<p>Although Columbia has great academics, I was appalled when I herd that Columbia students were booing a veteran soldier today. What the f. The guy comes to speak and the students boo him? The guy lost his legs in war and these little punks disrespected him. I'm probably going to get a lot of posts now saying O you didn't get in thats why your doing this etc. No Mr. Ignorant, I'm saying this because my father served in Iraq and I wouldn't go to a school that disrespects soldiers like that. You don't see this with Cornell, Penn or even Brown (as far as I know). If I was accepted I would have considered transferring schools.</p>
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<p>You’re right. This is appalling but, by no means, represents Columbia students as a whole.</p>
<p>a few boneheads can’t possibly represent the school as a whole. i’m going there in the fall, and if i were to see people behaving that way, they’d be going home with black eyes.</p>
<p>please don’t make sweeping, general statments, though. it makes you seem equally ignorant.</p>
<p>Columbia09, I understand youre frustration/anger or whatever, but lol you still sound like you were trying to make yourself feel better than you didn’t get in. At any rate, I completely agree with breakdown and think that the boo-ing was totally uncalled for and immature.</p>
<p>Btw, can someone link me to this article?</p>
<p>The problem is that those students confused the concepts of being against a military action/war vs condemning someone who was an active member of the military for fulfilling his/her duty. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this problem is not just confined to Columbia.</p>
<p>It was common for soldiers returning from Vietnam to be mistreated when they arrived back in the US. What many of the abusive people seem to have forgotten is that many of those soldiers were drafted, so their only choice besides fulfilling military service was to illegally leave the country or face imprisonment.</p>
<p>Today, of course, we don’t have the draft. However, when one is in the military, he/she doesn’t “sign up” for wherever he/she wants to go. The person is assigned. For all we know, the veteran may have not personally even supported what he was assigned to do.</p>
<p>It’s a vital distinction to make and one that many university students don’t comprehend.</p>
<p>[Wounded</a> Soldier Jeered at Columbia University](<a href=“http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/49495397/ShowThread.aspx]Wounded”>http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/49495397/ShowThread.aspx) the link. and according to the article they called him a racist which makes me even more peed off</p>
<p>That’s disgusting. The students are entitled to their opinions and entitled to oppose ROTC on campus. However, calling a wounded veteran “racist” (when there was no evidence indicated in the article) is ignorance. One can only hope those students will learn more logic and basic sense before graduation.</p>
<p>The link you posted leads to some website that links to the New York Post, here: [Wounded</a> Iraq veteran jeered for speaking in Columbia University ROTC debate - NYPOST.com](<a href=“Hero’s unwelcome”>Hero’s unwelcome)</p>
<p>There’s a picture of a girl holding a sign that says “The military preys on low income communities.”</p>
<p>This is all over whether ROTC should be allowed on campus. I find it odd that the protest of allowing the military to more easily train the traditionally higher-income individuals of Columbia should include this sign. Is she saying that this is the way it should stay?</p>
<p>Anyway, regardless of views on the war or things wrong with the military, the behavior towards this student was unacceptable. </p>
<p>jazzpark, you’re right, this does sound very much like the “welcome” of soldiers returning from Vietnam.</p>
<p>Columbia09, I know you may be upset with the university in general due to admissions, and this event may further inflame you, but it’s important not to generalize to everyone there.</p>
<p>I want to make it clear that I don’t think that all Columbia students are ignorant liberals. Unfortunately there are a large number of them. I feel bad for the school that was once the school of Hamilton, Roosevelt, and John Jay is now the breeding ground for radical leftists. The only people who can put an end to this are the sane Columbia students.</p>
<p>I encourage all y’all to visit bwog dot com to actually LISTEN to the exchange in question. Form your opinion based on the primary source material.</p>
<p>Columbia has had several incidents of booing people off the stage they did not want to hear from.
