April 2000 - Binghamton Review

MarchiApril 2000

Volume XIII - Number4 Your first-two copies are free, each additional copy is $1.

The Student Magazine at Binghamton University

Deconstructing Multiculturalism E. Vic e Pre sident for Multicultural Affairs i Shall appoint the chair of the Inter Cultural Awareness Committee Q.CA), wbichmust then be approved by a 213 majority of the Inter Cu1tural Awarene ss Committee (leA)., ii. Shall coordinate all chartered cultural organizations and tbeirrespective programs iii. Shall review all candidates for appointment by members of the Executive Board to enSUf8 that Affirmative Action guidelines have been followed. iv. Shall not miss more than three (3) meetings of the Student Assembly per academic semeste!; and deliver once per month a report on the state of mu1ticu1tura1 affairs of the Student Association.

A Symposium The VPMA, the Politics of Race, and Why Binghamton Needs Neither

BINGHAMTON REViEW an independent student publication Founded 1987· Volume XIlLNumber 4 • March/April 2000

Departments 3 4

11

Editorial: Robert z..c.. discusses the manner in which a student's· plight has· been. exploited by campus multiculturaJists.

Campus P,..uwalcb: Confused student activists, funny VPMA candidatesthe saga continues.

The Movie Man: The monthly fihn colwnn, presented for your rending pleasure.

22 LeItoIT 10 Ibe Edllor. The Movie Man under siege.

23 Quibbles & Bits: Little tidbits of what's going on beyond the front gate.

Features 5 6

7 8 10

. Bhtghamton,

Steven Cool IaIks about the Vice President for Multiculturnl Afairs, and how the position can actually be used for positive chang", A disgruntled- MikE' Saraga talks abo1:1t his disappoinbilcut with the current VPMA.

Matt Pecorioo discusses the role of conservatism in a diverse educational environment.

Matt Pecorioo IIttended the rally to protest the CIW usSllult, and lives to tell about it!

Former REVIEW Editor-in-Chief John Cal'llOy discusses the phenomenon of Race Hustling at Binghamton.

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Benjamin Kepple discusses the current state of coIlSCIVative journalism on college campuses.

20

REVIEW investigative reporters get a surprise email in the aftennath of last month's SA elections.

BINGHAMTON REVI£W is a monthly. independent journal of news, analysis. commentary. and controversy. Students at Binghamton University receive two copies of the RE VIEW free of charge. Additional copies cost $1 each. Letters to the Editor are wclcome ~ they must be accompanied by the author's current address and phone number. All submissions become the property of the RE V IEW. The RE V I EW reserves the right to edit and print any subntission. Copyright e 2000 Binghamton Review.

All Rights Reserved. BINGHAMTON RE V IEW is distributed on campus under the authority of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution . BINGHAM TON RE V IE W is a member of the Collegiate Network and is n Student Association chartered organiza tjon. Binghamton University is not responsible for the content of the RE V IEW~ the RE V IEW is not responsible for the content of Binghamton University. The RE V IEW would like to thank the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, NetStep Access Services, and the Vice President for Multicultural Affairs. "Force me to bow down and study the 'nature 0/ oppression' and J will reach/or my longkmfe.

II

AI _ _ -John Carney;- Alex Gnlitsky, Nathan Wurtze~ Amy Gardner, Jeff GoIanl, Paul-Torres; Jnstin SOIIUna; RUSS" Wishtart, Dan Michles, Bemndette- Mnlone; Joseph Ruseutlwl;- Andy C. SzuI; Mark" ScItmidt; William Jettx:r,Hnd-Hcllman; AdarrrBromtrrg

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Insult To Injury

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VwleYlce, amil those who UlJse vwlence joU' !po/itical giIiJi U1Js, aU'e both TmoU'OJIliy WU'OU1Jg

the past six weeks, this campus has tion of the administration and the stu, seen an atrocIOus assault of under dent body. By creating such hysteria, i graduate students. Students have they are able to garner support for debeen attacked with the vicious rage of mands that would prove obscene under others wishing to trample them. And in serious scrutiny by thinking individuaddition to this, we've seen three of our als. They claim the administration was fellow students maliciously beaten; one weak in its response to the incident, but fail to accept that certain guidelines of them was hospitalized by the attack.

A criSiS like this calls for each student to take a step back and evaluate their surroundings.路 We have three victims of a violent crime, and three students have been charged with the crime. There is no excuse for such violence on our campus (or anywhere else, for that matter), and many students (as well as administrators) have acknowledged this. Rather than recognizing this crime as an isolated incident and admitting that the assailants are clearly people who don't deserve a place on our campus, the campus Left has chosen to add insult to injury by making the victims pawns in their political agenda.

To name the most prominent players, the Intercultural Awareness Committee (ICA), the office of the Vice President of Multicultural Affairs (VPMA), and the Asian Student Union (ASU) are respon- must be followed in such cases; camsible for this travesty. Instead of allow- pus activists would not be prone to civil ing the victims their dignity, these groups suits if it were shown that the defenhave chosen to make them out as the pro- dants' rights were violated, yet the adtotypical Asian students, symbolic of a ministration is always liable for what so-called racist trend that can be allevi- goes on here. These activists claim the ated through the expansion of Asian Stud- administration does too little to address ies programs and Asian counselors. How student concerns, yet if I were constantly these things will help prevent incidents being molested by annoying protesters like this from happening in the future has who have no regard for others, I'd stop listening altogether. One does not yet to be described?

The answer is simple: there is no cor- achieve goals by being disrespectful and reiation. From the perspective of the Left, vocally inane. One achieves goals the beating was simply an excuse to bring through dialogue, recognition of other the multiculturalist agenda to the atten- viewpoints, and reasonable thinking.

' I

n instances like these, the ICA, , VPMA, and ASU appear to be emraCing the very victimhood they claim to protest. For them, it is not a burden to be fought, but a means to achieving tht;ir own selfish goals. it's a known fact that there have been other in路路 cidents of violence on campus throughout this academic year, but little attention has been given to these assaults. It's tragic that it took the beating of a minority student to get the administration's attention to this kind of violence. However, no political gains can be achieved for our local multiculturalists if it's just white students beating up white students. Suddenly, there is an uproar because of an attack involving ASian victims. The hard truth is that the victims' identities are viewed as irrelevant; their ethnicity means everything. This shows the extent that which multiculturalism has warped this campus.

Look around you, fellow students. Tnis is multiculturalism at its worst. This assault has not brought attention to violence; it has brought attention to useless reforms the multiculturalists has been trying to force upon the administration for years.

It has brought attention to their anempts to remove student individuality and replacing it with a community in which your identity is dictated by race.

We condemn the students who unleashed this barbaric violence. We also condemn our campus multiculturalists who have been and are continuing to try to milk this incident for their political gain. This kind of politics has no place on this campus.

Robert C. Zoe"

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========~I======== ..

pipe dream

March 10, 2000

See! There really are students out there who Jeelthe Smde7l1 Assembly is more than a glorified debate team In a leiter to the editor, ยงlepha Mann proclaims the need 10 ensure a respectable student government. Way 10 go,student leaders-mJw it's time 10Joolthe other 10,000 students on campus: While my name will not appear on the ballots next week, J understand my responsibility to vote for those who will run this campus well. As a member of the voting community, J will vote for the candidates that I feel respect the pOSitions for which they are running. I do not endorse those who trivialize and mock the very system that they propose to lead.

Spoken like a In<e patrio, but really, it's all just a game. pipedt1eam

March 31, 2000

ISlipposewe'vecomealongwayjrom "One, /Wo, three,JOur. lLois is a corporate whore. " At least they got their way this time: The protesters erupted at this and DeAeur walked away from chants of "Hey hey, ho he, Lois DeFleur has got to go" from the crowd.

Bul alas. u's like we've always said---nomaJJer whaJ ll..!Jis De/F1euJr does, Ihe multiculturalists will always have somethillg IOcomplaill about It seems Ihey call't even make up their milltis abaul a simple decision:hos she "got 10 go", or do die)! wa7l1 her 10 slay? f ernando Molinari [formerly known as ResIrepO-ed] from trePolitica\ Action Coalition e>q:reSSedmixedreeungs abouttreday's outcome. "11Jough encouaged by the ability of students to come together as we did," he said, "it's discouraging to see President Defleur turn around and walk away."

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jl>ijp>e IIwe!ll!!lJll M arch 7, 2000

IJ hi sto ry is any le sso n , it has shown us Ihat the oJJice oj th e VPMA tends to lake Jairly normal-m inded Jolks and tran sJorm them into ra bid, ravin g multi cul turali s t l oonies. Last year, May Nazareno ran a quiet campa ign that revolv ed around c ultural dinners, and soon she's barking the term " ra cis t " at o ur SA Judicial Board. The previous VPMA, Dennis /Fe liciano. underwent a similar transJorma ti o n.

