About two years ago, Chapman University recruited Vernon Smith, who’d won the Nobel Prize in economics. Last year, Chapman hired Yakir Aharonov, who has been named by Thomson Reuters as one of the seven most likely people to win the Nobel in physics this year….Really? You wanna know?
Smith, 82, and Aharonov, 76, are still active, but they’re in the twilight of their long careers. Major research schools, like UC Irvine, rarely hire eminent figures who are over the age of 60….
We’d like to know what you think of Chapman’s recruiting practices.
Inside Higher Ed has a story today about political correctness: A Tale of Two Posters.
At Tufts University, … Two weeks ago, In-Goo Kwak, a freshman studying international relations and an immigrant from South Korea, put up a series of posters around his dormitory parodying the campaign poster of Alice Pang, another freshman of Asian descent who was running for the Tufts Community Union Senate. Kwak was not actually running for a student government position, but posted the parody next to Pang’s at the encouragement of his dorm mates….
Pang’s poster included the campaign slogan, “small person, big ideas,” with the exclamation “hurrah!” next to her portrait. Kwak’s parody poster looks strikingly similar in design to Pang’s and includes the slogan “squinty eyes, big vision.” Next to Kwak’s portrait is the word "kimchi!" – a traditional Korean dish. Additionally, where Pang's poster read "vote on Thursday," Kwak's said, “Prease vote me! I work reary hard!” in deliberately broken English….
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“Though this was a satire of [Pang’s] poster, this was not a personal insult in any way,” Kwak said. “I thought it would be funny to satire the oppressive environment of political correctness at Tufts. I think it’s unhealthy that people feel afraid to express their views. One of the Asians on my hall saw the poster and showed it all over campus and eventually the director of the Asian American Center contacted me, but not one of the students who found this offensive contacted me directly. Instead, they had someone else do it.”
Linell Yugawa… did send an e-mail to the entire Tufts community denouncing Kwak's parody, which she called “racist.”
“Many Asian/Asian Americans and individuals of other racial backgrounds have been angered, hurt, and offended by these posters,” Yugawa wrote in a letter co-signed by directors of other groups at the university, such as the Latino Center and the LGBT Center. “The posters not only mocked an authorized campaign poster, but used negative and racist stereotypes that correlate with the discrimination and dehumanization of Asians. These posters go beyond affecting one individual or group, but offend all who have an understanding of how racist stereotypes impact our lives.
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The Tufts administration had a more reserved response to the matter, preferring to let student groups facilitate the discussion Kwak’s poster has stirred.
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Kwak … said that he has since apologized to Pang, explaining the purpose behind his poster, and that she graciously accepted his apology. Pang did not respond to requests for comment.
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“People are so afraid to talk about this or to express their support of my poster because they’re afraid of getting in trouble with one of the groups on campus,” Kwak said. “And this is happening on a college campus, where people should be comfortable sharing their views. I mean, I was [comfortable]. I put my name on the poster in big letters. There’s this taboo against the discussion of racial issues. I’m not going to be afraid to talk about them, and I’m not going to back down.”….
