abusing the intelligence pool that is my friendslist

[hermionesviolin]

My pieces are in quotes, editor comments in italics.

"If Smith were truly concerned about a diversity of points of view, wouldn't it be seeking out students whose politics lean toward the conservative end of the spectrum? Sure, Smith has a reputation as a liberal if not radical institution, but many places have reputations for being full of rich white people and are trying to change those reputations."
Not quite sure I follow. Many places like where? Many colleges? Are the rich whit epeople trying to change this, or others?"

"Just as people with different class backgrounds or who have lived through different time periods can offer valuable new insights into issues, particularly in classes such as sociology or government, so too can people with different political leanings. Smith encourages debate, but this debate is often circumscribed by the limited scope of political opinion on campus."
This makes it sound like all the Adas have lived through the Great Depression. Perhaps focus on the personal experience aspect of their uniqueness rather than emphasizing the generational.

"A full education requires a variety of perspectives; by minimizing the presence of conservative voices on campus, Smith College does all its students a disservice."
Good point, however, I think there are many conservatives on campus who are simply intimidated and afraid to voice their opinions as enthusiastically as their more abundant liberal counterparts.

Suggestions anyone? Edits due 6pm tonight (Sunday night).

Comments

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

A lot of the questions/comments that Cate had were ones that I would have had. You're knowledge girl, so if you don't have time to track Smith specifically, perhaps you can jump on the net and tie it in to national trends of liberalism vs. conservatism at colleges?

I *know* there was something in the NYT fairly recently, possibly this or last fall, about a change in tides of more conservative students vs. old-school hippie/liberal faculty and their reactions to the Iraq/Afghani war. If growing conservatism is indeed a trend across the country, then it can be tied to things at Smith.

And speaking as an Ayn Rand follower who went to school amongst MANY lefties, I applaud your request for a more balanced view, and truly giving a voice to EVERYONE, so that we can really understand what's going on. /broken record. :)

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

They're actually comments from the Assistant Editors. (Cate and 2 assistants edit all the pieces, so she shouldn't ever get the full blame for all changes, though i think she gives the final approval on pieces, so in that sense she is ultimately responsible.)

And yes, i definitely thought the comments were valid. (And one comment was "Great point," so that made me happy.)

[offbalance.livejournal.com]

I would have commited murder for one assitant, let alone TWO.

Maybe. I dunno. I'm too much of a control freak, I think...

(I always loved it when I got 'great point.' as a comment. hee!)