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American Professors in Tehran for Occupy Wall Street Conference

Harshaw said:
That's not exactly what they held, and besides, the case is easily distinguished, as we're talking about changing tenure policy at the university level, and that this would include private universities as well, not just public employment.
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That case is righteous and could be used in this situation.
 
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So to represent the poor and unemployed, they take a holiday to Iran? :lol:
 
Connery said:
That case is righteous and could be used in this situation.
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It didn't say it wasn't still good caselaw. I said it has little to do with anything said here, and can be easily distinguished.

Tenure is voluntarily granted; reforming it causes no Constitutional issues whatsoever.
 
Is there a Wall Street in Tehran that they're occupying?
 
Harshaw said:
It didn't say it wasn't still good caselaw. I said it has little to do with anything said here, and can be easily distinguished.
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I showed where free speech was indeed a constitutional issue. Now is your turn to provide researched analysis where it is not.

Tenure is voluntarily granted; reforming it causes no Constitutional issues whatsoever.
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Show me the documents where tenure is cited. Also, provide the basis where violation free speech is a basis for refusing to grant tenure.
 
Too bad they allow these anti-american professors back in USA. "Non-diplomatic trips to Iran ought to be one way rides."
 
Mya said:
This is a news report from Iran Press TV a propoganda arm of the Iranian government.

The fruitcakes interviewed on Press TV include Alex Vitae of Brooklyn College, Heather Gautney of Fordham University, and John Hammond of City University of New York.

Have a Peek-a-boo at the geniuses :roll:

American Professors Gather in Tehran for Occupy Wall Street Conference | The Weekly Standard
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This isn't so much a news story as a blog post with a few sentences and a video attached...
 
Mya said:
Too bad they allow these anti-american professors back in USA. "Non-diplomatic trips to Iran ought to be one way rides."
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It is you, Mya, that gave power to the inconsequential talk of a few professors by bringing to light their insignificant activities only to decry their conduct with no viable solution. I do not support their ideals or their behavior, but, I will not espouse martyring them which in the end will only celebrate who they are and what their cause is.

Moreover, as a matter of course, I always try to look for any positive aspect of a particular behavior. There may be one here. The professors talk underscored just how miserable and inhumane the conditions are in Iran as the people their do not have the freedom to conduct a similar movement. All they were given was a glimpse of freedom. So perhaps your antagonists did serve a useful purpose.

Gautney was one of four U.S. professors last week to attend the two-day conference at Tehran University, in a country whose people -- despite any possible dissatisfaction -- are not in a position to take to the streets, as she described it. Consequently, she said, Iranian professors and students view the Occupy movement as "an object of study," not something to emulate anytime soon.

When she and the other professors were first invited to the conference, they were worried about the organizers' motivations, Gautney admitted. But after seeing a list of about 30 questions that would be posed to them, "it seemed like a very legitimate kind of project," she said.

In particular, organizers wanted to hear the professors speak about: What is the significance of the movement? How did it come about? Who are the protagonists? What are the goals?
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US professors travel to Iran to discuss Occupy Wall Street movement | Fox News
 
StillBallin75 said:
This isn't so much a news story as a blog post with a few sentences and a video attached...
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I think this news is important enough in my opinion.

Feel free to close thread if you wish.
 
Mya said:
Some say first it is news then they it is not news ..... what is it then
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I should have clarified. I meant to say that the link you provided was not very informative. Connery's was.
 
StillBallin75 said:
I should have clarified. I meant to say that the link you provided was not very informative. Connery's was.
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Cool then , nothing like clarity in this world. Thanks.
 
Connery said:
I showed where free speech was indeed a constitutional issue. Now is your turn to provide researched analysis where it is not.
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it's a constitutional issue ONLY when the government is involved. In Pickering, it was a public school board.


Show me the documents where tenure is cited. Also, provide the basis where violation free speech is a basis for refusing to grant tenure.
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Are you being purposely dense? The whole reason you brought this line of conversation up is because Mya and cpwill said they were for "tenure reform," which you said violated the First Amendment. Never mind that neither one of them even said what the reform should be.
 
Harshaw said:
it's a constitutional issue ONLY when the government is involved. In Pickering, it was a public school board.




