Posted on 02/22/2008 9:25:40 PM PST by GVnana
Amen! I went to a minor state university, graduating the same year Mrs. Obama did. This would never have passed muster. She cited an article with no corresponding publishing information (periodical name, date) in the footnote. The majority of the first 35 or so pages was mostly just personal observations, with virtually no scholarly references to back it up. In high school I dreamed of going to Princeton, but couldn’t afford it. I’m glad now that I didn’t.
OK,maybe so,but it seems to me that the crux of this paper really puts the onus of racism on white liberals.All those”nice” PC wealthy white kids with their fake smiling faces.
Michele is right about that one.Most black folks would much rather deal with David Duke types than some ingratiaing idiot telling you,”Oh,I just want to let you know how great Martin Luther King was”and then laugh at you behind your back.
Go Michele!
—Usage note Alumnus (in Latin a masculine noun) refers to a male graduate or former student; the plural is alumni. An alumna (in Latin a feminine noun) refers to a female graduate or former student; the plural is alumnae. Traditionally, the masculine plural alumni has been used for groups composed of both sexes and is still widely so used: the alumni of Indiana University. Sometimes, to avoid any suggestion of sexism, both terms are used for mixed groups: the alumni/alumnae of Indiana University or the alumni and alumnae of Indiana University. While not quite equivalent in meaning, the terms graduate and graduates avoid the complexities of the Latin forms and eliminate any need for using a masculine plural form to refer to both sexes.
Frankly, judging from the rest of the content, I suspect neither she, nor her advisor knew better.
Random House Dictionary usage note:
Alumnus (in Latin a masculine noun) refers to a male graduate or former student; the plural is alumni. An alumna (in Latin a feminine noun) refers to a female graduate or former student; the plural is alumnae.
Of course, I am not using formal writing in these posts...I note things like an extra comma in my second sentence. But this is not a senior thesis.
I thought the dedication said it all...
In its entirety:
“To Mom, Dad, Craig, and all of my special friends:
Thank-you for loving me and always making me feel good about myself.”
Not your love and example, not the lessons you taught me - just that you made me feel good about myself. That has to be one of the most destructive things a parent can do!
It was all about her in the 80s, and nothing has changed...
I didn't see anything like that there.
I wish I could have gotten away with being able to write a whiney complaint when I got my degree!!
Too bad the only minorities I could claim belonging to are being a woman and having northern European ancestors. Guess I could have used the being a woman part if I’d majored in Women’s Studies, but i got a real degree. One in business, one in engineering.
Sociology is a common double major for ethnic studies majors because of the overlap of many classes. Princeton obviously has a little stiffer course, in African studies, rather than just ethnic studies, but then my friend wasn’t African American, she was part Hispanic. She also picked up a sociology degree in her senior year to go with the ethnic studies, because she only needed so few credits to do so and it sounded better.
I don't think any of us would hold you to the high standards Michelle Obama set in hers.
I agree with you that it would have been better writing to use alumna. I’m only suggesting that there is a school of thought on the usage that would have her use the male form when referring to a pool of men and women in this context. And, there could further be a case made that she was talking about the circumstance of her being an alum generally, rather than anything specific to her being a female alum, to prompt the use of ‘alumnus’. The thing is incredibly poorly written, reasoned and predicated overall, so you and I are at best disputing a fine thread—when her outfit overall is afire.
This is one angry black women who is trying real hard to keep her cool. KEEP UP THE PRESSURE she will crack, and it will be a good one.
Michelle Obama to America: “You suck! Vote for me!”
Come on, aren’t you overreacting?
“I guess taking a few 200K+/year do-nothing jobs...”
I believe she was raking in 365K at the University Hopital when she went on leave.
She should get on her knees every night and say a prayer to LBJ.
Just for further discussion, here is a usage note from answers.com and the American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Edition:
USAGE NOTE Alumnus and alumna both come from Latin and preserve Latin plurals. Alumnus is a masculine noun whose plural is alumni, and alumna is a feminine noun whose plural is alumnae. Coeducational institutions usually use alumni for graduates of both sexes. But those who object to masculine forms in such cases may prefer the phrase alumni and alumnae or the form alumnae/i, which is the choice of many women’s colleges that have begun to admit men.
Also, here is the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary definition of alumnus:
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university 2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Officials at the University of Chicago Hospitals say a promotion and large pay increase given to Sen. Barack Obama’s wife shortly after the Democrat was elected to Congress were well-deserved boosts for an executive who is “worth her weight in gold.” The Chicago Tribune has the story.
“She’s terrific,” added Michael Riordan, who was president of the hospital in March 2005, when Michelle Obama was promoted to vice president for external affairs and had her annual salary increased from $121,910 to $316,962.
***********
The Man’s holding her down.
What did she actually DO to earn her 365K, that made her “worth her weight in gold?”
Other than sleep with a Senator?
That “Bsrack will never allow you” bit was scary. It was like a warning from the wife of the future Hugo Chavez.
And that was Ivy League caliber work, her little puff piece about her struggles?
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