Th is yea r, we can Jillally rel ax and know wha t' s ill sto reVPMA-e le c t Devin lB,.ool!.~ -ยงo s o is clea rl y radi cal Jrom the ge rgo: ( F rom Br ooks-Soso's p la tform): T urn Ro bert's rules i nto "D ev' s rul es" : i f you don't hav e anything i ntelligent to say, shut up . Draft a proposal to replace L Ois with a cardboard c u tout and split the saved f unds equally amongst ICA groups. H ave SA meetings i n the Mandela Room so we c an in vit e the Brea k Club and Ka skeset to perform du r ing periodic interm issi ons. Turn the uni versity masco t into a smiley face. Ba n a li h an d holding "multicultura l" dinne rs and talk about the rea l is sues and problems of this campus, as well as society as a who l e. P ropose that we make ULED uniforms pink . M aybe if they can break away from hegemon ic male ide als a historicall y underrepre sented person can play cri cket w it hou t getting arrested. Finall y, fuck M arriott!

We can expect more oj the same Jrom next year's VPMA. Where we re you 011 th e ballot, ยง8eve Owi?

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VJPMA~

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Interrupted

by Steven Choi r two years in a row I have run for the Student Association positi on of Vice President for Multicultural Affairs (VPMA). The first year I had my name on the ballot and the second time I ran as a write-in candidate. Even though I did not have a very organized platform (some people may say I did not have any platform), I did have some issues I wanted to bring up.

The first issue I wanted to address was how easily racism is screamed. It seems as though when people do not get their way, they will claim racism is to blame.

To me, that sounds like a preposterous statement to be yelling out.

I remember my friend's father telling me that they had to fire a lawyer in his firm because of incompetence. This lawyer also happened to be of minority descent. When the lawyer found out he was going to be laid off, he accused the firm of being racist. He then threatened to sue the firm and file a major lawsuit. The tirm decided that they did not want to go through the hassle of going to court over the issue and decided to let him stay. M y friend's father said this was an especially ouuageous claim , as the tirm was a . major proponent of aftirmative action and seemed desperate to have more minorities on staff. Logically looking at the situation, the firm was desperate to have a more diversified atmosphere; if the firm was to tire a minority, it stands to reason that he was incompetent.

JR .

I have also seen this type of action in my family. Occasionally, I hear my relatives say they got into an argument with someone who "must have been racist" even though there were no racist remarks exchanged.

I do not think that people realize how serious an accusation it is to call someone a racist. Many people shout it freely without realizing the consequences of always accusing people of being racists

to discuss the role of multi cu ltural groups on this campus. I have been told that in a truly inclusive society, there would be no need for multicultural groups. I do realize, however, that we do not live in a society that is near being considered truly inclusive. In all honesty, I do not see anything wrong with a group of Asian, Latin American, or black students getting together and starting a student union. Fact is, we do not live in a truly inclusive society, and if this allows students of a different nationality or eth66 nic group to feel more comfortable on this campus, then so be it. 'fo be able to have someone However, the one major downside to talk to me not because I'm a these groups is the segregation that it brings minority is how "bridges, not to this campus. Once people join these stu路 dent unions, they seem to segregate thembarriers," are made. selves from other people. They also seem 99 to want other people who are not a part of the group to listen and respect their beliefs without feeling the need to have to recipwhen things do not work out for them.

Just a few weeks ago, we witnessed rocate. Again, if people do not want to Iisthe infamous CIW assault. This time ten and agree with the student unions' viewthere was reason to believe that race was points, they are, of course, racists. an issue. However, since I always hear The biggest problem I have with some people shouting racism every time two of the multicultural groups is the fact that different groups get into a tiff, I initially they will look down on members of their thought that this incident was just an- own group who do not join the student other case of the boy who cried wolf. It union. For example, I know someone is unfortunate that when the real thing who is of a particular ethnic background. does happen, people doubt just how ra- When this person was asked by a cerlain student union to join, the student said cially motivated this incident was.

Another issue I would have liked to that they did not want to join. The stu路 address but never had a chance to do was dent union got upset at them and called

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them a sellout. This type of behavior is irresponsible on the part of the student unions. If they want respect, they should also realize that they have to respect others as well.

I think the one thing I will be remembered for the first time I ran for VPMA is my speeches. They did not contain excessive politics. More than anything, they were meant to be funny. In some communities it worked well, and in some it did not.

Many people thought that I took this approach because I did not have experience or a platform. That definitely had something to do with it, but there was a more imponant reason I decided to run my campaign that way. Ifl were to go up in front of everyone and be militant and harangue the audience, most people would not respond very well. The fact is, when people get attacked either physically or verbally, they will defend themselves. if! accuse someone of being a radst, they will probably just deny it and argue with me. If I went up and made a speech accusing the audience of being racist, they would probably get upset and stop listening to me. However, if I were to go up and simply make the people laugh and be casual people will be more apt to l~sten.

Every now and then after that election, a person would come up to me and tell me they liked me; they told me how funny I was, and I would just talk back to them and make a friendly conversation. 1b have someone who probably had limited contact with minorities come up to you and want to talk to you is the exact reaction I wanted to have. In my opini~nt to be able to have someone take me at face value and want to talk to me not because I'm Asian or because I'm a minority is how, as (current Vice President for Multicultural Affairs) May Nazareno put it, "bridges, not barriers, are made."

Steven Choi is a junior at Binghamton University.

May and Me

by Milke Saraga ere are few things in this world to have several multicultural dinners. which are worse than ignorance. and has done neither. The EOP program At the acc Sweeps on March on campus is in dire straits, and no, 15, VPMA May Nazareno shocked and May, you can't blame Governor Pataki appalled me with not only her ignorance, for everything. Nazareno has not done but also her unprovoked attacks on the the job to which she was elected and candidates for the SA Executive Board. showed ~at she does not even pay atAs one of her constituents, I am embar- tention during the meeti ng's. May's rassed that she would act in such an un- questions during the sweeps incited the professional manner. It is true that crowd and were based on her own misNazareno was a panelist and is entitled conceptions about things going on in the to ask whatever questions she chooses. Student Assembly.

However, she should refrain from personal attacks because she has political ]makes me extremely uncomfortable differences with some of the candidates. ; knowing that my activity fee money May attacked the two candidates for !,. s going to pay the $3500 stipend of Executive Vice President about how May Nazareno. Not only has she not folthey would increase minority involve- lowed through on her campaign promises ment in the SA. It's true that more mi- made last year, but I was embarrassed by nor i tie s , her actions at should be in- rr=================;J the oce volvedinthe sweeps. As a SA, just as member of the more stuw~~11..t. ~,(')1r~V;hl c~~ SA Executive dents of all AlULll ~~lL.Jl Ji\l,.J J1~~ lBoard on a races should 4-~ campus that is be involved, lULlle largely apaas the slew the tic , of vacant Nazareno OCC Asshould not only ~=========================~ sembly seats be supporting show. However this is not solely the other E-Board members, but also trying burden of the Executive Vice President. to help student groups take advantage of It would seem that it should be the job legislation intended to help them. of the Vice President for Multicultural Nazareno lied to the students and then Affairs to recruit minorities to join the publicly displayed her ignorance. The fact SA. May seems to want to bitch and that a student leader acted in such a disblame everyone because she was un- respectful and irresponsible manner able to do the job she is not only elected makes the student body the real loser. to do, but paid to do.

Nazareno promised to organize a Mike Saraga is a sophomore majoring week-long exhibit on Hate Crimes and in economics.

~

Kam. 1UllI1lComfortaLblie

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BINGHAMTON REVIEW

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Diversity, Conservatism, and the VPMA Challenges Facing the Campus Right

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acist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic, and opposed to diversity. at's what springs to many students' minds when they think of Republicans, conservative student magazines, or when they think of conservatism in general . lllis is the view that is reinforced by the campus left and by the establislunent media throughout our country. Why? Is this view justified, or is it merely the last, biner, fading taunts of a left-wing ideology that is rotting from the inside and sees its own insipid, ignoble and depressing demise swiftly approaching?

I would argue that the campus right is at least partially responsible for these rather nasty sentiments and has been failing to effectively respond to them. You see, mediocrity breeds contempt, and the efforts of conservatives to defend themselves on these issues has been mediocre at best. Recently, I approached May Nazareno, our esteemed VPMA, with the intent of procuring an interview. I figured I would have no problem on that score, believing that the VPMA would not decli ne an opportunity to air her views to a wider audience, and engage in a dialogue with a publication that she vehemently disagrees with. The interview was declined, however, and although that did not disturb me, the reason offered for the rebuff did. May asserted that she could not in good conscience sit down with a publication that pu bli shed "raci st" , "sexist" and "classist" material.

What does this imply? It implies that BI NGHAMTON REVI EW and similar conservati ve publications are somehow intellectually illegitimate because they do

by Matt Pecorin o not bow to the prevailing multicultural, pro-diversity, liberal zeitgeist. This charge is easily repelled by pointing out all that is dysfunctional with the multicultural worldview. One thinks back to the "Take Back the Night" marches run by the Womyn's Center, and realizes that in the hands of the multiculturalists, a rally against domestic violence quickly degenerates into an anti-male self-indulgence-fest for radical feminists. It is also worth pointing out the phenomena of what I call "multicultural hate crimes".

