This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Schools

  • All’s Well That Ends Well

    Sorta…

    Forty years later.
    Vietnam hero cures an old Rutgers wound

    Forty years ago, he attempted to pursue a law degree upon his return from Vietnam and rehabilitation in veterans’ hospitals. He’d been through hell, and the last place he expected to face more of it was in academia. But the climate in the late 1960s and early ’70s was often inhospitable to those who had served in Vietnam, even the most highly decorated.

    Academia – Then and now?

    Because of opposition to the Vietnam War and an antipathy toward those who served, Christian said, the faculty made a circus of his attempt to earn a law degree. “If I got a grade that was marginal, they would release it to the newspapers and news media,” he said.

    Christian said certain of the deans had disputed the existence and severity of his war injuries, many of which are not obvious. “I was asked by the administration to disrobe in front of the student body because they didn’t think I was a disabled veteran,” Christian said.

    “At the time there was no Americans With Disabilities Act and there was no Privacy Act,” he said. “They couldn’t touch the politicians, but they could touch a war hero.”

    He said some faculty members would post lists of purported Vietnam heroes – lists that would include North Vietnamese names.

    I haven’t vetted this story, Jonn or someone else with more ready resources can do so. I can personally vouch for the atmosphere in many colleges back then and that’s why I decided to post this.  Consider this a history lesson if nothing else.

    Update:  Thanks to those who filled in the blanks, so to speak. Even I remembered the name, but this IS TAH.  So I added the caveat.

  • Moment of Truth for Democrats in Arizona

    A few years ago, AZ Republic columnist Doug MacEachern and other conservative commentators in Arizona began reporting on Tuscon Unified School District’s (TUSD) Mexican-American Studies Program (or MAS). The program was revealed to have little to do with Mexican-American history or even Mexican history but was instead being used as vehicle to promote far-left ideologies and anti-Americanism. Che Guevara and Fidel Castro (neither of whom are Mexican I might add) were glorified while the United States was routinely attacked by the teachers and activists whom were employed by the district as part of the program. The program’s directors and TUSD employees admitted as much, after being secretive about the program for a period of time. Even the Arizona Republic’s editorial board (which can’t decide whether or not to support ending the program even though it admits the program is completely nuts) calls the people who run the program “self-acknowledged Marxist activists“.

    In response, last year the Arizona legislature passed a law that would penalize school districts by cutting a portion of their funding if they taught programs of studies that: “promote the overthrow of the United States government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group, or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.” The law was clearly targeted at TUSD and its MAS program. Arizona Democrats for the most part opposed the bill and screamed their usual battle cry of “RACISM!”. At first TUSD tried to deny that their MAS program was in violation of the new law, however earlier this year the TUSD governing board began to look into changes into the program to avoid state-imposed penalties. However, the changes that were proposed would simply make the MAS courses electives instead of courses that would satisfy core curriculum requirements. The program, for the most part would remain intact, however there was no guarantee that the Arizona Department of Education would be satisfied by these relatively minor changes to the program, especially if the core group of Marxist agitators were left in charge of the program. Regardless of whether or not the state government determined if the program was in violation of the law, it was clearly an attempt to save the program and keep it intact.

    You would think that this would make supporters of the MAS program happy. You would think that they would remain quiet and not rock the boat. You would think that they wouldn’t pull any crazy stunts to give opponents of the MAS program any more ammunition. However, if you thought any of those things you are wrong (and should probably haze yourself). More below the fold…

    (more…)

  • Harvard brings back ROTC to campus

    Associated Press reports that Harvard University and the Navy Secretary will sign an agreement to formally acknowledge the Navy’s presence on campus.

    As part of the agreement, a director of Naval ROTC at Harvard will be appointed, and the university will resume funding the program. Harvard cadets will still train at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as they have for years

    Harvard and several other prominent schools, including Stanford, Yale and Columbia, had kept the Vietnam-era ban in place following the war because of what they viewed as a discriminatory military policy forbidding gays from serving openly.

