Spitzer

Was anyone else tight lipped and grim when Governor Spitz spat on higher education yesterday? Or was I the only one who didn't chuckle at his attempts to be a crowd pleaser in his speech on endowing four billion dollars to NYS higher education?

To paraphrase: the governor aimed to pull laughs, and succeeded, when he mentioned sparsely going to class while a student at Harvard, in addition to avoiding courses that had clear right or wrong answers such as the Maths and Sciences. Opting to take what he seemed to deem more BS-able courses such as Political Science and Economics. I'm sure there are quite a few people who share this sentiment, which makes comments like this seem acceptable. ( I'll admit that I am guilty of pulling a field day yesterday for personal reasons.)

However, the unfortunate paradox is clear when these statements are preceded by one of President Dahl's hallmark, and never quite trite, statistic quoting speeches:
With bravado, our president quoted that the average SAT range for our incoming freshman class is 1330(!). Subsequently making SUNY Geneseo the best value public liberal arts college-hidden-gem ivy in New York State rah rah rah... (You know, the same old anecdote you will hear if you search for any media coverage about SUNY Geneseo , namely U.S. News and Kiplinger. Of which little to no student input is included in the actual article published. Excuse me if I'm speaking from experience here, but after being interviewed by Kiplinger my commentary on race issues and campus climate, even my tipoff on a protest being held that same day, weren't considered publishable due to space.)

So don't believe the hype. What our media and leaders are actually saying is it's OK to look good on paper; critical thinking isn't necessary. As long as you are privileged enough to function in a system that operates on arbitrary tests of intellect, and name recognition you WILL succeed. (First Geneseo, then Harvard, then a political office somewhere?) There will be a higher up willing to fund you. However if you have plans that involve actual structural change; goals that require more than funding but also the elevation of conscience, don't hold you breath in anticipation of being acknowledged. It's up to you and your cousins and comrades to act now.