These are incidents where acts of vandalism or harassment are committed against minorities and then blamed on conservatives. The campus of the University of Illinois was recently carpeted with racist fliers, one of which celebrated Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, an Illinois white supremacist who went on a suicidal shooting spree. The fliers were made to resemble the Orange and Blue Observer the university's conservative newspaper. Similar hoaxes have been pulled at other universities, including ours, and the crime is often defended as a legitimate way of focusing attention on racism and sexism.

What is the conservative attitude toward "diversity," and how do we make our case? Diversity of itself is not a bad thing at all. Indeed, I would argue that diversity, and I mean racial, religious and ideological diversity, is extremely desirable and indeed essential to any institution that professes to offer a wellrounded education. Diversity should be encouraged. Does that mean that conservatives should retreat from the affirmative action debate? Not at all - we

should make the principled case against affirmative action and we shouldn't let multiculturalists tar us as racists for doing so. However, nor should we retreat from celebrating diversity. lllis means going to some programs run by the ICA, even if multiculturalists dominate it, and contributing our perspectives on the issue. It means constructively engaging those whom we disagree with, rather than just sniping at them in the pages of BR (although that is sometimes necessary).

I say all of this in the context of a national revolution in conservative thought. For the longest time, Republican politicians have written off the concerns of minorities, since it was taken for granted that they would vote Democratic anyway. However, we now have a presidential nominee, George W. Bush, who has made a conscious effort to reach out to disaffected minorities.

Under the banner of "compassionate conservatism" he has specifically addressed the concerns of minorities, in the context of traditional conservative themes. As a result he has garnered strong support among blacks and Hispanics in Texas. We also have a con路 servative candidate , John McCain, who has been willing to denounce intolerant voices within the Republican P arty itself, such as the Rev. Pat Robertson.

However, problems remain, and we conservatives should be the first to acknowledge them. Just recently Republican lawmakers in South Carolina refused to include Martin Luther Ki ng's name in a proposed civil rights holiday, making the Palmetto state the only state in the union to decline to honor

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the

Dr. King's struggle. This is not direction we should be moving in, either nationally or on college campuses. We must acknowledge that racism exists, 'both on the left (the virulently antiSemitic AI Sharpton, for instance), and yes, sadly, within our own ranks. We " must proudly declare our willingness to fight bigotry, while hewing faithfully

to our conservative principles. A good way to start, on this campus, would be to reach out to the ICA and 'perhaps approach them with the idea of doing joint programs addressing issues of racism and intolerance and giving all viewpoints, both liberal and conservative, a chance to be heard. We don't have to agree with them, but we

can join to get a lively debate going.

And if they refuse, we can publicly ask them if they are afraid of a challenge or if they are incapable of defending their ideas. nt's just a suggestion. In any case we must reach out, not only for the sake of vibrant public debate, but for the future of the conservative movement.

by Matt Pecorino en a student is almost beaten ", "', to death, one would think that , a community would be able to join together in unity to condemn the violence and to support the victim, without anyone using the occasion to advance their own partisan political agenda. Unfortunately, we on our campus have seen a textbook example of race-baiting in the wake of an attack on a student.

The event I refer to is the infamous assault of February 27, where an AsianAmerican student was attacked outside of a College-in-the-Woods residence hall, which was followed by a justified campus outrage. I did not hear about the assault until a week and a half after it occurred. Once again, the administration was tardy in r~rting a major crime. A few years ago, a dance in the Newing Dining Hall turDed violent and a student who later received several stitches was said by the administration to have a received a cut "less than an inch deep." ,We should be able to call our campus a , safe place, and be promptly informed of any threats to our safety. The administration should have reassured the student

W

body by condemning the incident immediately and beefing up campus security.

Instead, the administration focused on its image in the community, not on student safety.

As I was upset with the administration's response to the incident, and wishing to show solidarity with the victim and with other students, I attended the rally held on March 14 in the University Union. What Hsaw was the classic "bait and switch" move, perfected by our campus multicu1turaIists; advertise an event as a rally against violence, and turn it into an anti-American fest. The first few speakers at least stayed on target and actually spoke about the incident. However as the event wore on, the discussion promptly descended to the level of pure hysteria. Vice President for Student Affairs Rodger Summers was shouted down several路times before he could even make his point What nefarious, racist pronouncement was he making that provoked such a response from the crowd? He only said that the administration did not make a statement because they did not want to prejudice the

investigation or the actual legal case. The worst offense any normal person would accuse him of is excessive caution.However, in the multicultural world view, excessive caution is nothing more than a fascist attempt to deprive minority srudents of representation and safety.

The most obnoxious and inappropriate comments of all, however, came from history professor TIffany Patterson. Instead of offering any thoughtful or substantive observations that would have helped diffuse the situation, Patterson chose to treat us to an absurd soliloquy on the racist foundations of the United States. The USA, she sneered, is an inherently violent nation and was founded upon genocide and hatred. America (or Amerika, as she would probably say) is a degenerate, racist nation and until we recognize this, "underrepresented peoples" cannot feel safe in their own land. Well, Xguess you can't argue with the proposition that America sucks. Just look at the multitudes of people every year scrambling to escape from this cesspool of death and oppression that we laughingly call a free country. Cast your

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eyes upon the throngs of thousands who fact that slavery still does exist in many LASU's Bonnie Massey took the stage board rickety, unstable little rafts and nations today, mainly in the Sudan. In and continually shouted, "This shit is risk their lives on the stormy seas to es- this unfortunate corner of the world it is fucked up!" After this you kind of got cape from this filthy, degenerate nation common practice to sell children into sla- the impression that this event would in the fleeting hope of gaining asylum in very and state-sponsored genocide is the feature a lot of pomposity, plenty of more civilized, habitable lands, such as stuff of every day life. Whenever a con- obscenity and hysteria, but alas, preservative in this country opens his mouth, cious little tho ught. One student took Haiti and Cuba.

However, it's not the content of her liberal "human rights activists" such as the floor and asserted that BU must do speech that particularly upset me. We've Dr. Patterson scream racism until they're more to protect students but that does come to expect this kind of propaganda red in the face, however they never speak not mean, under any circur:"~tances, from her and to a certain extent, from up to inform the public about atrocities that the University Police should be involved in any way. Instead the unimost historians. No, what's truly disversity must appoint more "Asiantressing about Patterson's speech is American counselors". Well , one has not the content, but the context. I to give credit to the Asian Student ' came to this rally to stand in solidarUnion and the Intercultural Awareity with the victim of a deplorable ness Committee for never missing a crime. Instead I was treated to a hyschance to promote affirmative action. terical assault on my country and my This rally was used, like most othsensibilities. Not only did Patterson's remarks have no relevance to the asers, for that favorite leftist pastime, police bashing, with someone refersault, but they served to directly anring to the ULED officers as "pigs." tagonize those who came to the rally intending to give support to the victims and yet, somehow, do not despise 1 Ee most revealing moment, howtheir country. I was deeply offended ever, came when someone exby Patterson's remarks. The fact is I laimed, "this is a civil right's love my country. I do not consider this activist's dream". Then something octo be inconsistent with deploring raccurred to me. Perhaps those people who ism and violence. However someone were raving their heads off atiout with Dr. Patterson's warped view of America and the police or whatever. history will never acknowledge that. were just here because they needed Dr. Patterson should think about the He also could have been white. some forum to air their bitterness about fact that the only reason she is per- b==========~====dI everything. In any event it soon became painfully clear that someone who loves mitted to blast her country in such a 路 way is because of the guarantee of free committed against millions of blacks in his country, appreciates the police and speech contained in the U. S. Constitu- the Sudan. Why is this? Could it be be- deplores violence was not welcome. So lion (yeah, you know, that infamous cause they are not interested in abuses I left. It's sad that the rally, like the asdocument written by dead, white slave committed by regimes that they are in- sault, had to happen. Perhaps one day owners) . She should also consider that different or even friendly toward and that our campus will move beyond both of for most of history, in most nations, her their main agenda is to demonize and these things. remarks would have landed her in jail or inspire hatred for the United States? on the gallows. f or most of our history, T he rally held the next day at the Mall Pecorino is a freShman majoring the United States was the only nation that librar y tower was not any better. in political science. permitted unfettered free speech. All of this is not to say that America does not have some pretty shameful practices in its history, chief among them, slavery.

However, we overcame this lamentable legacy, through much blood and tears . I would also point out to Dr. Patterson the

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Race Hustlers Running the Satme Old Con

by John Carney ne of the unique features oftife . at. Binghamton University is the ~. . unofficial position of Chief Race-Hustler. The main qualifications for the job are a penchant for outrageously manipulative lies, a hatred for the values of ordinary ~ard-working . Americans and an insatiable desire for celebrity.

The job mainly consists of aying 'racism' at every opportunity. 'This is hard to carry-off plausibly at a school as dedicated to diversity, multiculturalism, and equality as Binghamton University'.

Over the years 路the Chief Race Hustlers have had to manufacture many phony incident~ of r:acism to make up for the lack of. genuine bigotry.

