PIG News Digest

Free Speech Wins One
Source: PIG News Wire [02/28/14]

On September 17, 2013, an inmate at Modesto Junior College commemorated Constitution Day by passing out booklets containing copies of the 226 year old document. His exercise in Freedom of Speech ended much too soon, when school officials ordered him to knock it off.

Unwilling to tolerate that crap, Robert Van Tuinen got lawyered up, contacted FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), then sued the Ivory Tower in federal court. This week, the Ivory Tower folded its losing hand
then settled out of court:

As part of the settlement, MJC has revised its policies to allow free speech in open areas across campus and has agreed to pay Van Tuinen $50,000. Van Tuinen was represented by the firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Washington, D.C., and assisted by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

"FIRE is very pleased that Robert Van Tuinen and Modesto Junior College have reached this settlement—and that Modesto Junior College students will now be able to exercise their First Amendment rights across campus," said FIRE President Greg Lukianoff. "But because 59% of colleges nationwide maintain policies that clearly and substantially restrict student speech, there's much more work to be done." [FIRE.org]

Kudos are deployed for everyone who defended Freedom of Speech.

Zero Tolerance Zombies: Northeast High School (Montgomery County, Tennessee)

Dastardly Rule Breaker: David Duren-Sanner, high school senior

Dastardly Deed: David drove his father's car to school. During a random lockdown, his car was chosen to be searched.

Duren-Sanner gave permission because he said he had nothing to hide.

His father is a commercial fisherman on the West Coast and had apparently left a fishing knife in the car. Duren-Sanner's father said it might have been wedged between one of the seats.

Duren-Sanner said he told school officials and the Sheriff's department the car was his father's and he didn't know the knife was in it.

"He's like 'it doesn't matter it was in your possession anyway,'" Duren-Sanner said.

Punishment: School officials suspended him for 10 days, the maximum allowed under school policy, and then he was reprimanded to attend 90 days at an alternative school.

If his punishment is upheld, Duren-Sanner will not be able to attend prom, his JROTC ball or walk at graduation. His family said it's unclear whether he'll be able to graduate at all.

Insulting Our Intelligence
Source: PIG News Wire [02/21/14]

From sea to shining sea, only 4 states rejected it. Despite that 'official' acceptance, by state authorities, We the People rejected it as an egregiously intrusive load of spin-doctored, educrap, for all the good it did us. 'IT', in this case is that titanic turd, 'Common Core', a steaming load that's so noxious, its very name is politically toxic.. What to do?

A rational adult would drop it like a bad habit. Unhappily, 'rational adult' excludes the Elected Tormentors and Educrats who love this putrid pile. Unwilling to do that, they gave we the people the finger:

With angry parents protesting the standards, and curriculum they say is tailored to it by writers of textbooks and lesson plans, several states have decided the solution is all in the name. Common Core is now referred to as "The Iowa Core" in the Hawkeye State. Florida calls it the tongue-twisting "Next Generation Sunshine State Standards." Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed an executive order to erase the name "Common Core" for their new math and reading standards and Louisiana lawmakers are mulling a name change as well.

But critics say what states really need to do is scrap the Common Core Standards Initiative altogether.

"Even under a different name, the Common Core Standards are still mediocre, at best, and continue to put American students at a significant disadvantage to their international peers," Glyn Wright, executive director of the Eagle Forum, told FoxNews.com.

A total of 46 states and Washington, DC have adopted all or part of the Common Core standard, which in most cases officially goes into effect at the start of the next academic year. The standards are designed to ensure that students from all over the nation graduate with a baseline of math and language skills. But critics say the program, proposed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers in 2009, takes away local control of education. And they say lessons and textbooks sold as being "aligned with Common Core" are rife with left-wing social and political messages. [Fox News]

If you think this is exclusively Jackass Party poop, I have thrilling news for you:

Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott told state GOP officials that the new name means a different emphasis.

"Here's what we're going to ensure: These are Florida standards," Scott said. "They're not some national standards; they're going to be Florida standards. This is our state. We're not going to have the federal government telling us how to do our education system."

But many top Republicans, including Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee, support Common Core. They say a name-change is necessary.

