Well, this is fun. Moving away from food now, what do you want out of the new President? Many different ideas about what the role of the President should be. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Michael Roth compared to Dougie B?
Do you hope that he is more accessible to the student body? Involves himself more in on-campus activities? Are you eager to take a class with him (or his wife)? Do you think he’ll reconsider chalking? Do you think he’ll cater more to the academic interests of the school? Will he be as good of a fundraiser as Dougie?
Let’s go!
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haha, love the one liner after estrella’s beat-down. love you girl.undies
haha, love the one liner after estrella’s beat-down. love you girl.
undies
I breifly met him yesterday and he seemed like an ok guy.
I breifly met him yesterday and he seemed like an ok guy.
Ok this:”Such BS. He seemed to me like a more personable version of bennett, hand-picked by the board of trustees to further make Wesleyan another straight-laced, run-of-the-mill school like Amherst or Williams.”pisses me off to no end. Sorry Anon #1 I’m sure that you think that what you’re saying is true and you’re SO MAD that the evil, nebulous body known as “the board of trustees,” composed entirely of old, white men is seeking to ruin everything wonderful about Wesleyan as they run the show from behind closed doors. I (do not) regret to inform you that you are wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, AND wrong.I won’t get into a super-long diatribe regarding the real workings and make-up of the board and bemoan the fact that often students ignorantly complain about the board and what they do without bothering to inform themselves.Instead, I’ll stick to the content of your comment. 1) Hand-picked by the board of trustees is simply not true. There was an honest search for candidates, the presidential search committee did have a lot of trustees on it, but it also had faculty and student representation, and once the committee had a pool of possible applicants they were interviewed by a student panel, a faculty panel, administrators and the board. 2) “to further make Wesleyan another straight-laced, run-of-the-mill school like Amherst or Williams. Sorry, as much fun as it is to believe that there is to believe that there is some huge conspiracy on the part of the board to “normalize” Wesleyan in an effort to make us like the other 2 of the little three that is simply UNTRUE. Most Board members actively try to play up the ways that we are different from Amherst or Williams and their reaction regarding them (“ew GAG ME!”)is very similar to ours. They aren’t on the board to “mainstream” Wesleyan, they have no interest in that, you become a member of the board because you love Wes for what it is and what it stands for, not because you want to spend a ton of unpaid hours scheming to change the place.Anyone who doubts what I’m saying here or just wants to continue the conversation can email me elopez@wes.
Ok this:
“Such BS. He seemed to me like a more personable version of bennett, hand-picked by the board of trustees to further make Wesleyan another straight-laced, run-of-the-mill school like Amherst or Williams.”
pisses me off to no end. Sorry Anon #1 I’m sure that you think that what you’re saying is true and you’re SO MAD that the evil, nebulous body known as “the board of trustees,” composed entirely of old, white men is seeking to ruin everything wonderful about Wesleyan as they run the show from behind closed doors. I (do not) regret to inform you that you are wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, AND wrong.
I won’t get into a super-long diatribe regarding the real workings and make-up of the board and bemoan the fact that often students ignorantly complain about the board and what they do without bothering to inform themselves.
Instead, I’ll stick to the content of your comment. 1) Hand-picked by the board of trustees is simply not true. There was an honest search for candidates, the presidential search committee did have a lot of trustees on it, but it also had faculty and student representation, and once the committee had a pool of possible applicants they were interviewed by a student panel, a faculty panel, administrators and the board.
2) “to further make Wesleyan another straight-laced, run-of-the-mill school like Amherst or Williams. Sorry, as much fun as it is to believe that there is to believe that there is some huge conspiracy on the part of the board to “normalize” Wesleyan in an effort to make us like the other 2 of the little three that is simply UNTRUE. Most Board members actively try to play up the ways that we are different from Amherst or Williams and their reaction regarding them (“ew GAG ME!”)is very similar to ours. They aren’t on the board to “mainstream” Wesleyan, they have no interest in that, you become a member of the board because you love Wes for what it is and what it stands for, not because you want to spend a ton of unpaid hours scheming to change the place.
Anyone who doubts what I’m saying here or just wants to continue the conversation can email me elopez@wes.
No one can stop you from chaulking. That was never the issue. Enlisting the university as an honest broker, as if chaulking is some kind of intellectual time share arrangement, is silly and was obviously putting more stress on the system than it was worth. No one complains when a chaulking gets washed out by the rain. Physical Plant should be viewed as just another force of nature you have to contend with. –JW
No one can stop you from chaulking. That was never the issue. Enlisting the university as an honest broker, as if chaulking is some kind of intellectual time share arrangement, is silly and was obviously putting more stress on the system than it was worth. No one complains when a chaulking gets washed out by the rain. Physical Plant should be viewed as just another force of nature you have to contend with.