At one point a Jewish student was discovered to have scrawled Nazi-syinbols on campus. A picture of Marvin the Martian was removed from College-In-

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the-Woods because the race hustlers said it demeaned African-Americans. The el~tion 9f a conservative Student Association president was somehow portrayed as an act of hate. The attempt to quell a riot by left-wing loonies was later recast as a pepper-spray attack on minorities. Almost unbelievably, the hus,:, tiers even say the arrest of some stubborn cricket-players is racism.

The most striking thing about each of these incidents is that race had nothing to do with them until the race hustlers got involved. Simply by introducing the charge of racism, the hustlers transformed every-day life into a struggle between the races that occasionally turned violent. .Why do the race-hustlers keep dividing us with their lies? Mostly it's about celebrity. At a large state university it can be hard to stand out from the crOWd.

Most students make do by finding a small clique of friends or a club-a greek organization, a cultural union, a sports team-in which they can excel. But some students, who cannot find a circle of friends or simply crave more attention. decide they ".lust make themselves campus celebrities. Manufacturing Phony incidents of racism is a good way to get a few minutes of fame.

The best thing the rest of us can do is' what most of us do anyway: ignore the race-hustlers. It doesn't do any good to debate these hateful, self-absorbed liars: And remember, whenever someone Binghamton tells you it's all about race, you can be sure that it's got nothing to do with race.

at

John Carney '97 will graduate from the University of Pennsylvania lAw School in May.

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- Carter Glass, quoted in the New York Times

MARrnIAPRIL 2000

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

11

by Robert Zoch

-11

e following are a list of reviews victed of murdering her husband, who is of ten films new to theaters or alive and well, and Tommy Lee Jones as : home video since last month. her parole officer. The film's plot strains Enjoy! credibility in several instances (including the ove~all premise), though strong lfJll4e Streak - ** 112. This comedy has acting and a quick pace help to keep it Martin Lawrence as a jewel thief who enjoyable. If credibility is an absolute poses as a police officer in order to ob- must, I'd steer clear of it. As escapist tain a diamond stashed at Los Angeles entertainment, it's great. [R-l :45] !Police headquarters. It's essentially a路 weaker variation of Beverly Hills Cop~ /Eye ojthe Beholder - (no stars). 'This and it's only sporadically funny. The is a prime candidate for worst film of cops are portrayed as complete idiots, the year. This film features Ewan and Lawrence was much more entertain- MacGregor as a government agent who ing in Nothing To Lose. It's not awful, becomes obsessed with the mysterious but ifs all been done before, and done Ashley Judd after watching her butcher better. [RatedPGI3-1 hour, 34 minutes] her lover, and follows her across the country for several months-or perhaps 7fhe /Bone Collector - **1112. This it's only a few days; elements of the plot thriller features Angelina Jolie as a would suggest both to be true.) This film rookie police officer, trying to solve a makes no sense on any level, and should series of bizarre murders with the help be of interest only to see how truly bad of Denzel Washington, an officer left films can be. There is a barrage of great paralyzed in the line of duty. Jolie and camera tricks; with a real script, they Washington are convincing in their roles, may have been useful, but here, they and the film starts out interesting, but it seem utterly pretentious. In fact, the disoon becomes clear that the director has. rection is so heavy-handed that the aclittle sense of how to build suspense. The tors are rarely allowed to act. [R-l:47J ending is especially weak-the killer's identity proves to be wholly arbitrary (if /Eyes Wide Sh84t- ****. The last film you've seen Scream 2, you'l1 understand from acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick was one of the best films of 1999. It feawhat I mean.) [R-l:58] tures Tom Cruise as a New York doctor ]{)o1l4ble Jeoptl/fdy - **n/20 This film who finds himself on an odyssey of essentially combines The Fugitive and sexual temptation and mortal fear after Sleeping With the Enemy, and fe~tures being confronted with his wife's (Nicole Ashley Judd as a woman falsely con- Kidman) secret longings. It's a moral,

symbolic tale of the dangers that surround us when we allow our emotions to take control of our actions. The direction is perfect; Kubrick creates a sense of psychosis that builds throughout the film, and nearly devours the main character. Even if you don't like this film (as many didn't), you'll have to admit you've never seen anything like it before.

[JR-2:39]

Scream 3 - ***. 'This is the third (and. most likely, the last) of the lucrative Scream horror franchise, and I found it quite entertaining. It depicts the killing of actors and actresses who are playing out the Scream films in the movies, though Neve Campbell takes a back seat to Courtney Cox and David Arquette this time around. Despite some familiarity, the film was still capable of providing the necessary scares, and the ending is stronger than that of Scream 2. If the series continues, however, it will be tiring. If you enjoyed the first two, odds are you'll enjoy this one. [R-l :57] SOH4tlo. !Park: Bigger,. uYBgelT ami l!Jnu

cut - *** 1120 It's a cartoon, but it may have been the most reckless, insane, and gleefully obscene films of 1999. I've been told it has more obscenity per minute than any film before it, so it's not for the faint of heart. Uyou're game, however, you'll see how wildly creative and uncompromising this film is. [n addition to the barrage of fart jokes and

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attacks on nearly every institution in America today, it's probably one of the most entertaining films to come around in a long time. [R- I :21) StIlr Wars, /Episode One: The !Phantom Menace - *** 1/2. While many critics felt this film was far too Simplistic and poorly acted to have redeeming value, I cannot lie ;Phantom Menace was just too much fun for me to hate. While it's true that Harrison Ford would have come in useful, it's important to remember that most of this film's audience is very young, and they're not cOming to see a plOt. They' re coming to see the splendor of it all.

They're coming to see a place that exists only in the imagination. The film is a visual feast, it's good-natured, and when was the iast time you saw a pod race look so cool?

[PG-2: 12]

StigmaJIJ - *. If this had been a well-made film, the Catholic Church would have been in an uproar for months; the truth is, this is not a film worth protesting. It 's crap. I' d bet they considered naming this film Religious Stuff Can Be Way Cool: The Music Video.

The direction makesNalttral Bom Killers look tame at times, and the film rarely makes sense. Supposedly, Patricia Arquette is possessed by the spirit of Jesus, yet she looks like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Apparently, this film had two purposes : to make the Catholic church look like a group of tyrants, and to make all viewers nauseous. [R- I :42]

StirofiEchoes- ***. Yet another film

about supernatural terror, this one's light years ahead of Stigmara and considerably better than the criminally overrated Sixth Sense. It features Kevin Bacon as a man who sees visions of the dead after participating in a hypnosis experiment.

The story is stro nger than the others, and Kevin Bacon does the job admirably. If there is any problem with this thriller, it's the pacing-the action feels considerably rushed, as if there was a need to get

to a conclusion as soon as possible. If the story had taken another fifteen or twenty minutes to stretch out a bit, it would have felt more natural. [R-I :34] IP'revious iReieases

American Beauty-****, Ame rican

Pie-*** 112, Any Given Su nday- **, Being 10/ill Malkovich-***1/2, Fo r Love oj th e Gam e-***, The Green Mile-****, Mag fl olio-****. R UlI away Bride-** , The Sixth Sense-**.

The Wood-*** 1/2 . lEililor's IPklk ofthe MloDll11I

A Clockwork Orange, 1971, [R-2: 17] s past month. Stanley Kubrick's !"inal film, Eyes Wide Shlll, was released on video, and t he director's career came to a close. as Kubrick died only days after completing the film. Stanley Kubrick has brought us a wealth of great films. including the war satire Dr. Strangelove. great historical pieces such as Pa th s oj Glo ry and Barry Lyndon, and what some consider to be the ultimate science fi ction film.

2001: A Space Odyssey.

However, no film conveys the originality and true vision of this master director berter than A Clockwork Orange. the 197 I film based on a novel of the same title by Anthony Burgess. from the opening shot of a psychotic man's eye, you know this is no ordinary film .

Clockwork tells the story of Alex (Malcolm McDowell), a young man who spends time with his friends, mostly raping women, attacking rival gangs and random others. and causing general havoc wherever they go. This is not the world as we know it: the settings are completely original, the street lingo is original. the'attire is original, and the behavior of every character makes it clear that they have been raised and taught in this fictitious world, and not our own. As is characteristic of most Kubrick films, A Clockwork Orange is

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MAROlt APRIL 2000

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

unlike anything you've ever seen before.

Alex and his "droogs" (friends) are free to loot and destroy all that lies in their paths , until Alex is doublecrossed and left to be captured by the authorities. It is here where the lesson of Cl ockwork becomes clear, as Alex is subjected to a new form of rehabilit ation-by submitting to a series of psychological tests, Alex becomes a harmless member of society, but loses all willpower in the process.

When released from prison, Alex is subjected to the wrath of those whom

he himself victimized in the past.

Alex has clearly been reformed, but at what cost?

Essentially, Clockwo rk poses a moral question; which is the greater evil? Is it somehow more ethical to take a man's free will than to allow him to use it for the wrong purposes?