Huckabee, a Fox News commentator and the former governor of Arkansas, said at a recent meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers, which helped draft the standards, that state education leaders should be urged to ditch the "Common Core" name, because it had become "toxic."

"Rebrand it, refocus it, but don't retreat," Huckabee said.
[Fox]

Reagan said it all, when he opined. "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

FIRE Lights One Up
Source: PIG News Wire [02/15/14]

FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for February 2014: the University of Richmond.

The University of Richmond's Standards of Student Conduct (PDF) prohibit "disruption," which includes, among other things, "inappropriate behavior or expression." This extraordinarily broad and vague prohibition gives the university administration carte blanche to punish, as allegedly disruptive, virtually any expression it finds inconvenient or unwelcome.

While the University of Richmond is private, it claims (PDF) to value freedom of inquiry and speech. It cannot, consistent with these values, simply prohibit any expression that another party subjectively deems inappropriate. First, most "inappropriate" expression is protected by the First Amendment (see, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hustler v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988), upholding First Amendment protection for a satirical advertisement suggesting that the Reverend Jerry Falwell lost his virginity to his own mother in a drunken outhouse tryst—a suggestion many people would no doubt find inappropriate!).

Second, students reading this provision will have absolutely no way of knowing in advance what the university might decide to punish, since "inappropriate" is a wholly subjective term that means different things to different people. The Supreme Court stated in Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108 (1972), that laws must "give a person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited, so that he may act accordingly." Otherwise, the law or regulation is unconstitutionally vague. With absolutely no guidance provided as to what is considered "inappropriate," this policy does not give students such an opportunity.

If FIRE's 15 years of experience have taught us anything, it is that excessive administrative discretion is never a good thing. Broad speech codes like this one are too often used to punish criticism of a university administration—like at Catawba Valley Community College, where a student who criticized the college's arrangement with a debit card company was suspended for violating a policy prohibiting any "offense which, in the opinion of the administration or faculty, may be contrary to the best interest of the CVCC community." Other times, they are used to punish expression that someone else simply finds offensive, such as when California Polytechnic State University charged a student with "disruption" for posting a flier, advertising an upcoming speech by a conservative African-American author, that offended other students.

As long as the University of Richmond gives itself the authority to punish any "inappropriate behavior or expression," students' ability to speak freely is in serious jeopardy and the credibility of the school's avowed commitment to freedom of expression is severely undercut. For this reason, it is our February 2014 Speech Code of the Month.

JANUARY 2014

Excellence Expelled
Source: PIG News Wire [01/31/14]

At a Brooklyn government cess school, Public School 139 in Ditmas Park, the Korrectnik twat running the Educrap outpost, Principal Mary McDonald expelled excellence, this week. Her monument to perpetual misery will no longer offer the popular gifted student program - Students of Academic Rigor. Why? Because she's a Marxist bitch who insists on going through life with her head shoved up her fucking ass.

Citing a lack of diversity, PS 139 Principal Mary McDonald informed parents in a letter that the Students of Academic Rigor and two other in-house programs would no longer accept applications for incoming kindergartners.

"Our Kindergarten classes will be heterogeneously grouped to reflect the diversity of our student body and the community we live in," McDonald told parents in a letter posted on the photo-sharing site flickr and obtained by Ditmas Park Corner.

More than two thirds of the school's roughly 1,000 students are black or hispanic while Asian-American and white students made up 28%, according to Education Dept. records.

At least one parent described the small gifted program, Students of Academic Rigor — or SOAR — as overwhelming caucasian, although others disputed that characterization. [N.Y. Daily News]

Instead of providing gifted students the kind of challenge they need, this cunt will condemn them to a living hell where they'll be so bored suicide will seem like an idea whose time has come. Mary McDonald is the poster bitch for what's wrong with government schools. Putting someone of her ilk in charge of an educational facility should be a felony.

BoldNew Concept
Source: PIG News Wire [01/31/14]

What would happen if a school flushed the playground rulebook down the crapper? A Kiwi school, Swanson Primary School in Auckland, did just that and it didn't turn out the way you'd expect. By letting kids act like kids - climb trees, ride a skateboard, playing all those playground games, the school noted a decrease in bullying, fewer serious injuries, a drop in vandalism, plus greatly enhanced levels of concentration in class.