–JW
I agree with justin… roth needs to keep the cash flowing like bennett did. wes is still relatively poor, and in order to attract the best faculty and maintain a commitment to need-blind admissions, the school needs a nice endowment. I hear he did a nice job raising money at CCA, so let’s hope he continues that here.
I agree with justin… roth needs to keep the cash flowing like bennett did. wes is still relatively poor, and in order to attract the best faculty and maintain a commitment to need-blind admissions, the school needs a nice endowment. I hear he did a nice job raising money at CCA, so let’s hope he continues that here.
I don’t want this discussion to devolve into a circular debate and I don’t want to take the focus off of Michael Roth. If this comment does either of those things, I will regret it and be more careful next time. I’m having a lot of trouble resisting this quick response so I’m not going to – perhaps against my better judgment, but also for the sake of any folks reading this who are unfamiliar with the chalking issue. Anon5, you wrote:”half the time, the chalk displays a hateful, intolerant message… NOT a peace sign”Are we living on the same campus? Are you serious? I assume you didn’t get that impression by looking at the sidewalk. Did you read it somewhere? Or am I crazy?”there are other means of communication, not involving chalk”These means of communication (a poster on the ground?) have no less potential to offend. Are you saying that it’s the chalk that is bad? If you’re just pointing out that we’re not oppressed, I agree with you entirely.This said, I agree with Anon2 that it’s not okay to neglect other issues (that we might be using chalk to mobilize around).Also: I wouldn’t expect any new president to take a stand on anything controversial before even moving in. While I wasn’t there, the fact that he was evasive doesn’t dash my hopes. In fact, it’s probably what I would do… if only out of respect for Douggie.
I don’t want this discussion to devolve into a circular debate and I don’t want to take the focus off of Michael Roth. If this comment does either of those things, I will regret it and be more careful next time. I’m having a lot of trouble resisting this quick response so I’m not going to – perhaps against my better judgment, but also for the sake of any folks reading this who are unfamiliar with the chalking issue. Anon5, you wrote:
“half the time, the chalk displays a hateful, intolerant message… NOT a peace sign”
Are we living on the same campus? Are you serious? I assume you didn’t get that impression by looking at the sidewalk. Did you read it somewhere? Or am I crazy?
“there are other means of communication, not involving chalk”
These means of communication (a poster on the ground?) have no less potential to offend. Are you saying that it’s the chalk that is bad? If you’re just pointing out that we’re not oppressed, I agree with you entirely.
This said, I agree with Anon2 that it’s not okay to neglect other issues (that we might be using chalk to mobilize around).
Also: I wouldn’t expect any new president to take a stand on anything controversial before even moving in. While I wasn’t there, the fact that he was evasive doesn’t dash my hopes. In fact, it’s probably what I would do… if only out of respect for Douggie.
I’m sick of Wesleyan having so little money compared to other schools of our caliber. If we want to be on top, we’ve got to keep the dough flowing. More money means more professors, better paid professors, more financial aid, prettier buildings, and general good stuff. I admired Douggie B. for his fundraising and hope Sir Roth can continue the trend of increasing our financial resources.I also hope he’s inclusive of student opinions when making decisions.
I’m sick of Wesleyan having so little money compared to other schools of our caliber. If we want to be on top, we’ve got to keep the dough flowing. More money means more professors, better paid professors, more financial aid, prettier buildings, and general good stuff. I admired Douggie B. for his fundraising and hope Sir Roth can continue the trend of increasing our financial resources.
I also hope he’s inclusive of student opinions when making decisions.
Anon #2, you raise excellent concerns and I would be sore to see if they were not addressed in some shape or form at Wes (especially since Amherst is taking them seriously from what I’ve been reading).Please, please, please keep Wesleying informed on those issues as you see them come up. We want to know, too.
Anon #2, you raise excellent concerns and I would be sore to see if they were not addressed in some shape or form at Wes (especially since Amherst is taking them seriously from what I’ve been reading).
Please, please, please keep Wesleying informed on those issues as you see them come up. We want to know, too.
Hate and intolerance is everywhere. I don’t understand why we feel we need block off a wonderful form of communication just because people take such ridiculous messages to heart. If you don’t believe it, then it shouldn’t matter. And we’ve had people already volunteer to serve on teams in order to wash away such messages. People want to chalk.