This is an issue that has been debated by philosophers for centuries, and is handled in different ways by modern societies. The beauty of this film is that it is not excessively preachy; it merely makes you think about an is-

Friends

Don'~ le~

sue by giving you an extreme example.

Good directors will entertain you for two hours. Great directors will make you think . With A Cl ockwork O r allge, Stanley Kubrick does it and shows you a whole new reality at the same time. With Kubrick's death, we've lost one of our few cinematic visionaries.

Robert Zoch is a jUllior majorillg ill political sciellce. He is the Edito r-ill- Chie! of BINGHAMTON REVIEW.

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The Camel~搂 Nose 7/'Uae Victory of the Consenative College !Press

by Benjamin Kepple ey stole the entire distribution : run," Avik Roy says, his voice still lacerated by disbelief. Roy, a medical student at Yale University and editor of Light and Truth, one of two conservative student publications at the school, had overseen this year 's distribution of the paper's freshman-orientation issue on the morning of the first day that new students were allowed on campus. By that afternoon, Light and Truth was gone-each copy methodically plucked from freshmen mailboxes.

Roy ordered that more copies be distributed the next day. "They were stolen again," he says. ''This time by noontime."

The second theft was so well-thought out that the papers were gone by the time the students distri buting them had stuffed copies into mailboxes in the freshmen dormitories, gone upstairs, and come down again.

"Someone had been tailing them. It was very strange," Roy says.

What had Light and Truth done to incur the thieves' wrath? "[They] didn't like the fact that, in one anicle, we criticized a safe-sex program" at Yale's new student orientation, Roy explains. "We were critical because they promoted promiscuity and one-night stands," along with an assortment of other sexual practices. "It turned out it was probably by a group of freshmen counselors," Roy says, who were annoyed with Light and Truth's coverage of the program .

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And who sanctioned this theft, which resulted in the loss onoo issues costing approximately $2,500 to publish, not to mention the loss of time that the staff spent working on the issue?

A Yale University dean. Head of one of the school's residential colleges, and whom Roy describes as "dogmatic and inexperienced," she gave the thumbs-up to the freshmen counselors' theft. "We pointed out what was going on at Yale," Roy says. "That's why the issues were stolen. " Of course, censorship and intimidation aren' t restricted to New Haven.

Conservative student newspapers are routinely trashed. In the past year alone, the offices of the Northwestern Chronicle were vandalized, its computers were stolen, and its issues were destroyed-a campaign of radical harassment that was topped off by having the student government officially derecognize the paper. The Cornell Review had two of its issues burned by angry campus radicals, while Cornell's administration stood idly by-and even defended the destruction as "free speech." Amherst's student government defunded the conservative Amherst Spectator last year, and a member of Brandeis University 's student government physically threatened the editor of that school's conservative publication, Freedom Magazine.

Even disturbingly personal death threats won't be enough justification for

a University president to help you if you ' re a conservative activist. Berin Szoka and Jay Strader, two Duke University students who are now editor-inchief and managing editor, respectively, of the Duke Review, got a yawn out of the administration when Strader told Duke University president Nan Keohane of the threats made against them this past April. "It's probably just a very scary way of blowing off steam," she said dismissively.

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Ie these incidents

may at first '. glance seem to be yet another chapter in the story of the radical left's long march through American college campuses, the truth is that these acts are actually desperate attempts to derail a thriving, if outnumbered, conservative movement, and specifically to put OUi of business the conservative newsp apers which are one of that movement's most dramatic success sto路路 ries. Conservative college newspapers have appeared and vanished since the 1950s, but, with the exception of the 1960s-era The Alternative (now the American Spectator), the older generation of newspapers was unable to gain a permanent foothold. Yet, over the past 20 years, a modern-day movement of conservative collegi ate newspapers has spread to more than 70 of the nation's top colleges and universities, from Harvard in the east to the University of Washington in the west. These papers

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MARcilAPRIL 2000

are frequently the campus focus point for energizing and mobilizing co~ervative students. Even more impOrtant~ these papers articulate' conservative ideas to all members of the student body and are the one reliable source--administrations long since having capitulated-for exposing the corruptions C?f political correctne~s, which would otherwise take place in darkness. These conservative papers have also produced a number of bright young writers and thinkers whQ ~ave energized the national conservative movement Stan Ridgley is one of those veterans..

Probably the foremost authority on the conservative collegiate press, Ridgley has been involved with the movement since 1989, when he founded the Duke Review. In 1995, he became executive director of the Collegiate Network, the voluntary, national association of 71. conservative papers (of which, to declare an interest, i am a regional director), and since then, he's been an important guiding figure to d.le movement.

Ridgley's view of the academy was sharpened by his days at Duke, perhaps one of the most numbingly PC of major universities, and remains keen. Tradi, tional ideas, he argues, have been abandoned in favor of "left-wing nostrums and dogma-warmed over Communism, Marxism, and socialism masquerading as Third World chic."

"A lot of administrators and faculty pay lip service to the marketplace of ideas. But in reality, a lot of them are ex -radicals who 'cut their teeth on the anti-war movement. ... If you walk on to any campus, it's like walking into a timewarp," "Honest discussion on premises is not possible with the left," he. says. "There is a 'correct' position to take on the college campus on every hot-button issue....

The university actually tries to inculcate this. It will not allow honest disagreement, no matter how well thought out . and no matter how well proven."

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There's reason for this over-reaction, Podhoretz writing back to Kristol to take .

Ridgley says. "When common sense him up on his offer. begins to intrude-well, once you allow One impetus for their acceptance of the camel's nose in a tent, soon he'll take the grant was leftist response to an arup the entire tent" ticle by Roger Kaplan published in Counterpoint entitled "Homosexuality the early days, this conservative and Gay lYranny." That led to the first ! press coexisted semi-peacefully with boycott of a conservative collegiate . e radical outposts on campus. Tod newspaper. "The local campus gayLindbezg, who is now the editor of Policy rights organization found the piece to be Review, the flagShip publication of the offensive, and so they mobilized to talk Heritage Foundation, founded Midway to our advertisers and suggested this was magazine in the spring of 1979 with his not something they should want to help friend, John Podhoretz-who is now fund," Lindberg says. editorial page editor at the New York . But once outside financing was sePost. cured, Counterpoint continued to push "We have somewhat of a different its wares in the marketplace of ideas at story to tell," Lindberg says. "John was the University of Chicago. The magawriting for the Chicago Maroon, the lo- zine itself, Lindberg says, was a more cal student paper," an endeavor that was serious journal, as opposed to a hardgoing smoothly. Chicago wasn't a place hitting, brash newspaper. "]Possibly, with the exception of the where political correctness was a problem, he notes. "We just thought we had Roger Kaplan piece, the magazine did an interesting magazine project to run." not try to be anything except serious," Lindberg never thought that Mid- he explains. Counterpoint was not, he way-which changed its name to Coun- says, a magazine that engaged in "willterpoint in the fall of 1979 (the Univer- ful provocation." sity objected to Midway because it had ut that can't be said for many of a book imprint of that name) would ;. . the newspapers that would come spawn a movement that would eventu., .after Counterpoint. The journals ally grow into the CollegiateNetwork.

"What happened was we had this fan- to come had a tone ranging from the extasy, as it turned out, that [Counterpoint] tremely serious, as seen in Eutopia (a lay journal of Catholic thought at the would pay for itself," he says.

And while Counterpoint was able to Catholic University of America) to the get some advertising revenue, "the first take-no-prisoners reporting style and two issues were subSidized by the polemics present in the Cornell Review.

Podhoretz and Lindberg families," he It was actually this latter approach that ultimately seized the day. The best recalls.

During that time, they sent off an issue known of these conservative papers and to Irving Kristol, then with the Institute the one that set the tone for those that for Educational Affairs, who asked the appeared in the '90s was the Dartmouth pair if they would like to receive a grant Review, whose combative nature put it in the forefront of the news and on 60 to help defray publishing costs.

Minutes. The Review, founded in 1980, They said no. ''We tried to make a go of it," LindPerg pioneered the brash, in-your-face style says, but after the second issue it be- that has infuriated its critics and even came clear that the Podhoretz and made its off-campus backers, normally Lindberg families were unwilling to fur- supportive without h~itation, occasionther subsidize the venture. That led to ally leery.

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BINGHAMTON REVIEW

Dinesh D'Souza, currently a Senior Fellow at American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and author of Illiberal Education, The End of Racism, and most recently a biography of Ronald Reagan, was one of the founders of the Review, and eventually became the Review's editor. He was also the ''point man" on the Review's board of trustees for five years after his graduation in 1983.

"Many of the deans and administrators felt frustrated with the Review because it was kind of a weekly sledgehammer," he recalls. "Dartmouth is a small community, and the staff on the Review ... had the inspiration that the way to have an impact is to take deans and administrators and put their picture on the front page."

It didn't take long for the Review to make its mark, whether it was through what it wrote or what its members did. lin 1981, according to the Washington Post, Dartmouth College held a Veterans Day "consciousness-raising" session that involved faculty, administrators, and children staging a mock nuclear explosion on Dartmouth Green, the center of campus. Ben Hart, another founder of the Review, and his friends demonstrated against this by draping an American flag from their dorm room window, blasting the marches of John Philip Souza, and drinking brandy.

