·:[ The (vast) Right Wing Conspiracy ]:·
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Ah, the summer. The best time of the year to crank out an ambitious reading list and then get drunk instead. Here are the books I have finished already, and will soon begin:

FINISHED:

Office Of Assertion : An Art Of Rhetoric For Academic Essay, Scott F. Crider

The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of ‘89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague, by Timothy Garton Ash

TO DO:

The Art of Rhetoric, Aristotle

The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America, by Adrian Wooldridge and John Micklethwait

Under the Frog: A Novel, Tibor Fischer

Masquerade: Dancing Around Death in Nazi Occupied Hungary, by Tivadar Soros

The Oxford Guide to the United States Government, some Brits

Any recommendations out there? What are yall reading this summer?

Claudio

I’ve probably had to read excerpts (I don’t believe in reading for class, so I also probably didn’t do it) from half of them:

The 10 Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Claudio

1. School A receives state money.
1a. School A is a state public school.
2. School A sucks.
3. School B does not receive state money.
4. School B is better.
4a. School B is a private religious school.
5. State Y has responsibility to give children free and decent education.
6. Student X of School A is not getting a decent education.

THEREFORE,

7. State Y has an obligation to:
OPTION 1: Give School A more money.
OPTION 2: Put the Student X in another public school.
OPTION 3: Give the family of Student X money to help X attend the (better) private schools.

Let’s really reason this out.

OPTION 1: Give School A more money. It sounds good, but it is often times the case that many failing public schools have been given resources but poorly managed them. So perhaps Option 1 will fix the situation, but perhaps it will mean throwing money into a bottomless pit. And how long will it take this public school to get its act together after getting more funding? Not nearly quickly enough to salvage Student X’s academic career and future, probably.

OPTION 2: Put Student X in another public school. Assuming there are other, better public schools around, this wouldn’t be too bad of an idea. However, most public schools are already crowded, and to continually add students from the poor-performing public schools to the better public schools would only to serve the one purpose most of these commie–liberal–radical egalitarians worship: levelling. It would bring the good schools down. Mediocrity is to be the order of the day.

OPTION 3: School vouchers to private (usually religious schools). Okay, I’m not so much of a hack that I won’t note that this option is particularly tricky when it comes to the Constitution.

As far as Florida is concerned, it would seem as if the plan has some problems. The Florida state constitution states that the state can only pay for, “the support and maintenance of free public schools.”

Now if the state is paying families, though, then they are nto paying pricy private schools. Just like if the state gives someone a tax refund so large that they turn around and build a church with it, that would not be considered a violation of the Establishment Clause. Why? Because the government gave that person his or her money, but cannot control what he or she does with it. In the same vein, could not the state argue that they are simply giving families financial reimbursement for failing to live up to their duty to provide quality education? Then whatever the families do with the money (enroll their children in private religious schools) is not the government’s responsibility.

What pisses me off the most here, of course, is the involvement of the Not Allowing Any Colored Progress (NAACP) group. Their lawyer stated,

What the state is paying for is religious indoctrination of young children.”

Alright, let us consider then this point. Exhibit A: He lacks the proof there is “religious indoctrination” going on here (idiot). Exhibit B: He is forgetting that people get to CHOOSE with a voucher program what schools they will send their children to. This leads to Exhibit C: If someone has a problem with the religious nature of a school they can CHOOSE to go somewhere else, or CHOOSE to stand on principle and get a crappy education from the public school. Their choice.

I don’t know. Having gone to a relatively good school (North Meck) and a relatively bad school (Grover Cleveland) and having done horrible in the good school and just great in the bad school, I would venture to say that much of your education is what you make it. (It would seem as if I am on a path to repeat this if I go from City College to Yale Law as planned).

Then again, it is nice to have the resources, options, and attention that people in very good schools get. Just compare the debate budgets of a school like the one my girlfriend went to (Stuyvesant) and the one of my school (Cleveland). No contest. Never mind all the programs and course offerings that Stuy has that Cleveland will never have.

Hell, if it is really a matter of education v. freedom of religion, then the courts should have no say in the matter. Let people decide for themselves. If they are threatened by religious schools, then they can stay out. If they think the benefits outweigh the costs, then let them send their kids.