Hate and intolerance is everywhere. I don’t understand why we feel we need block off a wonderful form of communication just because people take such ridiculous messages to heart. If you don’t believe it, then it shouldn’t matter. And we’ve had people already volunteer to serve on teams in order to wash away such messages. People want to chalk.
the administration spends thousands of dollars to wash away peace signs because half the time, the chalk displays a hateful, intolerant message… NOT a peace sign. it isn’t physical plant’s job to determine what is okay to leave and what should be washed away. there are other means of communication, not involving chalk. I hope he doesn’t reverse the chalking ban- the students can’t handle the privilege (chalking is not a right…)
the administration spends thousands of dollars to wash away peace signs because half the time, the chalk displays a hateful, intolerant message… NOT a peace sign. it isn’t physical plant’s job to determine what is okay to leave and what should be washed away. there are other means of communication, not involving chalk. I hope he doesn’t reverse the chalking ban- the students can’t handle the privilege (chalking is not a right…)
^^^^^^^^^ But you can just do the classic turn around and argue taht if chalking doesn’t matter, why disallow it? If you care about improving financial aid, then why allow the administration to spend thousands of dollars to wash away peace symbols AS FAST AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, GOD FORBID SOMEONE SEES IT
^^^^^^^^^ But you can just do the classic turn around and argue taht if chalking doesn’t matter, why disallow it? If you care about improving financial aid, then why allow the administration to spend thousands of dollars to wash away peace symbols AS FAST AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, GOD FORBID SOMEONE SEES IT
CHALKING doesn’t matter. I understand the free speech issue, but it is quite juvenile to keep harping on it. Chalk if you want too and make physical plant wash it off in the morning. Honestly, there much larger Wesleyan issues than fucking chalking…Let’s talk about improving financial aid for increased socioeconomic diversity, fostering student/faculty relationships, improving availability of classes in EVERY major, keeping a check on arms race (financial resources) between elite universities, healthcare….let’s keep wesleyan a great school that we are proud to attend.
CHALKING doesn’t matter. I understand the free speech issue, but it is quite juvenile to keep harping on it. Chalk if you want too and make physical plant wash it off in the morning. Honestly, there much larger Wesleyan issues than fucking chalking…
Let’s talk about improving financial aid for increased socioeconomic diversity, fostering student/faculty relationships, improving availability of classes in EVERY major, keeping a check on arms race (financial resources) between elite universities, healthcare….let’s keep wesleyan a great school that we are proud to attend.
I hear you, it’s often a debate-killer to say, “But there are BIGGER things to worry about.” As if we’re all majoring in idiocy and are completely ignorant about global warming or the war in Iraq. (Same argument applies to people who dissed those who cared about food–“But what about Darfur!?”).I want study inequality and stratification and how poverty shapes people’s life decisions. I’m writing a thesis on the topic and I’m applying to grad school to continue studying it. It’s a problem that eats up most of my idle thoughts, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to think about problems going on at my school or how they can be changed for the better. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine to hear that kind of rejoinder to school problems. Especially at Wesleyan where I don’t know a student whose thoughts aren’t often taken up by bigger issues. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore trivial concerns that can (and should) be fixed because there’s a war in Iraq.Good comment. I’m glad you talked him. I like knowing we’ve got means to keep people honest ;)
I hear you, it’s often a debate-killer to say, “But there are BIGGER things to worry about.” As if we’re all majoring in idiocy and are completely ignorant about global warming or the war in Iraq. (Same argument applies to people who dissed those who cared about food–“But what about Darfur!?”).
I want study inequality and stratification and how poverty shapes people’s life decisions. I’m writing a thesis on the topic and I’m applying to grad school to continue studying it. It’s a problem that eats up most of my idle thoughts, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to think about problems going on at my school or how they can be changed for the better.
It’s a huge pet peeve of mine to hear that kind of rejoinder to school problems. Especially at Wesleyan where I don’t know a student whose thoughts aren’t often taken up by bigger issues. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore trivial concerns that can (and should) be fixed because there’s a war in Iraq.
Good comment. I’m glad you talked him. I like knowing we’ve got means to keep people honest ;)
Roth was at the San Francisco summer send-off yesterday and I asked him about the chalking situation. He essentially told me that he has no plans to change anything (saying that he’s just planning on sticking to the “status quo”). Then he went on babbling about how “there are bigger issues to be concerned about, like the war and global warming!” and the “great tradition of activism at wesleyan”.Such BS. He seemed to me like a more personable version of bennett, hand-picked by the board of trustees to further make Wesleyan another straight-laced, run-of-the-mill school like Amherst or Williams.p.s. I mentioned Fauver when talking to him, and he didn’t know what it was :|
Roth was at the San Francisco summer send-off yesterday and I asked him about the chalking situation. He essentially told me that he has no plans to change anything (saying that he’s just planning on sticking to the “status quo”). Then he went on babbling about how “there are bigger issues to be concerned about, like the war and global warming!” and the “great tradition of activism at wesleyan”.
Such BS. He seemed to me like a more personable version of bennett, hand-picked by the board of trustees to further make Wesleyan another straight-laced, run-of-the-mill school like Amherst or Williams.
p.s. I mentioned Fauver when talking to him, and he didn’t know what it was :|