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Saint Xavier UniversitySEARCH AGAIN |
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Name: Kirstein, Peter N. Title: Professor Dept: History & Political Science Room: N229 Phone Ext: 3283 Email: kirstein@sxu.edu Fax: 298-3314 WWW: http://www.sxu.edu/history/pkirstein |
Posted on 11/11/2002 8:38:12 PM PST by mikeb704
Some of the dumbest people I’ve met have considerable formal education. For many, there appears to be some sort of reverse correlation between years of formal education and common sense. Making this more agonizingly apparent is the posturing of academic types who are self-styled deep thinkers and judge themselves to be so much smarter than the rest of us.
Peter Kirstein holds a Ph.D. and is a professor of history at Chicago’s St. Xavier University. He recently received an email from an Air Force Academy cadet who asked for suggestions on how to publicize to the St. Xavier community a forum the Academy’s planning.
There were several ways Professor Kirstein could have handled this. He could have just ignored the email. He could have made a suggestion or two and let it go at that. He could have passed the request on to someone else at the university who deals with such matters. He could have sent a curt reply to the cadet telling him he had no ideas and to leave him alone.
But no, none of those would have been enough. Kirstein needed to vent his rage, and did so with a reply that started: "You are a disgrace to this country and I am furious you would even think I would support you and your aggressive baby killing tactics of collateral damage."
It continued: "Help you recruit. Who, top guns to reign death and destruction upon nonwhite peoples throughout the world? Are you serious sir? Resign your commission and serve your country with honour."
I like how the prof uses the British variant of honor. Not too much of an affectation there. Then there’s the "reign death and destruction" bit. Gee, I wonder if that’s anything like raining death and destruction. And Kirstein demonstrates his grasp of military matters by urging the cadet to resign a commission he doesn’t yet have.
His response ended with: "You are worse than the snipers. You are imperialists who are turning the whole damn world against us. September 11 can be blamed in part for what you and your cohorts have done to Palestinians, the VC, the Serbs, a retreating army at Basra. You are unworthy of my support."
Certainly, being told that he is unworthy of the support of Dr. Peter Kirstein, Professor of History, is enough to keep anyone awake at night. I know it would me. Claiming that September 11th can partially be blamed on what the U.S. did to the Serbs in Bosnia is remarkable. Serbs were killing Muslims and you’d think that America’s intervention to stop that would not constitute a reason for Muslims to attack the U.S. Apparently you need a Ph.D. to understand this level of reasoning.
When Kirstein’s email was widely circulated on the Internet, he abruptly decided he should have been more prudent. He apologized to the cadet. He apologized to an officer at the Air Force Academy, writing: "As one who believes in non-violence and the avoidance of conflict, I could have been more circumspect and creative in my communication with him." The university’s president has apologized for his nutty professor.
That’s not enough.
Mr. Kirstein is sorry, all right. Sorry his indiscreet communication became public knowledge. Sorry that his boss has heard from hundreds of people complaining about what the professor wrote. Sorry that his job could perhaps be in jeopardy.
It should be. On St. Xavier’s web site, the professor describes his teaching philosophy. It includes "Teach(ing) peace, freedom, diversity, multiculturalism and challenge American unilateralism." Yet how does one teach "freedom" while proclaiming the military, a primary protector of that freedom, as baby killers?
Another element of the professor’s teaching philosophy is to "Be prepared for occasional frustration when students don't always respond to your enthusiasim (sic) and dreams." "Enthusiasim?" "Enthusiasim?" Maybe Dr. Peter Kirstein, Professor of History, should add another component to his teaching philosophy: Run a spell check before putting something on your university’s web site. This egregious mistake poorly reflects on the institution for which he works.
Professor Kirstein has a right to his views, wacky as they are. St. Xavier University has a right not to be severely embarrassed by one of its instructors.
State Senator Patrick O’Malley, who’s a university trustee, should take the lead in terminating Mr. Kirstein’s relationship with the school. Let the professor and his teaching philosophy and his enthusiasim go somewhere that they’ll be appreciated. Vietnam readily comes to mind.
http://www.sxu.edu/
The president, I understand, has been inundated with complaints.
The University President? Or the President of the United States? I sent this piece to the White House.
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November 4, 2002 Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of the Academy Assembly I accept this apology in the same sincere manner in which it was given. Furthermore, I would like to offer my own apology to Dr Kirstein for the way his original message, which was intended as private communication, was spread throughout the Air Force Academy and beyond. Since that e-mail was forwarded with such great vigor to many individuals both within and outside the Air Force Acadmey I would ask that you, the reader of this letter, please forward this e-mail to anyone to whom you sent the original message. Two results of this are obvious and I want to share them with you. The first is that through well considered words and messages a situation that was initally highly inflammatory has become one in which diverse ideas can be compared and discussed; this is the essence of the Academy Assembly. Second, though emotions have run understandibly high throughout the USAFA Cadet Wing in response to this e-mail, replies to this e-mail from our cadets have been, almost without exception, marked by great maturity and professionalism. I was presented nearly forty proposed responses to the the original e-mail from cadets, but the one that best encapsulates the opinion of the cadet wing is a quote from their book, Contrails, which serves as not only a statement for others, but an admonition for themselves.
I would dare to add one thought to the above quote; that we in the military, as servants of the public, must carefully guard and cherish our relationship with the civilian community. We must always remain open and responsive to legitimate criticism that is presented in a spirit of willingness to improve the forces that guard our country and make them an institution that all Americans can take pride in. I am pleased to say that this discussion, of which many of you only saw the first portion, has moved towards that high plain. Respectfully yours, Captain Jim Borders, USAFA ____________________________________________________________________________ I have expressed to Cadet Kurpiel my regrets over what I communicated to him in my e-mail. I did not mean to impugn his character. I am sure he is of the highest character. I should have written him in a more thoughtful and contemplative manner. As one who believes in non-violence and the avoidance of conflict, I could have been more circumspect and creative in my communication with him. Cadet Kurpiel has sent me several generous, thoughtful and impressive e-mails. He has also expressed "apologies" for the unwarranted national distribution of a private e-mail correspondence which has caused me and others to receive 100s of e-mail messages. I hope this update on my response and the cadet's kind communication will serve to inform the public that this issue has been resolved with dignity and honour between myself and Cadet Kurpiel. I remain respectfully yours, Peter N. Kirstein |
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Saint Xavier UniversitySEARCH AGAIN |
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Name: Kirstein, Peter N. Title: Professor Dept: History & Political Science Room: N229 Phone Ext: 3283 Email: kirstein@sxu.edu Fax: 298-3314 WWW: http://www.sxu.edu/history/pkirstein |
I did a Google search on this guy. That very same picture that he has on his university webpage accompanies several articles that he has floating around the internet. Apparently he is very proud of it.
No wonder he thinks the military is an evil institution. H e doesn't want to be surrounded by heterosexual men. Well, maybe I should quell that thought since Stainman was advocating gays in the military. Well, then this querr should fit into the Clinton equation. I'm getting dizzy with the fags and the Clinton politics over the last 10 years. sheesh!
I've tried telling my professors this, but alas, I remain under the "lash".
Google >> St. Xavier University
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