Thus is titled my paper for tomorrow. It's 10-pages long. Have I begun it? No. It's 1:35am and I'm going to be up all night. Yet I write on this blog.
Did I tell any of you? I switch my majors, again, 'cause that's how I roll. Double: PSci/History. So here I go again.
Anyways, I started up this Committee for Balanced Debate, through the SGA. I (and others,) felt that there was insufficient coverage of ides on campus: there'd be one speaker giving one viewpoint, but we'd never hear the other. Like last year, when we invited Chris Murray (author of "The Bellcurve,") and had him tell us why having given minorities more opportunity to go to college was a bad idea, but didn't have an opposing viewpoint. One could easily say "well, the opposing view is clear enough," but it really isn't, not after you heard what he had to say.
So our (at this point, my,) ideas are these:
1. Get one huge DEBATE, with outside speakers, once a semester. Focus on a single issue. Have students moderate it, introduce questions.
2. Get two faculty debates a semester (not panel discussions.) An idea I heard today: have someone from the Psychology department debate someone from the WAGS department on whether gender is biological or social. Kind of eh, but an interesting starting point.
3. Student open forums, focused on an issue. Hopefully it'll get really intense and people will start throwing chairs at each other because someone mentioned "the Islams."
4. Balancing lectures with opposing lectures, like, the week after. Like the Chris Murray example.
So I interviewed like 30 people today. I though I was going to die. Especially the ones who were there for no reason other than to waste my time.
I also had a Debatable Editor's meeting tonight, which I'm part of this year. I'm the "Political Editor," which I think is awesome.
And I was just at the Grille, and was talking to Dave and Sid and Rohan, and thought about Eddie's eternalest of questions: would you give up your sex drive if it meant you never had to sleep again? I mean we really THOUGHT about it. And the answer is "Oh my God, of course, in a heartbeat, rightnowwhere'stheoperationtableomygodplease.
I really have to work now.
--gs
(I'm so caffeinated.)
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3 comments:
i might actually want to be involved in that thing, gabe.
-eddie
ps but i'm probably going to argue that the vast omnipotence of history as a discipline means the best qualified speakers for every issue will be history professors.
i realize now that, given that PS, my "signature" was probably unneccessary. i don't know how to spell in any language :C
anyway, i came back to ask what the battle of lechfeld was - actually don't bother because i'll wiki it long before you read this. what class is it for?
i really might want to be involved in your debate thing, though activity of most kinds is pretty foreign to me.
also, the real point of the extra comment is as follows: if you're ever in the mood for more philosophical musings of mine (perhaps even better than sex drive vs. sleep!), go read my LJ, which is harq_al_ada. there's a link on facebook. i'm really desperate for feedback of any kind.
When did Eddie mention that question? Although this is a hard question because I do enjoy sleeping...I prefer being productive. And I'm pretty sure I don't have a sex drive, which makes it really easy to give up.
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