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Blue and White editor-in-chief Avi Zenilman, C ’07, will be appearing on The O’Reilly Factor tonight at 8:00 and 11:00 to debate Chris “Fox is my buddy” Kulawik on the subject of liberalism, activism, and the correct way to spike one’s hair on camera.
Supposedly Www.Bwog.net will run across the bottom of screen, which means that the site may crash, so don’t panic if you can’t find us for awhile. We’re trying to figure out how to prevent that from happening… but what a way to go.
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45 Comments
@Anonymous Avi you did ok buddy. I mean, you did stutter and have a blank look on your face at times when these out of nowhere questions came at you, but I think your point went across for people who cared to hear your opinion. At least you stood up for your university instead of selling us down the river.
O’Reilly is scary.
@just saw the segment o’reilly’s just bitter about bollinger and tried to take it out on avi, who was a great voice of moderation. never felt prouder to be associated with the blue and white.
@Avi Zenilman Taping finished at 615. I have no idea what I look or sound like. O’Reilly seemed more pissed that Bollinger wouldn’t come on the show than anything else.
I think it was necessary that SOMEONE from Columbia other than Chris go on Fox News, if only because I think with the characterization that Columbia is “out of control” is simply untrue. Protestors cancelled on the show yesterday, they were having problems finding people willing to go on air, and I was asked this morning if I could go on.
Hopefully the debate is not political (i.e right v left), but more about setting the record straight about Columbia being “out of control”
Two other things:
1) At one point I describe the incident as “violence” … I immediately correct myself and say that it’s “chaos”, but I’m sure it looks bad.
2) O’Reilly asked me if I knew that the entire J-school was made up of left-wingers. That left me dumbfounded and I probably look especially stupid there.
If the segment becomes grist for me debate and argument, I’ll post more thoughts after the show airs.
Also, Eva Fortes is going to be on Hannity and Colmes tonight. Probably around 9:40 PM.
@BREAKINGNEWS rumor has it that avi douchebag zenilman got raped and his bleeding, swollen ass handed back to him
@Avi Zenilman That’s just not true. I’m still waiting for it to be handed back to me.
@Eva Fortes Avi, you did great. You stood up for the school, and you let O’Reilly look like a raging lunatic, even if you did stutter a bit. Hell, at least you spoke. I didn’t speak much, and I turned them down the next night…. Go you for facing O’Reilly and standing up for the Alma Mater.
@Andrea So far I have heard nothing about the issue at hand, from either side. This is just politics and vanity (sorry, that was redundant). Let’s hope Avi can actually say something that is neither propoganda (from either side) nor a sorry attempt at describing the Columbia Campus through the lens of a radical overreaction.
Knowing O’Reilly, though, I’m sure Avi won’t have the chance to say anything intelligent, unless it can be taken an skewed towards right-wing means.
But let’s hope for some kind of integrity.
@No, no Stephen we’re “domestic terrorists”. That’s the good one. Someone should make t shirts.
@Anonymous I would rather have Avi debating Kulawik because it would be a 5 ton intellectual gorrilla against… I don’t know… … Chris.
Avi is a reasonable voice whereas an overly impassioned foil to Kulawik would be construed on tv as verifying other Gilchrist’s statement that we are all “fascist-liberal-anarchists”… whatever that means.
Viva Avi.
@hmm nice email, although the fact that we have “prezbo fanatics” is sickening
@I just like his hair.
@prezbo fanatic it’s an amazingly well-written statement. ::stares at prezbo poster on wall in awe::
@very well written statement
I applaud Bollinger for his firm and well articulated stance.
@Bwog Alert the following is the unedited text of lee c. bollinger’s email.
—
Dear fellow members of the Columbia community,
Columbia University has always been, and will always be, a place
where students and faculty engage directly with important public
issues. We are justifiably proud of the traditions here of
intellectual inquiry and vigorous debate. The disruption on
Wednesday night that resulted in the termination of an event
organized by the Columbia College Republicans in Lerner Hall
represents, in my judgment, one of the most serious breaches of
academic faith that can occur in a university such as ours.
