote anywhere in the country. Until I saw that it was part of a "Distinguished Lecture Series". WTF?
I carpooled with one right-thinking kid
Er, is this a right-wing thinking kid, or a correct-thinking kid?
14: She was very obviously trapped between conservative parents and overbearing me, and I was trying very hard not to accidentally nick her with my exposed fangs and claws, so I was asking very gentle questions. She thinks it will be a long time before we can really know if W. was a good president or a bad president. She thinks he made some good points about oil. Etc.
15: I know! I really expected it to be a bit conservative, but mostly centrist-ish-ish.
Why did you want to take kids/students (because they're not really that young) to it? I'm just curious because as I get older I get more and more allergic to hearing politicians talk. Plus you're a math prof.
I run a non-math program for ambitious young students, and the previous director had taken kids to this series, and people spoke positively about it. (Previous speakers: Condoleeza Rice, Robert Gates, Jeb Bush, ...)
This is the dude who decided to put the city's emergency response HQ inside the city's number one terrorism target, and then used it as a place to hook up with his mistress. His continued presence on the national stage is an embarrassment.
Oil: delicious and refreshing!
and then used it as a place to hook up with his mistress.
To be fair, chicks dig tall buildings.
Is this a norm change for college professors or something? Maybe I'm misremembering, but it seems inconceivable to me that a math professor (or indeed any professor) at my college would have spent time taking undergrad students in a van in their spare time to see a political speech.
I mean, unless the professor was trying to organize a protest or something. But it wouldn't have been remotely within the range of expected official service activities, I think. Or maybe I just never would have gone.
Ah, right, the other course. That's such a weird time of life - finding out that the way you grew up or the assumptions you lived with are different than other people's. Very disorienting, although kind of great.
Halford, a lot of universities are organizing specific programs to get students and professors interacting more in hopes of reducing the drop out rate. It's especially key for first year students.
24 -> 20. I wouldn't do this as part of my math duties.
26: yeah, creating a fun, engaging atmosphere for students has been growing as a priority for colleges, starting I think about the time I left college (1991). It happens in part because colleges are competing for high end students. The same pressure is what originally put high speed internet in all the dorms and gave everyone their own little room in a suite..
The other big driving factor, as you note, is that schools are being evaluated more and more on their retention rates.
So actually, I carpooled with this Kosovo student and I asked him about the war and out tumbled stories of monstrous atrocities that he'd witnessed. Here and there he said things like "I try not to think about this stuff ever" and "Please don't tell this stuff to people at school."
If you never bring up a war that someone has lived through, after you know them pretty well, that seems like you're white-washing it or pretending it never happened or something. And if you do bring it up, you may be asking about the atrocities they witnessed, which I naively wasn't expecting.
I will say that it was somewhat on topic for me to ask, because he was furious about Giuliani's bloodthirst for bombing Iran and talking about war in general.
gave everyone their own little room in a suite
Really? People don't have roomates anymore? (I never had one, actually, but most people in my college did).
This is the dude who decided to put the city's emergency response HQ inside the city's number one terrorism target, and then used it as a place to hook up with his mistress.
Someone should write an alternate history in which Giuliani is with his mistress in the Towers when the attack happens.
"If WTC7 is ROCKIN' don't come a KNOCKIN'."
the previous director had taken kids to this series, and people spoke positively about it. (Previous speakers: Condoleeza Rice, Robert Gates, Jeb Bush, ...)
I think I see the flaw in your logic here.
30
Really? People don't have roomates anymore? (I never had one, actually, but most people in my college did).
I'm pretty sure they still do. When I was in college 12 to 7 years ago I'd say that ~99 percent of freshmen had roommates, the chance of having a roommate goes down by about 25 percent each year, and less than a quarter of student housing was set up as suites. Variation depending on school, preferred building at the school, etc. (I only had a roommate during my freshman year due to a happy accident.)
I only had a roommate during my freshman year due to a happy accident
Or so you'd like the authorities to believe.
(I only had a roommate during my freshman year due to a happy accident.
You got his mother pregnant 18 years earlier?
I'm a professional editor, dammit. I don't have to take this kind of abuse from amateurs.
I would accept money to abuse my commenters.
"I only had a roommate during my freshman year" s/b "I had a roommate only during my freshman year", fellow professional editor.