    Yeah, big damn deal. For decades Harvard has taken GI Bill money while not “formally” recognizing the presence of an ROTC detachment on campus. So what’s changed besides the University acting magnanimous and the Navy kowtowing.

    And that bullshit about keeping the ban in place because of the military’s (Congress’) policies against gays – I was teaching ROTC when universities decided to use the gay issue as an excuse – 14 years after Saigon fell. Do you seriously think that anyone cared about gays in the military in 1975? No, I remember when that light bulb came on in the late eighties.

    Harvard banned ROTC in 1969, then defunded the program in 1995, saying “don’t ask, don’t tell” violated its non-discrimination policies.

    Yeah, so why had they kept ROTC off-campus between 1975 and 1995?

    Screw Harvard. Who needs them.Arrogant, pompous shitbags. Making the services grovel for them is unforgivable. I’m sure they’ll think up another excuse to blackmail Cadet Command soon enough. However student reaction to this announcement should be priceless.

  • Maybe WI students are better off with their teachers on strike

    I’m just sayin’;

    Thanks to Bev Perlson for the picture.

  • The language of the future

    Old Trooper sends us a link to an article from Dallas/Fort Worth’s ABC station announcing that a school in Mansfield, Texas is requiring students to learn Arabic;

    As part of the five-year $1.3 million grant, Arabic classes would be mandatory at Cross Timbers Intermediate School and Kenneth Davis Elementary School. The program would also be optional for students at T. A. Howard Middle School and Summit High School.

    Parents at Cross Timbers say they were caught off-guard by the program, and were surprised the district only told them about it in a meeting Monday night between parents and Mansfield ISD Superintendent Bob Morrison.

    I don’t think there’s anything wrong with students learning another language. When I learned Spanish and German, I learned how to use my own English more effectively. But to make it mandatory? In elementary school?

    But what’s really laughable is that the Department of Education calls Arabic “a language of the future”. WTF? If your future includes a stint as a goat roper in Yemen, maybe, but not as a language of commerce, diplomacy or even literature. At least not to the extent that it’s mandatory in elementary school. An elective language maybe…not forced down students’ throats. Especially in Texas.

    And they’re going include Arabic culture without making it about religion? That’s impossible. Arabic culture is called Islam. Every bit of their culture and laws come from the Koran. I don’t know how it’s even possible to separate the two.

    This is the height of dhimmitude. The US Department of Education has surrendered to politically correct pressure and it demonstrates perfectly why there should be no Department of Education.

  • Detroit schools allow Christian students to bring guns to school

    I know, it’s hard to believe isn’t it?

    A Detroit-area district says it’s allowing Christian students to wear a small, religious revolver to school, MyFoxDetroit.com reports.

    The decision by the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools reverses a ban put in place in December after a fourth-grader at a Canton Township elementary school was found with an unloaded six-shooter.

    The six shooter represents a commitment to fight evil in the Christian tradition. The revolver is a religious symbol that baptized Christian males are expected to carry.

    Oh, wait, I read that wrong;

    A Detroit-area district says it’s allowing Sikh students to wear a small, religious dagger to school, MyFoxDetroit.com reports.

    The decision by the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools reverses a ban put in place in December after a fourth-grader at a Canton Township elementary school was found with a dull, 3- to 5-inch kirpan.

    The kirpan represents a commitment to fight evil in the Sikh tradition. The dagger is a religious symbol that baptized Sikh males are expected to carry.

    No, I don’t advocate that Christians should be allowed to bring guns to school…just the opposite; I don’t think that anyone should be allowed to bring a knife to school, no matter that the blade is dull. We suspend students for bringing toy soldiers to school, but somehow wearing a ceremonial knife is harmless. Sure, a Sihk student probably wouldn’t harm someone, but there are bullies in school who could make good use of someone else’s knife.

