Stanford campus in uproar over fellowship for Rumsfeld

[T_i_B]

Source: Independent

Academics and students at California's prestigious Stanford University have launched a vigorous protest against the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as a visiting fellow to a right-wing campus think-tank, saying the former defence secretary and architect of the Iraq war offends their ideals of truth and tolerance.

Mr Rumsfeld's appointment as a one-year visiting fellow to the Hoover Institution was announced two weeks ago. Since then, more than 2,300 people on campus have signed a petition calling for the appointment to be revoked – among them an eminent professor of psychology who specialises in the wellsprings of bestial human behaviour.

The professor, Philip Zimbardo, lambasts Mr Rumsfeld in his most recent book, arguing that the defence secretary established the conditions that allowed low-ranking US military personnel to abuse Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Explaining his support for the petition, Professor Zimbardo told The New York Times: "It is unacceptable to have someone who represents the values that Rumsfeld has portrayed, in an academic setting."

The petition, drafted by a history professor, Pamela Lee, reads: "We view the appointment as fundamentally incompatible with the ethical values of truthfulness, tolerance, disinterested enquiry, respect for national and international laws and care for the opinions, property and lives of others to which Stanford is inalienably committed."

Read more: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2987807.ece

[Solly Mack]

1. So, where do America's war criminals go? Now we know

So when does Condi get back?

[kiva]

15. Stanford's choices

The university has defended its choice, saying Rumsfeld's experience at the very pinnacle of government makes him a desirable presence on campus regardless of people's opinions of him.

So by this logic Stanford would have welcomed Saddam Huissein as a "desirable presence" on campus? After all, he was certainly at the pinnacle of government in his country.

[Solly Mack]

16. Yes - and not just Saddam either

The horrifying thing is how it normalizes Rumsfeld's crimes. By allowing Rumsfeld to be a fellow, Stanford is saying it's all OK - Abu Ghraib was OK...GTMO is OK. Water-boarding is OK. Illegal and indefinite detentions are OK. His crimes are acceptable and nothing to be concerned about.

Even though I expect America as a whole to ignore the crimes of the Bush administration , it doesn't make it any less disturbing to me...

[Lasher]

2. What else do they expect when they have a right wing stink tank on campus?

Who did they think the Hoover Institution was going to appoint, Jimmy Carter? If Stanford really wants to promote "disinterested enquiry" they will disassociate themselves from this corporate propaganda cartel.

[clixtox]

8. Throwing the Hooverites off the campus...

Ought to be the goal of those upset that the campus is harboring a least one war criminal.

How many Nazi war criminals did Stanford shelter after WW2?

Send the Hoover Institute to Oral Roberts University where they would be welcomed.

Hell, they and Rummy would probably be worshipped!

[goodgd_yall]

19. Agreed

As you you say, what do you expect from the Hoover Institution. The Institution itself goes against the stated ethical values of truthfulness, etc. etc. Kick it off campus. (There probably is old money tied up in allowing it to exist, I would bet.)

[Lionel Mandrake]

23. It's not just a right wing stink tank

The Hoover Institution is housed in an enormous tower, known affectionately as Hoover's Last Erection, near the center of campus. The tower really does look like a penis. Generations of students have commented on this. It was also once the favorite place for despondent students to commit suicide. Now there are barriers to prevent anyone from jumping. But I digress.

Besides providing no-work jobs for aging conservatives (plus an occasional token liberal), the Hoover Institution includes a library which is a valuable resource for real scholars, who come from all over the world to visit it. No way is the university going to walk away from that.

[Kaleko]

3. Why does Stanford have "a right-wing campus think-tank" in the first place?

Those kinds of criminal outfits attract "good fellows" like Rumsfeld, no surprise there. That's where they teach tricks like using character assassination on entire populations. These are fascist cells operating in US universities in plain view. It's time we assassinated these characters with nothing but the Truth.

[Lasher]

18. Two reasons: One is corporate money.

And the other is corporate money.

[LuckyLib]

32. Stanford's endowment is huge. Much of the money comes from VERY wealthy alums.

They tend to be in business, enjoying the * tax breaks as we speak, and love that think tank.

[LeftishBrit]

4. self-deleted (dupe)

[LeftishBrit]

5. By the way..

Zimbardo is one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of evil, and the circumstances that can lead people to become torturers and the like.

So he should know about Rumsfeld!