Letting children test themselves on a scooter during playtime could make them more aware of the dangers when getting behind the wheel of a car in high school, he said.

"When you look at our playground it looks chaotic. From an adult's perspective, it looks like kids might get hurt, but they don't."

Swanson School signed up to the study by AUT and Otago University just over two years ago, with the aim of encouraging active play.

However, the school took the experiment a step further by abandoning the rules completely, much to the horror of some teachers at the time, he said.

When the university study wrapped up at the end of last year the school and researchers were amazed by the results.

Mudslides, skateboarding, bullrush and tree climbing kept the children so occupied the school no longer needed a timeout area or as many teachers on patrol.

Instead of a playground, children used their imagination to play in a "loose parts pit" which contained junk such as wood, tyres and an old fire hose.

"The kids were motivated, busy and engaged. In my experience, the time children get into trouble is when they are not busy, motivated and engaged. It's during that time they bully other kids, graffiti or wreck things around the school."

Parents were happy too because their children were happy, he said.

But this wasn't a playtime revolution, it was just a return to the days before health and safety policies came to rule. [TVNZ]

Kudos to these Kiwi Educrats for doing something sensible.

Teachable Moment of the Week:
Source: Golden Oinks [01/24/14]

Looking for a school system that needed help, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found it: Pittsburgh Public Schools. They had $40 million earmarked for the school system which needs it in the worst way.

Like any donation that size, it came with strings attached:

The Gates foundation's criteria were straightforward: The school district and teachers needed to agree on a method to evaluate classroom performance and to hold teachers accountable for their performance. The union and the district agreed on a metric, but now the AFT and its Pittsburgh local are retroactively arguing that the grading scale is too hard.

[American Federation of Teachers President Randi] Weingarten, the national AFT and its Pittsburgh local chose, instead, to defend assembly-line-style work rules that entrench incompetent teachers in the classroom based on seniority rather than skill, deny teachers the opportunity to earn raises and bonuses based on their ability to teach, and make it excessively difficult to fire teachers for misconduct.

And now, if the union doesn't budge, it could cost Pittsburgh's kids $40 million.
[Tribune-Review]

Hold teachers accountable? How dare they!

Ivory Tower Killjoys
Source: PIG News Wire [01/18/14]

At Cal Poly (SLO), the killjoys in positions of authority are poised to rachet down the fun at future fraternity and sorority gatherings. The party pooper particulars include:

* Banning drinking games, kegs and hard alcohol while limiting festivities to four-hour stints.

* In addition to the alcohol restrictions, guest lists of all in attendance would have to be registered 24 hours prior to an event, chapters holding an event with alcohol present would have to issue wristbands to those over the legal drinking age of 21, and bans would be imposed on events of 200 people or more.

* Alcohol-related events also would have to end by midnight and could not exceed four hours in duration, according to the draft guideline policy. Furthermore, those of legal drinking age would be limited to bringing a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine.

* Off-campus events would be confined to "either the chapter facility, registered satellite house or a third-party venue" licensed to serve alcohol.

At Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo the party is over.

A Battle Over Educrap in Mexifornia
Source: PIG News Wire [01/11/14]

A David vs Goliath fight is shaping up in Mexifornia. A group named Students Matter is trying to bring sanity back to education in the no longer 'Golden' State. They're taking on the whole Educrap establishment including the powerful California Teachers Association.

The bones of contention are five provisions of the education code 'that, separately and together, push some of our best teachers out of the classroom and entrench grossly ineffective teachers in our schools, creating an arbitrary, unjustifiable and unconstitutional inequality among students:

Permanent Employment Statute, which effectively guarantees all teachers permanent employment, also known as tenure, after only 18 months on the job and meaningless evaluations and before new teachers even complete their beginner teacher training program;

Dismissal Statutes, which institute a costly, time-consuming and nearly insurmountable set of obstacles for school administrators to dismiss a single ineffective teacher; and

Last-In, First-Out Statute, which forces school districts to make decisions about district-wide layoffs and subsequent reassignments based solely on teacher seniority, with no consideration for performance in the classroom.