Claudio

I spent most of yesterday here, stalking around the woods with some classmates, armed, and hunting one of our professors.

OK, so we were armed with paintball guns, but we were still stalking one of our professors.

This was my first experience with paintball, and it was pretty enjoyable. Getting shot did not hurt as much as it was rumored too (except for the one that hit my left hand/knuckles, that kind of stung). Though, someone on my own team shot me in the ass (which I will admit is a pretty big target) as I was sneaking forward, but I’m sure it was an accident.

The only really annoying aspect of the entire day was the fact that my mask/googles contraption kept fogging up. I don’t think it was because I wear glasses, because everyone was having the same problem. Apparently there are goggles/mask things that are made with little battery-powered fans in them, but my first “shot” at paintball I wasn’t going to get ridiculous.

Conclusion: I will probably try it again, maybe with some kind of “de-fogger” spray the next time so I can actually see.

Philosophy of Class and Gender: It’s okay to be gay! And it’s also okay to drop a class when you have a prof that won’t accept anything late! STATUS: DROPPED.

Philosophy of Good and Evil: When you’re the only Republican, the only Christian, and the only moral absolutist in the class, you opinion is much needed! No wonder the teacher didn’t want to let me drop the class. STATUS: DROPPED.

United States Society: History is boring, the labs were a bit better, but the only thing that saved this class for me was the fact that I had my girlfriend next to me th entire time. Forced someone to listen to and (perhaps) laugh at my witty unending commentary. STATUS: WORKING ON FINAL.

World Politics: Reinforced my belief that all City College’s international politics profs are teaching the exact same course with different names. But hey, you can never learn too much about the Treaty of Westphalia now, can you? STATUS: STILL WORKING ON FINAL.

Narcotics and Literature: Lacan and Freud say make drugs legal! Especially since Hunter S. Thompson died (read: blew his brains out while, most likely, high on something/everything). Fun class, lots of work, the final is gonna stink. STATUS: STILL WORKING ON FINAL.

Critical Theory: By far the best class this semester. Amazing prof (if you are at Brooklyn College, track down Prof. Bayoumi) and even better texts (ever tried to write a dialogue between Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, and Benjamin while they sit in a Starbucks in the village? Nietzsche to Freud: “You’ve got to get laid, bro!“) and tests. Had a lot of fun, definitely learned a bunch. Also the token Republican/Christian/moral absolutist/capitalist. Oh well, what were we to expect? STATUS: STILL WORKING ON FINAL.

Other lessons: Don’t try to take six classes on three campuses and work 20 hours a week, too. Meltdown in the making. Oxford wants to be Harvard. Everyone wants to be Yale Law. Ex-Baptists prefer unisex bathrooms. Little Caesar’s public bathroom will never be the same. Getting the Truman is a big deal (see the newspapers!). But not big enough to get your name spelled or pronounced correctly (see the newspapers; Chancellor Goldstein’s speeches).

Oh, and the last and most lesson I learned this semester? If you don’t post on the blog, people won’t visit the blog.

Well, I’m getting ready for Europe this summer. I leave next Wednesday. Here’s to hoping I can blog regularly there.

Claudio

I probably should’ve done this for the past eight semesters, but its better late then never…

The First BiAnnual “What Did I Learn This Semester?” Post Extravaganza!

Here goes:

ECO294 - Computed Aided Statistical Analysis: I learned how to do regression and correlation analysis on data sets. Of course, those regressions and correlations were done using a program that costs more then a car to get a licenses for, so I will obviously be using it at home a lot. Truthfully, I learned a lot more in this class then I thought I would. I finally understand all of those formulas and nonsense we learned in Statistics and it was great to actually be able to look at data and find some meaning to it, instead of just talking about standard deviation and the correlation coefficient as if they matter in the real world.

PHIL30001 - The Rational Animal: No matter how many classes you miss (and despite the warnings in the syllabus), you can still pull and A-! Wait, I did actually learn something though….I hate Descartes. A whole bunch.

ECO330 - Marketing: Group projects suck. I say “um” a lot when I speak in front of groups of people (I only learned this because I was the only person in my group to ever present anything to the class). Did I mention group projects suck? I liked this class though, lots of practical knowledge picked up.