[rucognizant]

7. Honey...........

We average folks can see Rumsfeld for what he is without a fancy degreed expert on psychology. You are buying into the DEGREE myth! ( You don't know nothin' unless you learned it from an expert, and got a degree)
That is why they were "The Greatest Generation" because they were smart without all that BS!
I went back to college at age 57, I had a Yaley for a professor..I SAW what the genxers were doing to get on the deans list and get their degrees, and it wasn't learning...it was just going along to get along! Boy did I get an education! The whole experience was a big fat white men stroking contest ( women included in the "white man" catagory, They had to pervert themseves to get where they were!

[goodgd_yall]

20. Off topic from OP, but

you're buying into "The Greatest Generation" myth, which I and many of my peers (children of TGG) think is a load of BS. More like the most F-U generation.

[llmart]

24. Off topic, but yes, I agree......

that "greatest generation" shit drives me crazy. They were/are no better or no worse than any other generation.

[cboy4]

6. A right wing campus think tank in the Bay Area?! Oh yea, that'll

go over well.

[rodeodance]

11. several years ago there was a survey--of students-They were much more

conservative that I had thought (of Standford---).

[hack89]

12. It's been there since 1919. nt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Institution

[Ian David]

9. They call it the Hoover Institution because it sucks. n/t

[rodeodance]

10. Glad to see this.

[gratuitous]

13. Awwww, come on people

Fascist war criminals and perpetrators of crimes against humanity need free and fair academic inquiry, too! So, the Stanford athletic mascot, the Cardinal, apparently refers to the blood of Iraqis and Afghanis that stains the campus?

[Arugula Latte]

14. Go Bears ...

:evilgrin:

[Joe Chi Minh]

17. 'Right-wing think tank' must be one of the most definitive oxymorons.

[undeterred]

21. Maybe they meant 'Right-wing stink-tank'. n/t

[Joe Chi Minh]

22. No argument here.

[eppur_se_muova]

25. compromise: call it a "War Criminal Fellowship" ... nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. The Hoover Institution...Appropriate since he sucks.

[mainer]

27. Stanford Univ is NOT conservative -- Hoover Inst. is separate

C'mon guys, give Stanford a break. It's my alma mater, and a liberal campus. When I was a student there, none of us could understand what the Hoover Institute was doing on the premises, but as we understood it, it was a separate entity that had been grandfathered in years ago. We were protesting it back then, and Stanford students are protesting it now. I think it's one of those arrangements that the university itself can't get out of.

[yardwork]

31. As an alum, I hope that you continue to protest.

The Hoover Inst. is evil, pure evil.

[UndauntedD]

35. Ping to 34

[sabra]

28. Rumsfeld position raises ire at Stanford

Source: UPI

STANFORD, Calif., Sept. 24 A petition protesting the hiring of Donald Rumsfeld at Stanford University's Hoover Institution has been signed by more than 2,600 faculty and students.

The online petition objects to Rumsfeld's appointment as a distinguished fellow at the institution, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday. Stanford faculty, staff, students and alumni who signed the petition say they don't want their school associated with the former defense secretary, who was one of the main architects of the Iraq war.

"We view the appointment as fundamentally incompatible with the ethical values of truthfulness, tolerance, disinterested enquiry, respect for national and international laws and care for the opinions, property and lives of others to which Stanford is inalienably committed," the petition reads.

"This is an appointment that trades on the prestige of the name of Stanford University," Pamela Lee, an art history professor, told the Chronicle. "The petition is meant as a signal to the rest of the world that Donald Rumsfeld and Hoover do not represent the overall Stanford community."

Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/113095.html

[Hekate]

29. Rummy is a poisonous snake, and I hope they make him feel thoroughly unwelcome

He shouldn't be allowed to use Stanford -- or any reputable university -- as a platform to polish his prestige or (gods forbid) influence a generation of political science students.

Good for the students and faculty of Stanford U.

Hekate

[peacetalksforall]

30. So what per cent is 2600?

[Cha]

33. Hopefully, the good people of Stanford

will persevere and rummy and his murderous, lying, regressive, brain cell will not be allowed use the rwstinktank on campus to run amok.

[UndauntedD]

34. I'm a grad student at Stanford...

and I didn't know about this. Just signed it and left a message.

Any alumni/students/faculty can sign the petition, which is available here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/norummy/petition.html