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<p>I can’t say I know much about Brown, but yes there are schools with an overly liberal emphasis. But they aren’t the usual suspects, well they are for someone who knows who they are obviously.</p>
<p>Any school has the right to be either conservative or liberal, particularly if they are a private institution. We also respect, under the First Amendment, in the United States the freedom of religion. I find it “despicable” how some people treat denominations (and in some rare cases how denominations or non denominational preachers treat other denominations.) </p>
<p>Notre Dame didnt mistreat Mr. Obama at all. In fact, they invited him and rolled out the red carpet. Some conservatives at Notre Dame objected on religious grounds, which is their right. They conducted themselves with dignity (even if you vehemently disagree with their position), and some of them elected to boycott their own graduation ceremonies, also their constitutional and moral right. </p>
<p>No one has an exclusive to the megaphone of so called “tolerance” or the megaphone of so called “freedom of expression.” Either we ALL have it or NONE of us have it. Think about that.</p>
<p>I am delighted to debate with anyone on any issue, political religious or moral, in a civilized tone. I refuse to countenance abject bigotry or obnoxious (and sophomoric) behaviors. (SAT scores don’t equate to maturity, sadly.) I pride myself in being a very tolerant and respectful person, with friends, neighbors and colleagues on the complete spectrum of opinions. But I also do not countenance abject condescension and arrogance about school rankings. In fact, such conduct belies the “lofty position” of the very schools the persons are attempting brag about. </p>
<p>My kid recently had a professor who earned her PhD from Stanford. This professor was a liberal-libertarian, black and from the Caribbean. She was one of the most amazing, insightful and COMPASSIONATE professors my kid has had in her three years in college. This professor was instrumental in being a personal mentor to my kid during a rough patch in college (unrelated to academic issues) and for that we will be eternally grateful. And during the course of the term, in class, my kid was free to speak her mind on a variety of controversial topics and wrote her final term paper (15 pages) on a controversial subject and took an unconventional position. Risky, it seems, at many institutions according to FIRE. My received an extraordinarily high grade for this level of scholarship and extreme praise from the professor for having the temerity to speak up and speak out, unafraid of the potential risks, which if you really examine it, speaks extraordinarily highly about this professor…that my kid felt comfortable enough to do so. Again, this professor is a Stanford PhD. This professor taught my kid at FORDHAM. </p>
<p>If people on this board TRULY knew me (and who I am professionally), they would know that I reserve most of my negative commentary for spineless people, for weasels who misrepresent their own views for personal or political gain (or a higher grade), for those who stand for nothing at all. I reserve my highest praise for those with a strong and well reasoned opinion, the temerity to speak up and the civility to do so in a manner which is respectful of all opinions/positions on a given subject matter. I may well disagree with you professionally but I may include you in a tight circle of friends if you meet those simple standards. Neither do I elevate particular majors one above the other. Whether you are a chemical engineering major or philosophy major makes no difference to me. </p>
<p>Finally (for Phead), I did not “misrepresent” the matter at all…the title of this thread was meant to be eye catching and tongue in cheek and I clearly stated it was an advertisement. Further, one has to be naive to believe that editors of magazines, newspapers and television stations don’t pick and choose their advertisers in strategic manner and often place them on particular pages for EFFECT. </p>
<p>If you mistook my thread, then my apologies, though I think I made my position clear from the outset in the original posting…in the hopes that it would engender some healthy discussion (and it did) because I can assure you that the FIRE advertisement was meant by FIRE (and USNWR) to engender a lot of eyepopping page views and discussion…and it certainly did. If you have a problem with the list and the advertisement, then take it up with them, not me.</p>
<p>I would be as critical of extremist views on the right at any college (Bob Jones?) as I would be on the left (Brown/Swarthmore/Wellesley/Smith e.g.), but I would be MORE concerned about whether those institutions punish students or faculty for opposing points of view, both in terms of demonstrations as in term papers/finals/doctoral dissertations etc. Denying tenure for political reasons is DESPICABLE, but it happens with regularity, though often camouflaged in totally fabricated nonsense.</p>
<p>To me, the real mark of the quality of an institution is in the quality of its graduates, both in terms of what they know (raw knowledge obtained and stuffed into their heads) and in their maturity/character/compassion for others.</p>
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[QUOTE=ghostbuster]
blah, blah,obnoxious behavior,blah, blah, spineless, blah, blah, naive, blah, blah, extremist, blah, blah, friends, blah, blah, **apologies <a href=“oh%20wait%20am%20I%20reading%20this%20correctly?”>/B</a>
[/quote]
See how I condensed that, no need to write a book.</p>
<p>I wish I really could know who you were professionally: are you algorescousin, endlessrecession, or ghostbuster? You know creating multiple accounts is against the TOS. Trust me I’m crying because I can’t be in your close circle of friends. :/</p>
<p>There are literally tens of thousands of non-Catholic students at Catholic colleges in the USA. If these colleges were indeed ramming their doctrine down the students’ throats, don’t you think we’d hear about it from them, as opposed to people who probably don’t even know any Catholics, much less how Catholic colleges are run?</p>
<p>I have degrees from two Catholic colleges, and was never once encouraged to go to mass, or presented with Catholic doctrine at either of them. I was, however, fed all sorts of bleeding-heart pro-affirmative-action propaganda from atheist professors at both of them.</p>
<p>Why dont you tell us about yourself Morsmordre? Hmmm? Come on…lay it all out there for us to read. Who you are, where you were born, where you grew up, what schools you attended, who your parents are and what they do and what you are doing at Stanford and where you plan on working when you graduate. </p>
<p>Thank you very much and have a lovely day.</p>
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<p>That comment was out of the blue and you know it. I’m not the one who brings up my professional status or talks about by accomplishments or my family. Yes I defend Stanford, but that’s from unabashedly false criticisms.</p>
<p>So who is it? Algorescousin, endlessrecession, or ghostbuster? This is an easy question. The SAT’s are chock full of them so you’ll be able to appreciate.</p>
<p>Though to mitigate the risk of getting too personal, I can see you’re feeling vulnerable, this is the last time I’ll ask you the question.</p>
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<p>Oh please. If you have heard about FIRE before, they are extremely controversial and a magazine like USNWR wouldn’t dare to endorse such a list on it’s magazine cover.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree. Although final decisions on what is printed and in what form rests with the Editor. Articles and cartoons printed the opinions of their author. They do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Editor. The same goes with advertisments.</p>
<p>Although the general rule is that the editor reserves the right to reject advertising deemed inconsistent with the tenor of the magazine. This more specifically applies to ads for alcohol and tobacco products, political or issue-oriented advertising.</p>
<p>I can guarantee you somewhere in the USNWR magazine, it says: “Advertisements found in USNWR are not endorsements of product.” So it’s better if you check up on your facts and not post some gross and inaccurate statement like “USNWR naughty list” when it’s FIRE’s naughty list and has no association and affiliation in name with USNWR.</p>
<p>"tomslawsky, perhaps it’s because I’m an engineer I have missed all those classes that require you to be socialist, communist, fascist, or whatever else. I think they offer them at the Hoover Institution =) "</p>
<p>Don’t need to look far to find them- like I said, 90+% of the profs at elite insttutions self identify as liberal democrats. Do you really think that thinking doesn’t bleed into the classroom?</p>