ECO271 - Corporate Finance: First off all I learned how to actually operate my financial calculator, so at least is no longer just an expensive paperweight. I learned that I may want to eventually sit for the CFA exam in a few years. I also (finally) learned what all those numbers used to describe bond prices in the newspaper mean. I guess I learned a lot.

ECO3220 - Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy: I believe this is the class in which I learned the most. I finally understand what the Federal Reserve does and why the Chairman of the Fed is really the most powerful person in the US (and maybe even the world). I learned all about inflation and hyperinflation and why those are both really undesirable, and exactly how the Fed combats them. I was a little apprehensive about this class, mainly because of the professor, but it all came out OK. Great professor, he seemed to know everything and anything about monetary policy and macroeconomics.

My Money, Banking, and MP professor also recommended this great book that I actually just finished, Freakonomics. More on that later, but definitely pick it up ASAP.

So there’s my semester in review. So far I have received two grades, and A in Comp. Aided Stat. Anal. and the aforementioned A- in Philo-torture.

I am just going to relax this week, clean my room, get a haircut, say my goodbyes at the Ash, and get ready for the start of internship-festivities on 6/1.

Just because I need a place to write it down…
Tentative Fall Schedule:
Monday/Wednesday: Investments (at Baruch), Science: The Natural Man (Honors College requirement, “science for poets”), Jazz History 2 (from WW2 to the present…definitely not my favorite period of jazz at all), and Elements of Calculus (calc for eco majors, not the ridiculously hard calc for engineers/architects I’ve been put in twice)

Tuesday/Thursday: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics.

20 credits, 6 classes, all required. Sleep? Not happening.

Blogging to resume this week.

6 finals/projects down, one to go!

All I have left is my Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy final at Baruch on Monday!

So far I have one grade, and A in Computer Aided Statistical Analysis, which basically certifies that I can count with a computer. Go me.

I spoke to Claudio yesterday, he’s still in Missouri with the Truman people.

Back to work….

4 finals down, 2 to go.

Claudio and I may go see President Bush next week in upstate NY if the College Republicans Nat’l Comm. woman ever calls me back.

Finals week begins in t-minus 12 minutes.

See you in seven days!

Columbia gets spanked by The Wall Street Journal over the ROTC:

Columbia University, in New York City. On Friday, the university senate voted by a 53-10 margin, with five abstentions, against a resolution to re-establish an ROTC program on campus. Prominent in this roll call of dishonor was President Lee Bollinger, who voted against, and Provost Alan Brinkley, who gave an impassioned speech comparing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy to a campus organization that allowed “African-Americans to join . . . only if they pass for white.” Oddly, Mr. Brinkley abstained from voting, suggesting he lacked even the courage of these convictions.

The gay issue does seem to offer Columbia a convenient alibi for refusing to participate in ROTC. But however one feels about the policy–and reasonable people can differ–surely it isn’t as egregious as the military’s pre-1948 policy of segregating black soldiers. Yet by the logic of Friday’s vote, perhaps Columbia should now feel ashamed of the prominent role it played, both institutionally and through its alumni, in helping America’s war efforts in World War II.

Not good enough? I think the last paragraph perfectly sums up my views:

But maybe we shouldn’t be too bothered by this. Throughout America, schools such as the University of Missouri continue to graduate outstanding young men such as Lieutenant Edens. He may not have earned an Ivy League degree, but he did earn a nation’s respect–which is more than most of Columbia’s faculty can ever hope to get.

Wow. Harsh, but certainly earned. The issue of the ROTC on college campuses (and military recruiters for that matter) is apparently the new hot-button issue for this school year. CCNY used to have an ROTC program on campus - it was started after World War I and disbanded in the 70s after mass student demonstrations and whining. I want it back. I don’t think CCNY students in a ROTC program (they take the military classes on other campuses, and there are quite a few students) should have to go to Fordham to drill. My school is capable of producing great leaders and thinkers, so why can’t we parlay that into producing great leading and thinking military officers?

Maybe my pet product for student government next year should be to try and get the ROTC back to CCNY and CUNY.

It’s not like I could possibly make any more enemies then I have now.