This battle will be joined in a courtroom:

Nine California students have launched a lawsuit against the state, arguing that current law and entrenched practices they see as pro-union actually short-change the poor and the minority communities on their education.

Students Matter, the group driving the suit, said in a press release, "Ineffective teachers are entrenched in California's public school system. The superintendents of many school districts affirm that their districts are beleaguered by grossly ineffective teachers and attribute the continued employment of these teachers to the challenged statutes."

The trial is set for Jan. 27, Watchdog.org reported. Legal minds think the results could reverberate around the nation — especially in states with union strongholds. [College Insurrection]

I wish the Students Matter folks good luck. They'll need it if they expect to kick the teacher's union out of the educrap driver's seat.

Lake Superior State University's Banished Words
Source: PIG News Wire [01/04/14]

This year's list is culled from nominations received mostly through the university's website. Editors of the list consider pet peeves from everyday speech, as well as from the news, fields of education, technology, advertising, politics and more. A committee makes a final cut in late December.

So, let's dispense with the selfies, come down from the twittersphere and T-bone this year's banish-pocalypse on steroids.

SELFIE — Has the honor of receiving the most nominations this year.

"People have taken pictures of themselves for almost as long as George Eastman's company made film and cameras. Suddenly, with the advent of smartphones, snapping a 'pic' of one's own image has acquired a vastly overused term that seems to pop up on almost every form of social media available to us….A self-snapped picture need not have a name all its own beyond 'photograph.' It may only be a matter of time before photos of one's self and a friend will become 'dualies.' LSSU has an almost self-imposed duty to carry out this banishment now." --- Lawrence, Coventry, Conn. and Ryan, North Andover, Mass.

"Named 'Word of the Year' by Oxford Dictionary? Give me a break! Ugh, get rid of it." – Bruce, Ottawa, Ont.

"Myselfie disparages the word because it's too selfie-serving. But enough about me, how about yourselfie?" – Lisa, New York, NY

"It's a lame word. It's all about me, me, me. Put the smartphone away. Nobody cares about you." -- David, Lake Mills, Wisc.

Dayna of Rochester Hills, Mich., laments how many people observe "Selfie Sunday" in social media, and Josh of Tucson, Ariz., asks, "Why can't we have more selflessies?"

TWERK/TWERKING — Another word that made the Oxford Dictionaries Online this year. Cassidy of Manheim, Penn. said, "All evidence of Miley Cyrus' VMA performance must be deleted," but it seems that many had just as much fun as Miley did on stage when they submitted their nominations.

"Let's just keep with 'shake yer booty' -- no need to 'twerk' it! Hi ho, hi ho, it's away with twerk we must go." – Michael, Haslett, Mich.

Bob of Tempe, Ariz. says he responds, "T'werk," when asked where he is headed on Monday mornings.

"I twitch when I hear twerk, for to twerk proves one is a jerk -- or is at least twitching like a jerk. Twerking has brought us to a new low in our lexicon." – Lisa, New York, NY

"Time to dance this one off the stage." – Jim, Flagstaff, Ariz.

"The fastest over-used word of the 21st century." – Sean, New London, NH.

"The newest dictionary entry should leave just as quickly." – Bruce, Edmonton, Alb.

HASHTAG — We used to call it the pound symbol. Now it is seeping from the Twittersphere into everyday expression. Nearly all who nominated it found a way to use it in their entries, so we wonder if they're really willing to let go. #goodluckwiththat

"A technical term for a useful means of categorizing content in social media, the word is abused as an interjection in verbal conversation and advertising. # annoying!" – Bob, Grand Rapids, Mich.

"Typed on sites that use them, that's one thing. When verbally spoken, hashtag-itgetsoldquickly. So, hashtag-knockitoff." – Kuahmel, Gardena, Calif.

"Used when talking about Twitter, but everyone seems to add it to everyday vocabulary. #annoying #stopthat #hashtag #hashtag #hashtag ." – Alex, Rochester, Mich.

"It's #obnoxious #ridiculous #annoying and I wish it would disappear." – Jen, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

"#sickoftheword" -- Brian, Toronto, Ont.

TWITTERSPHERE — To which we advise, keep all future nominations to fewer than 140 characters.