A little less than a year later, Hart was distributing issues of the Review when he was involved in an altercation with Samuel Smith, the then 53-year-old associate alumni fund director for Dartmouth College.

Hart had been distributing the issues from dorm to dorm when he came upon Smith. Smith informed him that he could not distribute the Review to the dorms; Hart replied that if he didn't like it, he shouldn't read it Then, D'Souza recalls, Smith "jumped him from behind and grabbed him by the neck."

Hart, in an effort to break free, ended up getting Smith in a headlock, at which

point Smith bit him in the chest. Doing so earned Smith three false teeth, a fine, a week's suspension from work, and probation. Hart got off much easier.

D'Souza recalls that Ben's father, Dr. Jeffrey Hart, a Dartmouth professor and the faculty advisor for the Review, only said, "Well, Ben, you should feel lucky you didn't have the guy in a scissors lock."

But it wasn't just the Dartmouth JReview crowd's campus antics that gained them notoriety. Their reporting put Dartmouth under a microscope, and the heat got so intense for Dartmouth that reporters for the Review routinely found themselves dealing with all of the fun side effects that can go with being a student journalist at a modern-day university.

Such as being thrown off campus for a year-and-a-half. e Dartmouth Review," D'Souza ~ says, "in a sense, can take credit for getting rid of two tenured professors at Dartmouth-Mr. and Mrs. William Cole." He also notes that that isn't an accomplishment many other student groups at the college can brag about.

It started when a reporter for the Review inferred that Cole was a sort of "soft belly" of affirmative action at Dartmouth. Cole, a black professor who was then the chairman of Dartmouth's music department, was known for his music classes that had very little to do with music or teaChing. instead, they mostly consisted of political ranting.

KnOwing of this reputation, Review reporters audited his class in the first couple weeks of the term, armed with tape recorders, and recorded his lectures.

TIle transcriptions were published in the Review, and, as D'Souza recalls, they were "so embarrassing and stupid that the whole college froze with embarrassment" Cole was furious. D'Souza remembers that Cole once telephoned the JReview office and only a second after

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D'Souza had picked up the phone, "a huge pouring of obscenities rolled out. " "We had the goods on the guy and the only insult was to quote him."

Cole then refused to teach his class until the reporter for the Review apologized to him for the article-something that wasn't going to happen, as the Review reporter wasn't even in his class, D'Souza says. But once the Dartmouth administration got word that Cole wasn't teaching his courses, they soon made it clear to him that this was unacceptable.

Later, a $2.4 million libel suit that Cole filed against the Review was thrown out of court.

But that wasn't the end of Cole's embarrassing legacy. A few years later. in 1988, "three or four students went to his class to ask him some questions," D'Souza explains.

"Cole came and started shouting at them." And while the conflagration did not involve any physical violence, Cole filed a complaint against the students present-who were then found guilty of "vexatious oral exchange." In short, the students were subjected to a college tribunal and suspended-some for as long as 18 months-because they aggravated a professor.

"Under what context of free speech is that an indictable offense?" D'Souza says. "That's ludicrous." in addition, Cole's wife, Sarah Sully, a professor of French that D'Souza describes as "kind of a Hillary Clinton type," also got into trouble with the Dartmouth bosses. During the final examination for one of her courses, "she assigned her students an essay called 'What I Think About the Dartmouth Review,' " D'Souza says.

And while most of the students either knew that she was William Cole's wife, or were smart enough to realize that something was up, one student actually wrote what he thought. "He wrote that the Review goes overboard sometimes. but that it is kind of funny and that I

MARCHI APRIL 2000

B ING HAM T O N R EVIEW

enjoy it," D'Souza says. .

He got a D. The student, understandably perplexed over his poor grade, showed it to his roommates. They thought it looked fine, so he look it to the school's dean, who looked it over and had it reviewed by a committee of three professors. They gave it a B. D'Souza recalls that the dean told Sully that she could either give the student a B or give him the test over again.

She told him she would resign before doing either. D' Souza says that the dean's response was quick and to the point: "So be it."

And one Review reporter, a female student that D'Souza said was a "bohemian-looking young woman who came under no suspiCion," taped a meeting of the college's gay-student organization.

The Review suspected that instead of using student funding for cultural or informati onal purposes-its proper usethat "the gays were using money for orgiastic parties."

But when the woman's "identity was

out of the closet," so to speak, the gay stud"nts fought back, and she was brought up on charges of "violating the honor principle." The college backed off, however, when the Review's counsel successfully intimidated Dartmouth's.

The charge was "too closely connected with the actual act of reporting. They backed off," D'Souza says. But they backed off in this, and in other situations, because "the thing the Review kept doing in all these things was up the ante."

vn

at's the way you have to deal with them," Patrick Collins says, looking back on his days at Yale's Light and Truth. Collins, now a venture capitalist in California, is one of the founders and a former editor of the paper. And just before Thanksgi ving in 1994, Collins broke one of the biggest stories in the history of collegiate journalism: the fact that Yale University, despite having received $20 million from Texas oilman Lee Bass in order to found a program for sophomores to study Western Civilization, was doing nothing to implement such a program. His fight to

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discover what happened to the Bass mOnies, and then his fight against the Yale authorities to publicize that story, is a case study in how conservative newspaper editors are increaSingly willing to push back when the universities push them around.

"The initial grant was received in a very high-profile fashi on by the thenpresident [Benno Schmidt] and dean [Donald Kagan]," Collins recalls.

"They solicited the Bass grant to do a one-year, selective elective program for sophomores." Approximately 70-100 sophomores would take four year-long courses studying the major themes of Western Ci vilization under the tutelage of some of the nation's top professors.

But after Schmidt and Kagan were tossed out of Yale's leadership, in what Collins describes as a left-wing putsch, the creation of the program flatlined. "The objections to it were both very public and very outspOken," Collins remembers.

So Collins began to do some searching. After months of researching and interviewing, he had finally accumulated enough evidence of Yale's refusal to take

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============~~ . ::. :!ff~ij~~ ' ============ ~~ .~ any action with the Bass monies to go to press with his story.

What was Yale's response?

"They really went after us," Collins recalls, "and it was a real struggle to get this out."

"It was clear to the staff that this was an effort to intimidate us," he says.

"The University knew abou t the story, and we were trying to get comment from them to be fair."

Yale began to apply the screws before the issue came out, Collins says, and they did so by revoking Light and 1h1th's registration as a student group, along with mandating that any fund-raising effort on the part of the magazine to alumni had to have each piece individually approved. Losing their registration meant that Light and Truth could no longer distribute on campus, whereas the stipulation that the uni versity would have to approve each item in a fund-raising bulk mailing meant that for all intents and purposes, Light and 1h1th's fundraising apparatus would be shut down. In addition, the college threatened disciplinary action against any student who violated these regul ations. It was even more amazi ng because the University had told them how to go about registering the group in the first place. "[It was] a pretty concerted effort to get in our way," he remembers, and the staff was preoccupied over whether the school would try to sue them, or pursue charges against them. Seventy-five percent of the magazine's staff quit, and Collins ended up publishing his first issue with only three people on boardhimself and two freshmen. They published the first issue of Light and Truth, with the Bass story on the cover, the week before Thanksgi ving. They also fought back "as hard as they could" by trying to get the story out to as many people as possible, informing alumni and media of their discovery. "A week later the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial that blew it wide open ... " Collins recalls.

'The University was making clear that they intended to treat us with a very heavy hand," he says, " ... [butl it all worked out well because the Wall Street Journal came riding to the rescue." egal Action, or the threat of it, wasn 't just a problem for Light . and 1h1th. Since so many conservative papers are run on a shoestring budget, even going to trial would prove to be an incredible, if not insurmountable, financial burden on them. That was one of the things that concerned John Miller, now currently national political reporter for National Review, when he edited the Michigan Review in 19891990.

"One of our reporters, through some sources of hers-and good ones-did a story about a particular professor hired by the university," Miller says. The professor was hired out of graduate school in the late. '70s, having all but her dissertation complete. She was also a minority. "But she had been hired over at least one candidate who had some teaching experience," Miller recalls, "and our sources in the history department told us this was an affirmative-action hire."

When the story broke, the university demanded an apology from the Review and threatened to take legal action. "I re-reported the entire story," Miller says.

"Her reporting was accurate."

'The university knew that it really had no case," he continued," and didn't sue us. We wound up printing what we called a clarification." This consisted of a small box "on page three or four" that cleared up some items that could have been troublesome. "Once we did, the whole thing died down," he concluded.

It didn't die down for Avik Roy, however. As the founder of M1TIWellesley's Counterpoint magazine during his undergraduate days in the early 1990s, Roy was sued for libel in 1993 by Tony Martin, a professor of" Africana Studies" at Wellesley. Martin alleged that Roy had

L

libeled him when describing the circumstances that led to Martin's being approved for tenure in 1975. Roy 's article described Martin's involvement in an imbroglio with a Wellesley undergraduate-and while Martin did not sue over that, he did sue over Roy's description of how he obtained tenure; Roy had asserted he gained it only after suing the school for racial discrimination. Martin's case was thrown out of court last year, with the judge ruling that Roy's account was "substantially true" and that it did not harm Martin's reputation.

