Posted on 02/18/2005 5:16:31 AM PST by infocats
"CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 17 - Bowing to pressure from his faculty, the president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, on Thursday released a month-old transcript of his contentious closed-door remarks about the shortage of women in the sciences and engineering. The transcript revealed several provocative statements by Dr. Summers about the "intrinsic aptitude" of women, the career pressures they face and discrimination within universities.
Dr. Summers's remarks, which have only been described by others until now, have fueled a widening crisis on campus, with several professors talking about taking a vote of no confidence on the president next week. That idea alone is unprecedented at Harvard in modern times.
Among his comments to a conference of economists last month, according to the transcript, Dr. Summers, a former secretary of the United States Treasury, compared the relatively low number of women in the sciences to the numbers of Catholics in investment banking, whites in the National Basketball Association and Jews in farming."
Most of the faculty at Harvard gave got to be sh**heads, yes?
I, on the other hand, see the text and think "Only a moron could take issue with these statements."
These perfessers really need to grow up and get into the real world. Don't they have anything better to do over there at Harvard then think about this PC junk? The Ivory Tower "elites" (and I use that term very sarcastically) have no clue as to what is happening in this big, ugly world of ours today. Who cares if women are "underrepresented" in the sciences and mathematics? It has no bearing on the world, and I believe if a female wants to succeed in those fields, she can. It's a matter of hard work and perseverance, not of quotas and saying so. Grow up!!!
Yes, I agree. I'm a PhD student at NYU in Cognitive Science--it's not easy, but I'm certainly working hard! I don't take offense to his remarks whatsoever...we all have natural, innate limitations, so why make such a big fuss?
Well, they're already convening a roundtable on his remarks here at the University of Chicago. You can bet that they won't even ask whether what he said was true but will use the forum to loudly bloviate about how they're not evil women haters like him.
repub_phdstudent:
Good luck to you. I earned a PhD in a hard science many moons ago, when this type of talk did not really occur. My wife, on the other hand, is a surgeon who "invaded" the men's turf in the early 1980s. Now, there was some talk then, but she hung tough and earned her way into the prime of her practice now, is well-respected and revered by her patients. Hang in there, don't let the pencil neck perfessers and their ilk get you down, stick to your guns politically and stand fast. It takes courage for you to label yourself a Republican in this PC era on campuses. But, then again, I'll bet it's great fun debating the leftist, clueless twits who undoubtedly run rampant at NYU...
He said "Jews in farming"????? Oh, my.
Here's a modest suggestion. Success in a true science is as objective as a batting average and much less affected by xx v. xy chromosomes.
Here's a modest question. Doesn't anyone in higher education outside of Hillsdale College have a brain?
That these are the views of highly educated people is what disturbs me most. In the meantime I am voting to become forty pounds lighter and fifty years younger. My chances of this happening are no greater than their changing the Bell Curve.
Too late Summers. The PC crowd is in full roar. Study? HA! They didn't get their jobs because they posses critical thinking! It isn't TAUGHT!
Professor Mendelsohn: "There's an implication that they've taken themselves out of that role. But he brings forward no evidence."
Well no .... Sherlock! That is exactly what it is. An implication - and a provocative one at that! (Summers said he was there to be provocative.) So Mendelsohn, are ya gonna do some hard core research, or ya just gonna lope along with the rest of the PC pack, howling & baying, blissfully secure in your PC sewage.
Howard Georgi: "It's socialization. We've trained young women to be average. We've trained young men to be adventurous."
Just a small point here Georgi, but the OVERWHELMING number of teachers are - WOMEN! Do ya think that maybe THAT has sumptin' ta do wid it? And BTW, did ya ever notice that little boys tend to do things that are "adventurous" and are constantly getting punished for it? And little girls get lots of praise for being so good? Hmmmmmm. Ya ever notice that?
Dr. Summers said in a letter to the faculty: that he should "have spoken differently on matters so complex" and that he had "substantially understated the impact of socialization and discrimination."
Back to a prior point, most of the teachers are women, so by sheer impact of the numbers, THEY are the ones "socializing" the little darlings.
"The senior member of Harvard's governing corporation, James Houghton, released a letter after the transcript was made public, offering praise and support for Dr. Summers."
Yikes - a man with guts! That will NEVER do around Harvard! But if he has guts, maybe the PC crowd will ask them where he got them, and how can little girls get them instead of growing up so "socialized."
"Dr. Summers gained notoriety several months into the job by offending a leading professor of black studies at Harvard, Cornel West, who promptly decamped to Princeton University."
LOL - he was probably considered "enlightened" for that. Not like now, where he is viewed as a caveman, sending the female professors shrieking into the night.
"Yet some Harvard professors and leaders said that the critics were focusing too narrowly on remarks that were meant to be private and provocative, and that they were losing sight of Dr. Summers's accomplishments at the university."
Another no .... Sherlock moment. If the man has had some real accomplishments, by all means tar and feather him and ride him out of town on a rail. How dare he even THINK something so provocative!
Edward Glaeser: "At this point the university will be much better served by looking forward rather than by parsing his comments."
Uh oh, another MAN has spoken up. Better keep little girls away from HIM too!
"I've been praying for the brother, hoping he would change," Dr. West said in an interview. "It's clear he hasn't changed. I feel bad for Harvard as an institution and as a great tradition. It was good to see the faculty wake up. The chickens have come home to roost."
Nope. Ain't gonna go there. Jim will have ME on a roost!
"Several female scientists who were at the National Bureau of Economic Research forum and who expressed outrage at Dr. Summers's remarks there said they felt vindicated. Critics had accused them of misinterpreting him and overreacting out of political correctness."
So, how do they feel vindicated? This is exactly what happened! Buncha hysterical screaming meemies.
"I'm glad his words are finally out there," said Shirley Malcom - now the director of education for the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington. "Because so many of us have been accused of implying that he said things he did not, and now people can actually judge for themselves."
And now we are glad those words are "out there." And since I can judge for myself, Y'all are guilty of PC cowardice and overreacting. Y'all oughta have to run some laps or do some campus cleanup. Maybe ya should do some "community service" at hospitals and homeless shelters.
How funny and sad, Harvard was once a great school, but now only an empty shell. The PC crowd is in full fury at anything THEY find effencive, even if it is true.
This grand old school will slowly coast to the side of the road and be refured to as the "Once Great Harvard" as students catch-on that a diploma from it has no special value.
A dear friend of mine is a graduate, his son was accepted and after one year transfered to MIT. When asked why, he replyed "your performance is based on your agreeing with the teacher, not your work and I saw my one Professor once at the beginning of the year, all teaching is done by assistants. I knew more about the subject than they did."
Well, this in one case in which it pretty much doesn't matter what the PC crowd says or does. Ironically, the reaction of many women to Summers' comments proves exactly why. There will always be many more men than women in science. This is because science requires abstract thinking, and cold, logical objectivity. And the pontifications of the PC crowd notwithstanding, men are simply better at this than women. Fainting spells and emotional hysteria might work in terms of manipulating men, but these things won't succeed in manipulating data, or changing the physical laws of the universe.
The answer to your question is "Yes. There are still many good, sensible, responsible professors out there."
You might not want to tout Hillsdale too lightly in the post-Roche era.
Professor Roche was a brilliant man. His "Whom the gods would destroy they first subsidize," if original, was a masterstroke. But his conduct concerning his daughter-in-law was damnable.
Make that "too HIGHLY," not "too lightly." Sorry about the typo.
Yes, I know. I was being hyperbolic.
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