On the Campus

Spending Priorities Are a Consequence of Policy Priorities

By Justin Katz | July 9, 2010 |

Complaints that the State of Rhode Island has allocated more money for the Department of Corrections than for higher education miss the point. Put aside the fact that the comparison is arbitrary; the real concern should be the underlying policies that wind up making imprisoning people such a large expense. That would be a pretty…

The End of the Entitlement Road

By Justin Katz | November 20, 2009 |

Is this astonishing video of a protest turned near riot related to a wrongfully imprisoned innocent, wanton murder of grandmothers, or government confiscation of children? Nope. It’s over a proposed 32% tuition increase for the University of California system. It’s a symptom of the inevitable collapse of a society built on an entitlement mindset. Don’t…

Another Sign of a Coarsening Culture?

By Justin Katz | May 28, 2009 |

As Americans accede to the concerted push to break down our mores and cultural definitions, we shouldn’t be surprised if there’s an increase in this sort of double-take news items: Two men and a woman, ages 18, 19 and 20, have been indicted for allegedly raping a fellow University of Rhode Island student on campus…

Stranger in a Strange Land

By Marc Comtois | April 24, 2009 |

An Ivy-leaguer from Brown goes undercover at “christianist” Liberty University and learns that, hey, Christians are people too! [Kevin Roose] arrived at the Lynchburg campus prepared for “hostile ideologues who spent all their time plotting abortion clinic protests and sewing Hillary Clinton voodoo dolls.” Instead, he found that “not only are they not that, but…

Columbus Banned at Brown

By Marc Comtois | April 8, 2009 |

They editorialized, they polled and now they’ve been seconded by the faculty: Brown University will no longer celebrate Columbus Day. Why? From an earlier editorial at the Brown Daily Herald: Anyone who has studied history, especially at a mostly liberal institution like Brown, knows that Christopher Columbus did not “discover” the Americas. Not only are…

A Necessary Correction, Some Might Say

By Justin Katz | February 8, 2009 |

Until I reached the end, I wasn’t going to bother commenting on Bob Kerr’s column, today. It’s all emoting, no solutions. Or rather, in the typical fashion of typical liberals, Kerr’s solution is an implied government gimme. But the daughter of the woman who receives most of Kerr’s attention makes a complaint — a set…

“A Fussy and Difficult Student”

By Justin Katz | December 14, 2008 |

There’s a familiar face on the front page of the Providence Journal today: From the beginning, the relationship between William Felkner and the Rhode Island College School of Social Work has sounded like the screech of chalk on a blackboard. … Felkner has filed a lawsuit against Rhode Island College that revives arguments from conservatives…

Academic Theatrics as Indication of the Future

By Justin Katz | October 24, 2008 |

This is shocking: DeHayes would not provide the exact contents of the messages, which he said were found on a computer in the Memorial Union, the student life building, and at Swan Hall. In an interview yesterday, he would say only that they were a “characterization” of Obama. DeHayes said a student brought the messages…

Conservatives at RISD?

By Marc Comtois | October 9, 2008 |

Apparently, conservatives can be found everywhere, even at RISD (via Ian). Zach Brown, founder and president of RISD Conservatives and a sophomore illustration major, said, “I became politically involved once I came to college because I was constantly being fed liberal propaganda.” Brown, who considers Ronald Reagan his personal hero, described Rhode Island School of…

Four Reasons to Stick to Coursework

By Justin Katz | February 9, 2008 |

Sadly, it seems unlikely that Brown philosophy professor Felicia Nimue Ackerman’s attitude is the majority one on American (at least New England) campuses. Here are four reasons that she didn’t “devote a portion of class time” on a particular week “to teach about climate change”: Reason 1: Climate change is not what students signed up…