Martin, whom Roy describes as the "Leonard Jeffries of Massachusetts, " was at the time in hot water for using anti-Semitic tracts and Nation of Islam books as reading material for a course he was teaching on the transatlantic slave trade, which he claimed Jews were responsible for. "It took five years, but he lost the case very decisively," Roy says .

"He knew he COUldn't sue ABC News, but he could sue students."

Sometimes the hatred that conservative papers have attracted has gone from the personal almost to the physical. Ross Cohen, the founder and former editor of the Amherst Spectator, and now a law student at Harvard, cheerfully recalls dire happenings during his days at Amherst (1996-1999).

"One student came up to me and threatened me with physical violence if we ever wrote anything abo ut him again," Cohen recalls. "The name sign on my [dorm room] door was set on fire .. .. One of our editors was put in a chokehold by an editor of another publication. " "We're very fortunate that we have a sub-group of people which are willing to put up with that," says Avik Rcy. "People are [verbally] attacked j ust for being affiliated with Light and Truth," he says-noting that even a student's closest friends might rake him over the coals for being a part of it.

"My life was threatened in [the Marx-

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

MARrnlAPRlL2000

ist student publication at Duke1 The Missing Link, stating that I would be the first one against the wall" when the revolution finally came, Stan Ridgley remembers. The Missing Link was the type of publication that would refer to "armed struggle" on a regular basis, and graffiti was written in campus bathrooms saying that Ridgley and his family should be killed.

"We had death threats on the answering machine that were more amusing than anything, but they would have freaked my mother out," John Miller says. "One time, an issue was burned on the steps of the Michigan Union by ACT-UP" because of an article the Review had published that was critical of the group. "That was actually an incredibly useful thing to happen. It kind of illustrated the attitude the left has."

All of these events have not happened in a void, and the papers have not evolved in isolation from each other. After the Institute for Educational Affairs' first grant to Lindberg and Podhoretz, it began supporting similar newspapers across the country. Ridgley points out that the growth was rapid-the lEA went from one to 12 to 30 papers in only four years. In 1996, there were 52 papers; in 1997,60; in 1998,65; in 1999,71. The Network itself is the glue that holds most of these papers; it is simply not possible for the typical college paper to recover all of its costs through advertising revenues, as their often-larger competitors-the campus dailies or weeklies- . are able to do. The Network provides traini ng conferences, internship opportunities, and ways for CN editors and reporters to get professionally published.

But the quick growth of the Network not withstanding, Ridgley says that acerlain campus environment has to exist for a conservative college newspaper to form.

"When we say 'conservative' on a college campus," Ridgley notes, "we're talking about mainstream ideas. Ameri-

19

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20

MARCH! APRIL 2000

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

can ideas that have been marginalized on [the] college campus. The fact of the matter is that conservative college newspapers don't exist where they're not needed. They exist on college campuses where the voice of reason is being denied."

And they thrive where unreasonable voices are as loud as ever.

"When I set foot on campus in September 1988, I didn't think of myself as political," John Miller says. "What I wanted to do was work on a student newspaper." At MiChigan, he came into contact with both The Michigan Daily, the regular campus daily, and the MichiganReview.

"The first few issues of the Daily were so abominably bad," Miller recalls.

"They were stupid," he says (adding that he uses that word carefully), and the paper ran "offensively dumb" editorials.

Then he read an issue of the Review.

"For me, there was no choice," he says.

Stan Ridgley recalls what led him to found the Duke Review.

"I wrote a conservative column called "Point Blank" for the Chronicle [Duke's student-run daily newspaper] .... My column was repeatedly censored or simply not printed." A lot of excuses were given. !Editors would tell him that "the

column didn't conform to our standards" or it "attacked another columnist."

"A lot of 'problems' cropped up in the production of my column," Ridgley says, noting that they didn't happen to other columnists. "I thought I was being censored. " So Ridgley left the Chronicle and founded the Duke Review in 1989, a time which saw the conservative cause at a low point on that campus. It was at a time when Stanley Fish, the Communist English professor, was in top form. "He was totally gutting the English department," Ridgley says, noting how fish brought in revisionists such as 1H[enry Louis Gates and Frederic Jameson to the department.

"You had a Marxist newsletter, The MiSSing Link, a whole range of literary and ethnic publications, but no conservative publications. There was a gap there, avoid," he says.

The Duke Review's first issue had the CIA logo and then-Attorney General Ed Meese on the cover. They distributed it during an anti-CIA rally that was being held at Duke. While distributing the paper, they came across an angry group of demonstrators. One of the protestors shouted at them, her fist raised in the air, "][)eath to the CIA! Death to the Duke Review!"

: B

ut the Duke Review just published '.: its tenth-anniversary issue, and , . the Dartmouth Review'is nearing its twentieth, whereas The Missing Link is missing in action.

Avik Roy says that "there was a recent forum at Yale sponsored by the Yale Council of Colleges and the LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered] Forum on issues relating to free speech and sexuality." During a debate over discrimination, a conservative arguing that right-wingers face more discrimination than do homosexuals in the academy actually won the debate.

The right has a long way to go on campus before it is more than a prophetic minority. Despite their successes in the last twenty years, it may take another twenty years before conservatives have regained an equal footing with the left in the arena of American higher education.

But while programs ~ike the Collegiate Network and the conservative collegiate newspaper movement may not yet be poised for victory, they are ready for permanent warfare.

Benjamin Kepple is a former editor of the Michigan Review. This anicle originally appeared in Heterodoxy.

One Accessible Campaign Most students knew there was something fishy about an AVP candidate from 5700 lmiles away, but now, thanks to BINGHAMTON REVIEW'S investigative reporters who successfuUy infiltrated Team Cohen, the truth can be told. There's always next year, Devin...

From: Devin Cohen To: XXX Subject: HOLY SHIT Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 15: 07: 56 Esteemed Cohen,

members

of

Team

Well, itls been a pleasure,

what can I say? You people have been absolutely amazing.

43% of the vote is amazing.

11m truly touched. Now comes the fun part, telling everyone our secrets. So here goes: Last semester ... Dave and Devin are drunk (I know, this is how most porn movies start,

but I assure you, it deserves an R rating at most). So we decide that it would be fun to fuck with Landau by putting in a letter of intent for president. I knew lid never win that race, however it would give him a medium coronary and it would be fun to wa tch.

21

B IN GHAMTON REVIEW

MARCH/APRlL 2000

Instea d, a fe w weeks after I to Israel, I was confro nted with the possible

came

c hoice, A) VPMA - could possib ly win, but then I'd be VPMA or B) AVP - probably not win, but get to fuck with Weissman. Since VPMA was not a posi t ion I wanted , and pissing off Weissman is fun and ext remely easy, I opted for option B. The expression on Yogur t 's face was well worth it from wha t I understand when Dave told her I was running from abroad, a n d then I submitted my letter of intent over e - mail.

In short, this campaign start e d as a way to just fuck wi th the system, make things fun, and piss off Shaun.

To all o f your credits, these goals were more than accom-

plished. Just so that you all

cially thank those of you that

Sent, Marc h 15, 2000 11,46 PM

braved the cold ( or warm, I can '路 t keep up with the Binghamton weather) to spend huge chunks of their time quarter sheeting f or me. You people really made the difference between me losing and me get-

S ubj ect: Official Results

Fo r o ur final e-mail, at least fr o m me , the election results are in.

ting comp letely dest r oye d .

VPUP, Robyn got it, with 95%

I

Team Cohen,

VPMA :

This campaign sn:art:edl as a way to just fuck with the system, make things fun, and piss off Shall.llil1l [Weiss moo]. !Devin Coihen went into this campa i g n with the attitud e o f, if I win,

Devin

Broo k s - Soso

got

it, % forgotten FVP, Ross nailed it after all, with 70% EVP, Weissberger got 74% PRES : Jeru got 15% , Greg got 17%, Eric got 34%, and Shane got 39% . Eric and Shane will be in a runof f election April

10. and lastly . . .

TEAM COHEN, 54%.

43%

to

Shaun's

do n' t thi nk your efforts were for nothing, after a week o r so of campa i gning, I actually grew used to the idea of be-

miles away. If I lose, it's because I ' m 5 700 miles away.

I've got to say, I'm freakin impressed . We were able t o get a candidate from abr oad to get

ing AVP and

actually did

The fact that I got 43% of the

over 40% o f the vote .

want to win, so you did fight for someone who was trying just as hard to win . However, we should not lose sight of our o rigina l goals either . . . we

vote shows directly how hard you worked . Anyway, go o ut, have fun, get dru n k .. . Happy

compare this to a r ace 1 ike EVP where there were two candidates and o ne was here, it ' s almost a mind-fuck . The fa c t that over 40% o f th e campus would trust a guy who 's not even in the coun try above a g uy who ' s actually here does not bode well f or the Weissman era. I urge all o f you who will be on campus n ext year to give Weis s ma n abso lute

I

that's

a maz ing

blc

I'm 5700

Purim (holy shit I'm going to

completely shattered them.