If I had a dad in Iraq, I could honestly believe someone would want to disassociate themself from even an Ivy. Sad but these students probably think their open minded.</p>
<p>And this is exactly why my son was very selective about where he chose to send his application. Whatever is going on on these “elite” campuses, it isn’t intellectual.</p>
<p>Judging from your name this sounds like crying over spilt milk. Umadbro</p>
<p>^ LOL like the “umadbro” –> new slang these days? haha</p>
<p>also, @ debrockman, the very generalized statement you wrote sounds very counterintuitive. “whatever is going on on these ‘elite’ campuses, it isn’t intellectual.” Are you referring to this specific incident? Because if you’re not and referring to the general atmosphere of campus life/activities of a school like Columbia, I would seriously advise you, as a parent, to do more college-related research. And what exactly made your son “very selective” and not want to apply to these “elite” colleges that you would want to brag about it on this forum … ?</p>
<p>this is just another opportunity for unresearched and narrow assessments of columbia to proliferate. columbia is in a microscope. it is at times fun because that means you get noticed more easily, but it also means that small things become big deals.</p>
<p>when the ambassador to israel gets booed at the university of chicago, its a local story. if someone gets booed at columbia, it is a national saga.</p>
<p>Maschek today offered the following comment in the Columbia newspaper:</p>
<p>" To all who have expressed concern or outrage over the reported events at the Columbia University ROTC Town Hall meeting:</p>
<pre><code>Comments by a small number of individuals at the town hall meeting have not changed my positive experiences at Columbia. Thus far, my fellow students have been very interested in hearing about my past life and military experiences. Columbia has been attempting to get more veterans to share their experiences here, and the atmosphere here has been supportive despite the actions of a very small minority of the town hall participants."
</code></pre>
<p>Put away the pitchforks and torches, people and don’t label an entire university due to the actions of a few. Knee jerk reactions of “I"m glad I don’t have to be around that ignorant liberal school like Columbia” is akin to the noisome comments Mr. Maschek faced from his jeerers, no?</p>
<p>^^ This statement really cleared the situation up in my mind. Yet another opportunity to unjustly characterize an entire campus with a misrepresented occurrence thwarted.</p>
<p>Okay looks like I have mixed views here. @praying4luck…I don’t know if you were referring to me but if you think I did this because I didn’t get in then my friend I classify you as an ignorant human being. I guess you didn’t read the post that my father is in the military and I found this to be very offensive. And for the man or women who said do your research whether this was debate over the war or something else, there is no excuse for booing a soldier not to mention calling him a racist. These radical leftists make me laugh they claim to be open minded yet do this. I’m sure if you people had a military man as a father you would feel the same disrespect as I felt. Plus I still give Columbia credit for having great academics. But its liberal student body needs a new class called “How to behave 101” followed by “How to be respectful”</p>
<p>Columbia: what don’t you understand? It was obvious to all, including many in the audience, that the jeering was out of line. Got that?</p>
<p>Now you turn around and paint the entire student body as disrespectful liberals? Well I know plenty of respectful liberals who have taught me plenty. </p>
<p>Keep your anger focused. Why don’t you read what Mr. Maschek himself said of the incident and the vibe he receives on campus. </p>
<p>Like I said, put the pitchfork and torches away, my friend. THere are plenty of military folks in my family. If my daughters wanted to apply to Columbia, I’d heartily endorse them. I certainly wouldn’t write off a remarkable institution like Columbia because of the presence of a few people who hold thoughts and do actions that I personally, would find repugnant. If that’s the case, i guess i shouldn’t have my kids go to any college.</p>
<p>^^^ Excellent insights in posts 16 and 19, T26E4!
Although I find the actions of this group of students abhorrent, I can’t agree with the statement above. I hardly think we can judge the quality of an entire group of colleges by the actions of a few students - you’re going to find rudeness and sophomoric behavior at academically elite institutions like Columbia, community colleges that admit all applicants, and every variation in between. </p>
<p>Last year, the 75th percentile SAT score for 1st-year Columbia students was 2350 - sure sounds like an intellectually gifted group to me. The acceptance rate was 10 percent. They aren’t going begging for students to apply, certainly.</p>