Are you being purposely dense? The whole reason you brought this line of conversation up is because Mya and cpwill said they were for "tenure reform," which you said violated the First Amendment. Never mind that neither one of them even said what the reform should be.
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A lesson when you call someone "dense". Get your facts straight. John Hammond of City University of New York. "From its establishment in 1847 as the Free Academy to its existence today as New York City's public institution of higher learning." In 1926, the New York State legislature created the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York to integrate, coordinate and expand the institutions of higher education in the city...:prof
About - CUNY


Moreover, now that you have resorted to name calling or otherwise offensive behavior without any substance or information to rebut my presumption or otherwise make a cohesive argument countering my position, you, as a poster are going by way of the "Dodo" bird and are extinct as far as I am concerned regarding this thread...
animated_bye_bye_emoticon.gif
 
Connery said:
A lesson when you call someone "dense". Get your facts straight. John Hammond of City University of New York. "From its establishment in 1847 as the Free Academy to its existence today as New York City's public institution of higher learning." In 1926, the New York State legislature created the Board of Higher Education of the City of New York to integrate, coordinate and expand the institutions of higher education in the city...
About - CUNY
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Yeah, which is why I brought up that it also involves private universities. I'm fully aware that there are state universities.

The fact that it's an issue which involves private universities as well as public ones shows one of the ways where Pickering can be distinguished. Did you really not get that?


Moreover, now that you have resorted to name calling or otherwise offensive behavior without any substance or information to rebut my presumption or otherwise make a cohesive argument countering my position, you, as a poster are going by way of the "Dodo" bird and are extinct as far as I am concerned regarding this thread...
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I've resorted to no "name-calling"; I've described your behavior.

The two of them brought up "tenure reform." You said it would violate the First Amendment. I said it wouldn't. You brought up Pickering. I said it could be easily distinguished. You then demanded that I show "documentation" that it (Pickering, I guess) "cited" tenure, as though I was the one bringing tenure into the conversation. So yeah, that seems purposely dense to me.

Never mind that "tenure reform" could just as easily mean abolishing tenure altogether. Now, tell me, how does THAT violate the First Amendment in any way?
 
Mya said:
This is a news report from Iran Press TV a propoganda arm of the Iranian government.

The fruitcakes interviewed on Press TV include Alex Vitae of Brooklyn College, Heather Gautney of Fordham University, and John Hammond of City University of New York.

Have a Peek-a-boo at the geniuses :roll:

American Professors Gather in Tehran for Occupy Wall Street Conference | The Weekly Standard
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What a pack of boobs. Maybe they should stay in Iran and do a "occupy the mullahs".
 
Connery said:
I think this is a non news item and therefore a waste of bandwidth
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Mya, I was hasty in my assessment of the material you provided and upon further research see various aspects to this topic that were not apparent from the inception of the thread. Kindly accept my apology for suggesting that your thread was a "waste of bandwidth".
 
Connery said:
Mya, I was hasty in my assessment of the material you provided and upon further research see various aspects to this topic that were not apparent from the inception of the thread. Kindly accept my apology for suggesting that your thread was a "waste of bandwidth".
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Thank you Connery! :mrgreen:
 
Connery said:
Sure you are. You want to punish or deprive people for fostering an ideal. An ideal, which again I do not support in practice, but, the expression of which is necessary to enjoy the freedoms we all have especially in an academic setting.
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Yes, this is what academic freedom means.

If these folks want to go over there, more power to 'em. Will be interesting reading the publications they score out of this. By their fruits, we will know them. :mrgreen:
 
Connery said:
Sure you are. You want to punish or deprive people for fostering an ideal. An ideal, which again I do not support in practice, but, the expression of which is necessary to enjoy the freedoms we all have especially in an academic setting.
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In almost any other profession in the world, your boss has a right to fire you for what you say or what you do, regardless of 'free speech' issues. You say or do things that refect badly on the employer, you get canned. Not in the world of academia, however. Apparently, they're special.
 
nota bene said:
Yes, this is what academic freedom means.

If these folks want to go over there, more power to 'em. Will be interesting reading the publications they score out of this. By their fruits, we will know them. :mrgreen:
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Not sure why 'academic freedom' should mean more than any other kind of freedom. 'Academic Freedom' was invented by Academics so that they could say and do whatever they wanted with absolutley no consequences.
 
Perhaps if these tenured professors were actually teaching, as opposed to running around the world attending such important meetings (OWS in Tehran, really?), a college education might be a little more affordable. But apparently educating our youth takes a back seat again.
 
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