    Like Old Trooper wrote when he sent the link to us, “I guess a zero tolerance rule only applies to some students.”

  • Pawn shop stimulus in Detroit

    Old Trooper sent us a link to Detroit public school’s 40,000 laptops to be injected into the economy thanks to your tax dollars and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

    That’s what under-educated kids need – their own computer to abuse. It seems to me that a kid who can’t read or write is just fascinated by the flashing lights and sounds that emanate from the computer. Garbage in, garbage out. I guess that’s why I’m not a teacher.

    It’s funny how I figured out how to use this blasted machine with my public school education. I’ll bet most of you did the same without a minute in a classroom. The difference between us and them is that our teachers weren’t distracted by machinery that would cover up their shortcomings.

    The closest thing to a computer I ever touched was one of those high-tech IBM Selectric typewriters in my typing class (Ronnie Stirpe and I were the only guys in the class, that’s why we took it…and the reason it was the only class I failed in high school).

    Oh, where do the pawn shops come in? Well, a Detroit TEACHER tried to pawn her computer right before Christmas;

    The DPS Office of the Inspector General investigation said Karen Drysdale-Oriucci, a DPS teacher since 1994, went to American Jewelry and Loan on Greenfield Road on Wednesday to pawn the netbook computer she received from the district on Dec. 17.

    Store staff refused to pay the teacher for the netbook –- which is engraved with the DPS “I’m In” logo on its cover -– instead confiscating it and contacting DPS officials.

    Drysdale-Oriucci was suspended Thursday with pay, pending a disciplinary hearing.

    Yup she received it on December 17th and busted her ass getting to the nearest pawn shop. Now she’s suspended WITH PAY. Think this will slow down the district’s plan to hand out 40,000 more computers and peripherals?

  • The Child Nutrition Act to improve our National Security

    It’s not that I’m for starving kids, but I have to ask someone – what the hell is up with the “Child Nutrition Act” thingie that Obama signed today? Our kids are starving? Then why are we so worried about them being so damned fat at the same time? It seems to me that a suitable Liberal solution would be to take that Chunky away from that chunkie and give to a starving kid. Right? Joe?

    With a war going on, we don’t have a defense budget, we don’t know how much of our pay check is going towards taxes after the 1st of next month. But, by God, we’re going to pry the Snickers out of the deathgrip of every butterball K through 12 in this country. From the Washington Post;

    “We’ve seen the connection between what kids eat and how well they perform in school,” he said, speaking at Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Northwest Washington. “We need to make sure our kids have the energy and capacity to go toe-to-toe with their peers.”

    The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will expand the number of children in school lunch programs by 115,000, increase the reimbursement rate to school districts for meals by six cents and replace the junk food available outside the cafeteria, such as in vending machines, with more healthful options.

    Did you know that in DC schools, they feed kids breakfast, too? Did you also know that they feed kids breakfast and lunch through the summer break? Hey, I’m just wondering if you know, cuz I’m tellin’ you.

    Michelle Obama has called childhood obesity a “national security issue” according to Michelle Malkin. it’s because kids are too fat to join the military…the military already has a cure for that problem.

    If a child is still in the home where they got fat, nothing you do in school will help them. Their parents are probably lifetime porkers, too and don’t want their kids to join the military, anyway. If they were worried about military recruitment, they’d have outlawed IVAW in the schools, too.

    Can they jerk the snack machines out of school – sure. I lived without them…but I’d go across the street to the gas station and buy crap. Are they going to put up a candy perimeter around schools like they’ve done for guns? Guns still get near schools. Guns, for Pete’s sake. they started putting fruit in those vending machines when they first allowed them in schools, until they discovered kids won’t lay out their change for fruit. Didn’t they ask…well…anyone?

    Another stupid “Act” that makes everyone smile and feel good about themselves that either won’t accomplish anything or become so bloated and intrusive it’ll result in more legislation. Take your pick.