As for other secrets, Dave and I will have to clear them with each other t o make sure

that we will not be getting the othe r in trouble ... yes we've d o ne some amazing thi ngs.

I have to adrni t I was a fucking genius in get-

ti ng people to drop o f f

the

K 1l.llrge

aU of Y01l.ll who win be on campus next year to give Weissmoo absolute hen. - !David Berkowitz

ballot, making it a race between Weissman and myself. I

normally do n't li ke bragging ,

be unconscious t his week).

but I was qu i te impressed wi th myself .

Too bad my computer fri ed before I co u ld save the 1M conversations.

shall talk to you a ll later.

Fondly Yours, Devin

Special thanks definitely have to go out t o Dave for masterminding this whole campaign.

I also want to espe-

-----Origi nal Message -- -- From : David Berkowitz

To , XXX

I

If you

hell. Fuck him up the ass when he doesn't deliver searchable BUSI, whe n BU 101 is a bus t, and when he can't remember whe r e the SA office is. He 's

a

fuckin '

putz,

and f o r

all

most o f those vo ters know, Dev might not even exist.

Th is has been an interesting campa ign, to say the least.

Thanks for giv ing your time to Team Coh e n. He's been mos t

grateful have I.

to

all

of

you,

as

MARCHIAPRIL 2000

BINGHAMTON REVIEW

Now that the election is over, check out the first of our campaign secrets by going to the unofficial Team Cohen website: http:// avpcohen2000.iwarp.com/partridge/index2.html. Right now, I don t even care who sees this.

Oh, and for those of you wondering who wrote his speeches: Devin wrote one, and it was too damn long for sweeps. So basically for every event (six I

sweeps, Pipe Dream, HRW, BTV, plus written Pipe Dream and Advocate platforms), I just doctored Dev I s speech and told him about it during or after.

I'd imagine the candidate himself will want to give a final e-mail of his own; perhap~ he'll divulge a thing or two which I forgot.

This has been a legendary campaign; thanks for your part in it.

Don't forget to check out

the original website (http:/ /avpcohen2000.iwarp.com) to see pictures of Jesus getting arrested.

And fuck the SA. --Dave Berkowitz PS: -Devin, if you get some strang IM's ... I signed on as your name when the election results came out, and I've been drinking.

Letters leo the Edi1tor Dear Editor,

E

am so glad I procrastinated long t enough to get through "The Movie : an" article in your February edition. I can't remember the last time I read a review so terrible it was funny.

The fact that you saldAny Given Sunday stunk and then gave American Pie (of all the idiotic white, upper middle class exploitation vehicles on the planet) three and a half stars is mind boggling!

Sunday may not have been Richard Ill, but it was entertaimng and filled with fine performances.

And did you actally sit through Magnolia? Or did you fall asleep in the theatre and your dream was so good that you forgot and thought it was the movie?

Because I for one sat awake through the whole three days... or was it three hours of it, and didn't come away with the same wonderful feeling.

Oh and it took such courage and originality, such an avant garde approach, to call Woody "I date Diy daughters" Allen a premier film maker. Have you seen ANYTlHING by Spike Lee? Rusty C.?

Obviously not the romantic comedy buff, I suggest you stay away from those

movies. Runaway _Bride was not even Bueller ~ Day Ollare dumb, juvenile athalf as bad as you made it out to be. tempts at comedy. Which they clearly Here's some advice: When you go to see are not. something called a ROMANTIC COM- - I understand that not being a Black EDY, it's going to end with the two title American it must be quite difficult, in characters getting together! Have I ru- fact it's.impossible for you to understand ined all future movies for you? Sorry, or identify with what we think is funny but at least you've learned something. or good cinema. So I suggest that you The deciding factor as to whether it's stay far away from any comment on how a good or bad R.C. is, Do we enjoy the the black experience in America is rep.. trip even though we know the finish? resented on film.

And Runaway Bride was thoroughly And one other thing. in di.fferent enjoyable. Joan Cusack was her usual 路hands, Never Been Kissed might have wonderful self, a welcome adition to been a B movie, going straight to video. any movie, Julia's family problems But Drew Barrymore turned out a were a nice touch, Gere is smooth as miracle. Between her outrageously always, and Roberts is believable. And funny faces, her terrible attempt at dancthere is no doubt as to the chemistry .ing, and her clothes I was laughing all Julia and Richard create on screen, the way through. Even the local reviewer they positively glow; cQmpletely in in my hometown, who hates every other step. And, p.s.- I found it impossible movie, said this was a sleeper comedy to take you seriously after, in trying to that should be caught. put the movie down you called it The things you should stay away from "lame." are clear: Black American film, Roman路 How dare you make any judgement tic Comedies and Woody Allen. As a about what is "good" Black American matter of fact, why don't you stay away comedy and what isn't. To call House Jrom film in general. Stick to Political Party a juvenile attempt at comedy is for SCience, Ok? me to turn around and say that Caddyshack or Animal House or Ferris Kyessa L. Moore

B IN GH AMT ON R EVIEW

MARCHI APRIL 2000

As John Podhoretz noted in last week's cover story on The West Wing,creator

Aaron Sorkin mysterjously claims his show is not liberal, even though every political debate it stages is won by liberals. Which liberals at least recognize, even if Sorkin does not. The March 23 Daily Variety repollS: "West路Wing's John Spencer (chief of staff Leo McGarry) and Richard Schiff (director of communications Toby Ziegler) wing to D.C. Saturday to accept the Maggie award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for Outstanding Coverage of Reproductive Rights and Health issues in a TV Drama Series-for the outrageous pilot in which the president sent a strong message to the leader of an anti-choice group." What courage: pandering to the foremost political bias of the showbiz community, and receiving an award for it! The Weekly Standard, April 3,2000.

Discontent over ris in g gas prices has left the administration to talk to O PEC countries about increasing production. Offi cials such as E nergy Secretary Bill Ri chardson speak as though we were asking for a favor. B ut OPEC is the worst kind of coerci ve ca rtel, an d we ought to break it on principle. One of the reasons we fo ught the Gulf War, after all, was to maintain a somewhat free market in oi l. At home, meanwhil e, we can cu t gas taxes and ease restri cti ons on drilling. High oil prices are not just an inconvenience. A price rise has been associated with all three recessions A merica has experienced in the last three decades . AI Gore should take note that in each case, the incumbent party lost the White House. Na ti ona l Re view, April 3,

2000.

The Republican party may be in poor shape in California, but oom:rvatism is alive and well. In the state's primary on March 7, 61

percent of voters suppol1ed theoodification of marriage as a beterosexual instirution- {;()I1!inning that gay marriage can't win a vote an}'l'\'breoutside aCOUllroOm \kJtfosa\sobeat back the latest attempt to weaken Proposition 13, the 1978 measure that put limits on taxes, spending, and bond issuance... The exit polls toldaootrerl拢arteningstory: "Clinton fatigue" turns out to be a real prenomenon. Only 17 pen:eo!ofthevoters who<!i.saRroveofClinton ptT.iona\lybackedGore-andthedisaprrov(T.; were61 percemoftheelectorate. OnaiJortion, meanwhile, only 30 percent of voters agreed with AI Gore's position (that it should be legal "always"); most voters with lukewarm views on the subject suppol1ed pro-life Republicans, not pro-choice Democrats. If Rep.tblicans cannotsuccced in California, ifs not the fault of that state's voters. National Reviell\ Apil3, 2000

23

The sickness in the souls of some black folk was laid bare by Ronald Taylor, the 39-year-old black man who shot five white strangers (three fatall y) in Wilkinsburg, Pa. Whi le Taylor was on the rampage, he told a black woman, ''I'm not gonna hurt any black people, I'm gonna kill all white people"; his apartment contained anti-white rantings. This should be no surprise: Evil stalks the world, looki ng for guises, including racism of all vectors. Is there a malady in the sould of white and black folk that seals their eyes and lips when such things happen? .. Black racist crimes are never recognized instantly, and must be gross to be recognized at all. This may be a good thing in a multiracial society. But we should at the same time discourage witch hunts for white raCism, black bigots (like AI Sharpton), and bigoted black pop culrure (like certain rappers). National Review, April 3, 2000.

There's. no. nonvoting seat in this cake. It's so sweet you'll want to fund all kinds of lett路-WltM.1 organizations with the mandatory activity f~e.

After having a slice, yoo mi&ht-even want-to Save EOP yourself! Made from our secret II' I~"" - I dient only the SA J -Board knows.

SKIPPIE Peanut Butter We promise路 you Skippie Peanut Butter is th~ [nntti".f you've ever tasted. Nothing stows down taste of Skippie - not a disastrous siblings weekend, not Faculty Senate silliness, or even Skippfe pretending to run HCC SlUppfe fs all about one thing:

It's Totally Nuts!

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