Of course, the University is thoroughly investigating the incident,
and it is critically important not to prejudge the outcome of that
inquiry with respect to individuals. But, as we made clear in our
University statements on both Wednesday night and Thursday, we must
speak out to deplore a disruption that threatens the central
principle to which we are institutionally dedicated, namely to
respect the rights of others to express their views.
This is not complicated: Students and faculty have rights to invite
speakers to the campus. Others have rights to hear them. Those who
wish to protest have rights to do so. No one, however, shall have
the right or the power to use the cover of protest to silence
speakers. This is a sacrosanct and inviolable principle.
It is unacceptable to seek to deprive another person of his or her
right of expression through actions such as taking a stage and
interrupting a speech. We rightly have a visceral rejection of
this behavior, because we all sense how easy it is to slide from
our collective commitment to the hard work of intellectual
confrontation to the easy path of physical brutishness. When the
latter happens, we know instinctively we are all threatened.
We have extensive University policies governing the actions of
members of this community with respect to free speech and the
conduct of campus events. Administrators began identifying those
involved in the incident as it transpired and continue to
investigate specific violations of University policies to ensure
full accountability by those found to be responsible.
University personnel are also evaluating event management practices
that are specifically intended to help event organizers,
participants, and protestors maintain a safe environment in which
to engage in meaningful and sometimes contentious debate across the
spectrum of academic and political issues. These are some of the
many steps we intend to take in the weeks ahead to address this
matter in our community.
Let me reaffirm: In a society committed to free speech, there will
inevitably be times when speakers use words that anger, provoke,
and even cause pain. Then, more than ever, we are called on to
maintain our courage to confront bad words with better words. That
is the hallmark of a university and of our democratic society. It
is also one of our central safeguards against the impulses of
intolerance that always threaten to engulf our commitment to proper
respect for every person.
Sincerely,
Lee C. Bollinger
@Bwogging the Globe lee c. just sent out a missive.
@where I didn’t get no prezbo letter
@box error dear bwog tech people (or just zach),
probably change the blue box at the top since the protest is now two days old?
@voice-over The hopes and dreams of an entire generation riding on one man…and one man alone.
@tmw and what a man to have chosen.
@Eva Fortes Good luck to you, Bwog, and especially to Avi. I trust you to be even-handed and to stand up for what you truly believe in, and not be cowed into defending any group that doesn’t represent your own beliefs.
And also, kudos on your coverage of this whole thing — you’re the most even-handed reporting I’ve been able to find, and trust me, I’ve needed it.
@third way whatever position avi takes, it would be preferable if, in addition to kulawik, someone represented both the position that “this was just a fringe minority and columbia is not like that” AS WELL AS one of these stage-jumper fringe people. there are really three positions, after all. one would think kulawik would adhere to the “columbia is not like this” side, but his “I’m ashamed to be from columbia” remark last night made him an official enemy of the school.
@Well I don’t know about “enemy” of the school… I actually think Columbia needs someone like him, given his minority position on campus. He creates the possibility of useful discourse.
That said, I was hoping he would point out last night that it was a fringe movement. He played into O’Reilly’s moronic blanket condemnation. Hopefully they won’t embarass us tonight on the show.
@enemy I don’t think kulawik is the enemy of the school because of his political positions. I’m inclined to agree with much of what he writes, actually. the problem is that he went on national television and, rather than defend columbia from the scadalously ridiculous allegations of o’reilly and others (i.e. that the protesters’ behavior was symptomatic of this place being run by “far left merchants of venom”, he actually played into them. in other words, he debased his own degree, as well as ours, by saying that he was “ashamed to be from columbia” as a whole. he and we all know that the protesters were not representative, but he let the media persist in its misconceptions in order to further his ingratiation with them. that is not a way to keep friends at this place.
@quote from the “How to Beat O’Reilly” article:
“Whatever you do, don’t go on his show if you are a feckless midlevel journalist, a goggle-eyed policy wonk, or a drippy activist. ”
Avi’s at least two of three
@mat You all are absolutely right, though, that it would make more sense to have someone from the left than a responsible liberal (which is what Avi is). In fact, the Factor asked some of the activists to come on. They refused, choosing self-righteousness over actually getting their message out.