The modrin suites aren't single-person rooms either, IMX. My freshman dorm's suites generally had one triple, one double, and two singles, so 5/7 of residents would have roommates. Though it looks like that dorm was built in 1970. (So drab it still hasn't found a donor who wants to be named after it.)
I'm trying to figure out what 40 could be. Had they demolished the U-Halls already when you were there?
When I was in college 12 to 7 years ago I'd say that ~80 percent of freshmen had roommates, the chance of having a roommate goes down by about 25 percent each year, and less than a quarter of student housing was set up as suites.
In my experience, the fancier the school, the crappier the dormitory accommodations. I have only witnessed the no-roommates setup at little podunk colleges where I went to summer camps as a kid.
At Mizzou and Large Midwestern University, I lived in dorms where two double rooms were connected by a bathroom, plenty of common areas throughout the building, cafeteria was on the first floor. By contrast, at Robberbaron Bloodmoney University and Berkeley, I stayed in un-air-conditioned shitholes of the bathroom down the hall and cafeteria a 15 minute hike away.
I still kind of miss my dorm-apartment from the last 2 years of college. Having to share a bedroom wasn't great, but it had a significantly nicer kitchen than any place I've lived since, and a decently large living room space with a nice balcony.
heebie's chaperoning students to events seems odd to me, but not as unusual as the one professor I know who lives in an undergrad dorm and is super-enthusiastic about it, never being caught not wearing some kind of dorm-related T-shirt. The other day I was trying to figure out if he got the joke when he showed up to work in a "Girl, look at that bun/ny" shirt.
Speaking of blood money, I was somewhat appalled recently to discover that the University of Pittsburgh has now named its entire College of Arts and Science the Kenneth Dietrich College of Arts and Science after they received a very large gift. I'm not sure I have an intellectually defensible position on my judgement of that versus buildings (boring) and business schools (big fucking surprise), but it seems more like selling the core mission of the university. By my calculations you could probably get <Your Name Here> University of Pittsburgh for about half-a-billion.
Harvard dorms were nice. And when I was there non-freshman still were allowed to use the fireplaces. The usual setup was a n rooms (including a common room) for n people, which meant you had to share part of the year. Freshman year we didn't have our own bathroom but after that we did. And senior year everyone had their own bedroom, and we had two bathrooms.
49: That would be especially awesome if your name was "Philadelphia".
Branding is the way of the future, JP, for higher education as for everything else. (Lest you think I snark, there was an NPR piece the other day on the expansion of various local-ish schools to other, out of state, campuses, and the school officials kept talking in terms of their brand. Weird, I know.)
And when I was there non-freshman still were allowed to use the fireplaces.
I'm sure they let the Dartmouth freshmen use the fireplaces. Just, you know, not for their intended purpose.
52: Yeah, I know. I almost put a prediction of when the first traditional College/University would become [Brand X] University. 10 years? 15? I'm trying to recall what the first big corporate-named sports stadium was (Wrigley doesn't really count... or maybe it should). Ah, interesting Wikipedia article covering it here. A slim case can apparently be made for Fenway being the first.
There is a GoldenPalace.com monkey.
Get your degree! Set yourself free! Nation Car Rental University!
Get your M B A! At U of Chevrolet!Get your M B A! At U of Chevrolet!
What is the "girl look at that bunny" joke?
How is it possible that young L has attended 4 separate universities?
How can Essear be flying around the world so much but have his greatest kitchen ever be from an undergrad dorm?
I have so many questions. Time for a glass of wine.
at Robberbaron Bloodmoney University and Berkeley, I stayed in un-air-conditioned shitholes of the bathroom down the hall and cafeteria a 15 minute hike away.
Berkeley's not really a fancy school, at least mostly not in a material sense. The campus is nice enough, but it doesn't seem all that posh.
Also, air conditioning in Berkeley? I guess maybe if you had windows facing the afternoon sun it could be something that would strike you as a necessity.
60: the answer to all of those questions is the same.
not really a fancy school, at least mostly not in a material sense
That's exactly what I'm saying. The most prestigious institutions that I have stayed at have not been fancy in a material sense. Air conditioning at Berkeley was not so important, but the dorms at Berkeley and RBU were of a similar style, so I listed them together. No air conditioning in Robberbaron Bloodmoney City in August is the worst.
Halford, I've only been an undergraduate at two institutions. I've stayed briefly at an assortment of universities for conferences, research workshops, summer camps, etc.
There is a GoldenPalace.com monkey.
I'm still a little pissed off about that one.
