June 12, 2005
GO AWAY:
Class of 2005 (Jessica T. Lee, 6/12/05, Valley News)
Growing up in the college town of Gainesville, Fla., Callie Thompson said she was accustomed to campus protests and unapologetic liberalism. But if she expected to find the same ferment around the Dartmouth Green -- particularly after U.S. forces invaded Iraq -- she was let down.“It was really disappointing because Dartmouth students were really unaffected by it (the war in Iraq),” said Thompson, 22.
That didn't stop her and some other students from doing what they could. She and a small group of classmates protested the war in Iraq during a “die-in” in November of 2002. Clad in black clothing, Thompson and the other students wore signs numbering the potential casualties in the Iraq war, and fell down on floors and tables in the food court and the Collis Center. They lay there simulating death for about an hour, until a student called campus security and reported them as a fire hazard, Thompson said.
During the die-in, some students wrote messages on napkins, many of which were mocking, and left them on the protesters. Thompson recalled with disgust one lewd message a student had left on her.
“It was a very radical gesture and I don't think people were prepared for it,” Thompson said. “We wanted to shock people into feeling, even if they felt just 10 percent of what we felt.”
Going co-ed was a mistake. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 12, 2005 3:26 PM
On-campus housing is a mistake. Make them live at home or fend for themselves at least somewhat.
Posted by: bart at June 12, 2005 4:15 PMJust what we need, more self-rightous, sanctimonious, conformist ("clad in black clothing"), narcissistic, over-educated and agressively ignorant 22 year olds. You left out the next paragraph where we learn this proud achievement of the modern acadamy is "major[ing] in studio art." As opposed to what other kind of art, 2 bedroom and one bath art?
Spending 100K educating this ninny was a complete waste for everyone involved.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at June 12, 2005 8:11 PMRaoul: if it were only $100K. Probably more like $140K. A kid starting at a place like Dartmouth this year will go through something closer to $180K.
OJ: They had to go coed, there are no girls at Smith.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at June 12, 2005 10:00 PMWhy do I think that when she graduates, she'll go into journalism?
Either that or hang around the campus on state funds until she's in her mid 50s. Oh the Left hate the imperialist fascist state. But they'll take the money, that's for sure.
SMG
Posted by: SteveMG at June 12, 2005 10:38 PMOh, lighten up.
Students are supposed to be insufferable plonkers.
Most get it out of their system before reality strikes a few years into working life. It's only the ones who are still doing stuff like this twenty years later that deserve such withering contempt.
Posted by: Brit at June 13, 2005 6:05 AMGotta go with Brit here. Up to a point, youthful error and excess is part of the process that (hopefully) leads to the right path. Just ask the neo-cons.
Besides, if this ditz hadn't made a fool of herself, we never could have enjoyed the perfect response--complaining about a fire hazard. Wonderful!
Posted by: Peter B at June 13, 2005 8:17 AMNotice how, while mentioning that "students wore signs numbering the potential casualties in the Iraq war", the reporter carefully omits to tell us the numbers? I bet they were a lot higher than the actual casualties.
I blogged more on this point here.
Posted by: Dr. Weevil at June 13, 2005 2:27 PMNo surprise here. The Vietnam "antiwar" movement was never that, just a big slacker-coward party. No draft, no opposition to war. Case closed.
Posted by: Lou Gots at June 14, 2005 9:20 AM