@Hey Mat way to speculate on people’s motivations when you have absolutely no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.
Although it is pretty funny that one O’Reilly producer tried to goad a protestor into coming onto the Factor by telling him to call Fox back “when you grow a pair.”
@shit someone needs to document that kind of behinds the scenes shit in order to embarrass those assholes.
@rp so as much as i hate that this entire situation occurred as it did, at least it makes me feel like columbia is kinda badass (even if in a really ridiculous way) because like we’re the focus of national attention. if we did more of these things (whith half or more making us look good…i.e. letting the iranian president come then beating him up) then not only could we be in the national spotlight more but also have a generally positive slant on our beliefs and behavior. so protestors, please try harder, but occassionally do it for the right reasons too.
@rachel and liz i think this might be a meta overdose. can bwog really maintain its credibility as a semi-journalistic news source when its own editor in chief starts taking sides?
@John Klopfer Who says our EIC is taking sides? Watch the show tonight before you pronounce.
@interview tips http://www.slate.com/id/2107110/ – How to Beat Bill O’Reilly
@what bothers me how o’reilly has set this up: it’s a debate between the right and the middle, over the actions of the right vs. the left.
i don’t know avi’s political beliefs in this, but his role is as a reporter.
they should get one of the leaders of the stage-jumping to debate kulawik’s bull crap.
let the rest of us say that both sides were being dumb.
@actually Actually, Avi shoud defend the stormers of the stage, they did nothing wrong. People unfurled a banner at the Ashcroft protest last year, they got to voice their dissent and were escorted out, Ashcroft continued speaking. The fact that the Minutemen attacked and decided to turn it into a physical altercation doesn’t mean the protestors should face recrimination. I have no idea what Avi’s political viewpoints are, but hopefully he’ll tackle this thing head on, counter Kulawik’s spin and hopefully wont toe the passive distance-yourself-from-everything line that Democrats have taken in recent times and has proved disastrous. Go get em Avi and whatever you do please remind the audience that
1. Marvin Stewart outright lied about the banner in any way denying or having anything to do with the Holocaust.
2. The video shows the Minutemen clearly beginning the scuffle by ripping the banners/physically pushing people.
3. The Minutemen have been extensively tied to having a shared infrastructure and membership in various chapters with the National Vanguard, a white supremacist neo-Nazi group.
4. Chris Kulawik claimed on the OReilly Factor that he was in fear of his physical safety. Yet the video shows him clearly walking around and speaking to fellow Republicans in front of the stage with no apparent fear or worrying about his well-being, likely because no one menaced or confronted him in any way.
5. Contrary to the views being promoted that this was a “melee” or a “fistfight”, CU Security was present and did not deem it necessary to physically restrain anyone. This is because whatever physical scuffle occured was very short and was initiated by the Minutemen. No motive towards violence or fighting can be gathered on the part of the protestors from the video.
@Anonymous Exactly. Someone needs to be a voice of REASON, not ideology, amidst O’Reilly & Co.’s blatant lies and distortions. Maybe you should go with Avi…
@the question is avi: olbermann or ubermensch?
@yay avi he may not have kulawik’s charisma, but he’s got brains in abundance.
i say avi, so long as o’reilly doesn’t try to slip him the loofah.
@drum roll Avi Zenilman: some call him the missing link…not between beast and man…but between man…and God.
@mat “drum roll,” I love you so much.
@please don’t tell me avi’s going to be defending the stormers of the stage.
what’s good is we definitely need somebody to set the air clear that this was a small fringe group that did this and conflating their actions w/all columbians, columbian liberals, or liberals is silly
still lets not say anything supportive of the idiots–make us proud avi!
@what the avi zenilman? do we really want him representing our side? he certainly lacks kulawik’s charisma.
@That was humor, right?
@talking point: “Chris, the video clearly shows you taking swings at several protestors. Is it true that you like to have cybersex with underaged boys?”
@mee i love you bwog
@wow. holy shit. that’s all i have for now.
@Anonymous Check your email for how to prevent what is known as the ‘slashdot effect’ (but obviously this time from a different source).