I've seen the inside of surprisingly few dorms, given how many colleges I attended, but I will say that the (obligatory, at least for the first two years) dorms at my large public university of first attendance were extremely variable, ranging from buildings full of fairly nice suites (that were nonetheless undesirably far away from everything, and full of nerds and losers) to high-rise dystopian hellscapes known for 1. the ease with which one could chuck a fire extinguisher from one building into a lower floor in the next building (causing it to explode, hilariously, in somebody's room) and 2. the legendary dangers of elevator surfing. My first weekend at the school I ended up at a party in those dorms where people were chucking mad dog bottles out a fourteenth story window at police cars.
And just to tie things back in, apparently those dorms had a full-on riot the night they announced Osama had been killed. So, you know. USA!
66 -- there's an offhand remark in Tony Judt's Postwar claiming that crappy postwar college dorm architecture was a primary cause of the worldwide student riots of the 1960s. Who knows how true that is, but I'm inclined to believe it.
67: there was a rumor at one of my other undergraduate institutions that the institutional architecture there, featuring a distinct lack of open plazas or public access, was a response to said student riots.
67 -- Is he (are you) thinking of Cal's Unit 3, opened in 1963? It ought to be a poster child for this phenom, if it actually existed. I lived there as a freshman and, although we had some real fun demonstrating (against apartheid), it seems like silly misdirection to blame riots against the war, racism, and whatever else on fucking architecture. No, they were killing people in far off places, and UC cops were clubbing students on campus.
There's that same rumor about a building at Univ. of Michigan - that it has virtually no windows, in order that they may not be broken by people throwing rocks.
I find it hard to comprehend that people building a college would do so because of fear of marauding rioting students, there not having been a marauding student riot that I'm aware of between the years of 1975 and 2012. But nowadays they build every building out of inchoate fear of marauders who absolutely do not exist, so I guess "better safe than sorry" is always a popular.
This campus's architecture really was bafflingly unfriendly and prison-like. Connected buildings atop a three story parking garage on a windswept point, surrounded by empty lots. No particularly easy way to reach it as a pedestrian. All it really needed was a couple of guard towers and "DO NOT PICK UP HITCHIKERS" signs.
69 -- nah it was more about Paris 1968 IIRC.
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Didn't someone make fun of the anti-Obama kitsch painter in this forum once? Well, he's laughing all the way to the bank.
|>
75: Wow! I guess Hannity has to blow his money on something.
70: As someone who saw more campuses than I would have liked during various kid college searches*, I can report that about 50% of campus tours include that story about some hideous late-60s/70s building(s).
Maybe they were other people's kids.
We may never know if we are even asking the right question.
We may never know if we even know what we're talking about.
Perhaps it is you who is the one who may never know if you even know what you are talking about, mon frère.
Uncertainty of uncertainties, saith the Preacher, uncertainty of uncertainties, all is uncertainty.
I lived in one of the units at Cal, I can't remember which one and it was only for a summer, and I didn't think it was all that bad, though not as good as some of the other dorms (like foothill). I guess I haven't seen the insides of dorms at other campuses, but there's definitely more prison like architecture out there.
That said, I think of prison-like architecture applying more to the other campus buildings than to housing. Lots of gray, poorly lit mostly-classroom buildings around here, for instance.
50: Right, my Freshman dorm had a common room and 4 bedrooms for 6 people. We mixed it up partway through the year.
Only some of the Houses mostly in the Quad, but Adams House too had true singles where you had no suite mates. My House did not, but Seniors got their own room in the suite.
The Canaday Freshman dorm at Harvard was supposed to be designed to be riot proof in response to the 1969 takeover of Mass Hall.
But back to the original post, I hate Rudy Giuliani as much as anyone else and am sure that his ideas on healthcare are ridiculously simplistic, but I do wonder why it isn't possible to have more technology that could make healthcare cheaper, things like tools to give doctors real time info on patients blood pressure and sugar levels.
And I still think that there ought to be a way to get basic, standardized blood tests for about $5 instead of $150.
24: I've taken students to events before, particularly the ones who lack cars and the under-represented minority students who could use extra attention (though, Derbyhacks, I offer the opportunity to all). It's been worth it every time.
Also, I did this as an adjunct (though one who was well-paid, because apparently the Twin Cities have a norm in which adjuncts are compensated appropriately).
I have written before about one of my alma maters and about my pleasure at seeing the anti-riot architecture thwarted.