"There cannot possibly be any oxygen there." – Matt of Toledo, Ohio

MISTER MOM — The 30-year anniversary of this hilarious 1983 Michael Keaton movie seems to have released some pent-up emotions. It received nearly as many nominations as "selfie" and "twerk" from coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada, mostly from men.

"It was a funny movie in its time, but the phrase should refer only to the film, not to men in the real world. It is an insult to the millions of dads who are the primary caregivers for their children. Would we tolerate calling working women Mrs. Dad?" says Pat, of Chicago, who suggests we peruse the website captaindad.org, the manly blog of stay-at-home parenting.

"I am a stay-at-home dad/parent. And if you call me 'Mr. Mom,' I will punch you in the throat. – Zachary, East Providence, RI.

"Society is changing and no longer is it odd for a man to take care of his children. Even the Wall Street Journal has declared, "Mr. Mom is dead" (Jan. 22, 2013). I think it is time to banish it." – Chad, St. Peters, Mo.

T-BONE — This common way of describing an automobile collision has now made it from conversation into the news reports. While the accident's layout does, indeed, resemble its namesake cut of beef, we'd prefer to dispense with the collateral imagery and enjoy a great steak.

"As in 'crashed into another car perpendicularly.' Making a verb out of a cut of beef?" - Kyle, White Lake, Mich.

____ ON STEROIDS — New! Improved! Steroidal!

"Please, does the service at my favorite restaurant have to be 'on steroids' (even though the meat may be)?" -- Betsy, Los Angeles, Calif.

SUFFERING SUFFIXES
Many in advertising and in the news took two words – Armageddon and Apocalypse and shortened them into two worn-out suffixes this year.

-AGEDDON
"Come on down, we're havin' car-ageddon, wine-ageddon, budget-ageddon, a sale-ageddon, flower-ageddon, and so-on-and-so-forth-ageddon! None of these appear in the Book of Revelations." -- Michael, Haslett, Mich.

–POCALYPSE
"Every passing storm or event is tagged as ice-ageddon or snow-pocalypse. There's a limited supply of ...ageddons and ...pocalypses; I believe it's one, each. When running out of cashews becomes nut-ageddon, it's time to re-evaluate your metaphors." -- Rob, Sellersville, Penn.

POLITICS
Politicians never fail to disappoint in providing fodder for the list.

INTELLECTUALLY/MORALLY BANKRUPT -- Used by members of each political party when describing members of the other. Cal of Cherry Hill, NJ wonders, "Are there intellectual creditors?"

Banned In Huskerville
Source: Hambo's Hammer

According to Student President Ed Reznicek, the resolution banning offensive speech which the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's student senate just passed isn't a ban on speech. He spouted this drivel on the subject:

"There was no ban of speech, rather, an encouragement to use more inclusive language and to encourage not using potentially offensive vocabulary," Reznicek stated.

One student senator, Cameron Murphy, who thrilled the snot out of his senatorial cohorts by citing a salty Chris Rock routine, sees the resolution for what it is:

In a Q&A interview also published Tuesday in The Daily Nebraskan, Murphy stood by his controversial speech.

"You should be able to say whatever you want, whether it be popular or unpopular," Murphy said. "And you shouldn't be punished, especially at the university, this is supposed to be the place of ideas, where people formulate their opinions and their beliefs and formulate new ideas. … If you're hurt by someone saying a word, I would say grow up."

Who has it right? I'll let you decide, after you read the resolution:

"Certain derogatory terms diminish the broadly inclusive and welcoming quality of our campus," states the resolution, approved by the student government Nov. 13. "We pledge to remove derogatory terms from our vocabulary (that may or may not be purposely directed as offensive) in regard to a person's gender, age, disability, genetic information, race, color, religion, pregnancy status, marital status, veteran's status, national or ethnic origin, gender identity or expression, place of residence, political affiliation, or sexual orientation." (Campus Fix)

By leaving the key words 'derogatory terms' undefined, this allows an individual student's sensitivity to make the call. Charles Sykes nailed it with this insight:

"Once feelings are established as the barometer of acceptable behavior, speech (and by extension, thought) becomes only as free as the most sensitive group [or student] will permit."

Truer words, PIGsters...truer words...