31 CommentsIn case you were curious about what other things came up in the last 24 hours or so:
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Robert Kraft, alumnus and New England Patriots owner extraordinaire, just donated a crapload of money to Columbia Athletics ($5 million, to be exact). Consequentially, Lawrence A. Wein Stadium has become the Stadium Formerly Known as Wein, AKA, Robert K. Kraft Field.
Robert Kraft, alumnus and New England Patriots owner extraordinaire, just donated a - Apparently another noose was found on a lamppost outside a ground zero post office yesterday afternoon. Indeed, no words can probably describe our reaction to this better than “WTF?”
- In case you were wondering on how much Professor Hamid Dabashi had to say on the Ahmadinejad/Bollinger face-off, he’s got a recent lengthy response to the incident in a Cairo publication. To cut it short: he’s not happy, and he mentions Rudyard Kipling.
- Former J-School visiting professor/VP Al Gore has been announced as co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (alongside the IPCC) for his fight with global warming. It’s kind of surreal, actually.
On a sidenote, the weather is suddenly much cooler, and there are many more people walking around campus with scarves than usual.
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31 Comments
@sargon i it’s lawrence a. wien, not wein. c’mon, bwog.
@i think professor dabashi’s response was insightful, and, well, true.
@... despite his past comments, it’s interesting because the first thing I thought after bollinger finished his comments was “White Man’s Burden”… his speech reaked of that sort of imperial haughtiness…
@... the only reason it did that is because bollinger is white and ahmadinejad is not. if the roles had been reversed, you wouldn’t have thought so. just because it reminds you of something doesn’t mean it is.
As for Dabashi’s response, where is the justification of calling him racist, Zionist, and bringing in the white man’s burden? He just assumes it true. Couldn’t it be possible that Bollinger was simply tone-deaf? I know people at Columbia love to assume racism in every nook of injustice, but sometimes (as opposed to other recent incidents on campus) that’s just not the case.
@... It’s not really that simple… It’s not like I would say that about any white man criticising a non white man… your attempt at simplifying my perspective is actually rather pathetic…
I don’t really expect you to understand my perspective but I can see why you see things the way you do. A lot of the difference in the way we see things is probably due to our different ethnic experiences. There is a lot in that article that resonantes with middle eastern people, espeically for Iranians with a memory of brittish and american meddlings in our affairs (most notably the overthrow of a democratic government in the 50s that Dabashi alludes to by the US or the irony of Columbia awarding the Shah an honorary degree)…
Of course, again, I’m not defending all the statements he has made or is making… Or am I defending islamic republic’s often dumb policies…
But, one thing I do know is that Bollingers speech made a lot of other Iranians who despise Ahmadinejad actually to sympathise for him… And I think beyond the simplistic notion that it’s rude to insult a guest, the explanation can be found in the outrage in Dabashi’s article…
@about the scarves yes, it seems a bit silly to point this out to all the shut-ins at columbia. but for those us studying abroad and using bwog to stay current, it’s a nice touch.
@Neither Arab nor a guilty White liberal. Anyone who doesn’t think Zionism is racism is a total dumb ass. Seriously. If you’re Jewish, don’t bother commenting to the contrary; your opinion is invalid.
@i'm neither white nor jewish.
what a strong argument–“if you’re jewish, your opinion is invalid”.
brilliant, you pro-palestinians are!
@#21 Read what I wrote again; you missed out the crucial middle portion.
@Student: No one cares what Dabashi thinks of the situation. He’s a two-bit ‘scholar’ who throws around belligerent accusations because they are all he can offer.
@dabashi was the guy who said “the way they [Jews] talk, walk, the way they greet each other, there is a vulgarity of character that is bone-deep and structural to the skeletal vertebrae of its culture” and he calls BOLLINGER racist?
@ummm... not taking part in this debate, but that Dabashi wasn’t talking about “Jews” in that quote you cite. He was talking about Israeli society/culture, and specifically describing an ordeal he underwent at Ben Gurion Airport, where he was stopped for 5 hours.
If you want to make a point, at least don’t lie.
@it was a lovely day arabs zionists and liberals
too easy to perceive
not real
@quote “On a sidenote, the weather is suddenly much cooler, and there are many more people walking around campus with scarves than usual.”
Bwog knows that the majority of its readers are the type that don’t go outside much. It’s good to know your audience.
@Wow that's great Dabashi is usually so so, but that was a scathingly elegant close reading of Bollinger’s speech. And to add to a another measure, Zionist means opposition to the right of return, which means apartheid, which means racism. Zionism is racism.
@right of return means that all Jews should be shot and killed, which means racism. Right of Return is racism.
Which are you–ignorant arab or guilty white liberal?
@well... i can’t speak for #12, but i agree with him, and while i’m white, i tend to despise liberals.
why are we talking about zionism, again?
@ugh... shouldn’t assume gender. sorry.
@one more for the win- a nifty flash presentation: http://hosting.richpaper.com/FullServiceHtml/ColumbiaUniversity/Athletics.htm
@dabashi is mind-numbingly retarded for calling Bollinger a racist. Let me sum up the article for you all so you don’t have to read this crap:
“Waaahhhhh Bollinger is a wacist and wuvs Israel, what a jerk! I will use Zionist as a perjorative term 1,000,000 times now.”
@Alum Larry Wien’s name isn’t coming off thes stadium. Only the field (i.e. the playing surface) is being named for Kraft. It’s like naming an individual lecture hall without renaming the entire building.
I agree, though, that Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium at Baker Field is a bit much. Maybe I can donate enough money to get a hash mark named after me and add my name to the list.
@Oh ok so the grass is named after him.
And Zionist is a pejorative term.
@no it isn't only ignorant Arabs and guilty white liberals think that Zionist is a perjorative term.
@and of course we all know that the opinions of both Arabs and liberals are by definition valueless.
(i assume that’s the implication? what else?)
@well I take it back.
Apparently Kraft’s gift is part of a much bigger drive:
http://www.gocolumbialions.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9600&ATCLID=1275599
@Some Bandie Actually, Danny Spiegel has been making us say “Baker Field Athletics Complex,” so the full thing would be “Robert K. Kraft field in Lawrence A. Wein Stadum at Baker Field Athletics Complex.” Blech.
@fggh field hockey venue?
i guess field hockey field was too weird but field hockey stadium couldnt be used?
are all stadiums open air (all of ours that is)
@WTF “Welcome to Kraft Field at Wien Stadium at Baker Field!”
That just sounds wrong…
Larry Wien also has the big Reference Reading room on the third floor of Butler named after him.
@#3 continued Proof that Columbia needs to do a better job of getting money-
There are 2 other stadiums at Baker Field
1) “Columbia Soccer Stadium”
2) “Columbia Field Hockey Venue”
I can understand that there are no Field Hockey alumni, but surely some of the soccer alumni from the powerhouse 80’s dynasty are making money by now?
@posdc do your homework bwog… it’s going to be kraft field @ baker stadium
@hmm kraft field @ baker field? too redundant. also, poor lawrence a. wien. I guess he does still have a crappy dorm named after him…