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The University Of Spoiled Children

This story of a sweatshop protest at USC is hilarious. I suspect, though, given that it's the LA Times, that it's unintentionally so:

Thirteen students, who came prepared with food to last three days and pillows, ended their protest after about six hours when the university threatened to suspend them and, in a move that even surprised former 1960s student activist Tom Hayden, called their parents.

"We were prepared for arrest, but not suspension," said Ana Valderrama, a senior in philosophy.

...The students were given 10 minutes to decide whether to end their sit-in — and thus have the whole matter dropped. "We all got scared. You could feel the fear in the room," said Meher Talib, a junior in international relations and one of the protesters.

...To the cheers of about 150 students gathered outside the building, the protesters, some in tears, peacefully walked out. Talib said they were tears of frustration. "I'm upset that we didn't win the campaign," said Talib. "But that doesn't mean the campaign is over."

Emphasis mine. This isn't your parents' protest generation.

Posted by Rand Simberg at April 12, 2007 11:09 AM

Comments

Since Talib was kicked out of the building by the administration should be consider this act a Talib-ban?

Posted by ak47pundit at April 12, 2007 11:34 AM

Wow, how pathetic. Good job for the USC admin who knew how to push the right buttons to end this quickly. Nobody got arrested, nobody got suspended, and school business is pressing ahead.

Posted by Leland at April 12, 2007 11:36 AM

I've always found the approach taken by the University of Chicago during the Admin bldg takeover there in '69 interesting. They did nothing - no arrests, no negotiations, nothing. After two weeks the protesters walked out. The University then expelled every last one of them, along with everyone who had been seen to give them any assistance (food, etc) while they occupied the building. There has never again been a building takeover at Chicago.

Posted by Jay Manifold at April 12, 2007 12:17 PM

It is the "courage" of the far left...they do "hunger strikes" which means 'dont eat until you get hungry"...

what a bunch of losers.

Robert

Posted by Robert G. Oler at April 12, 2007 01:39 PM

No, Robert. A hunger strike means no solid foods. You can have smoothies around the clock. Don't believe me, just ask Cindy Sheehan, who gained weight during her last hunger strike.

Apparently they missed the part where Ghandi was prepared to actually die of starvation.

Posted by Leland at April 12, 2007 03:02 PM

Well, this was a sit-in, not a hunger strike...

I still found this part amusing:

"In the end, 12 students and one attorney from the National Lawyers Guild abandoned the sit-in. A 13th student and a second lawyer had left the protest for bathroom breaks and had not been allowed to return."

I laugh at the lack of planning that went into the protest, inasmuch as they didn't think to organize near any sort of restroom facilities.

The letters to each student informing them of their suspension also included a statement that anyone who lived in campus housing was also summarily kicked out as of 9 AM the next morning. I have a feeling that had as much to do with the protestors giving up as the worried calls from their parents.

What a bunch of maroons.

Posted by John Breen III at April 12, 2007 03:10 PM

I don't know if it's appropriate but reading about those kids giving up simply by calling Mommy and telling them they'd be expelled reminded me Kelly Tsai's 'Little Red Book'

...
Is it as funny when the indoctrinated look like you?


Is it as cool, as kitschy, as righteous?


Is it as easy to scream “Revolution now!”

if you knew you’d have to give up some of your shit?


Is Mao still a genius when he tells you that your bougie urban
intellectual ass needs to stop reading books and go out into the fields to work?


Did Mao experiment on your family that to make a better world?


Did you know that communism is not theoretical for everyone?
...

It's a long poem - and it's better on video when she performs it.

Posted by Brian at April 12, 2007 03:44 PM

No, Robert. A hunger strike means no solid foods. You can have smoothies around the clock. Don't believe me, just ask Cindy Sheehan, who gained weight during her last hunger strike.

Posted by Leland at April 12, 2007 03:02 PM

No Leland...try rereading my post...I was MOcking Casey Sheehans mother and the like who I think are a bunch of losers.

Cowards to be exact.

Robert

Posted by Robert G. Oler at April 12, 2007 05:27 PM

Hmmmm... the students were "prepared to get
arrested", but "all got scared" at the thought
of defying a suspension order or an eviction
order?

Weird.

If nothing else, it indicates a certain lack of
realistic psychological preparation for the act
of standing up to the university power structure.

-dave w

Posted by dave w at April 12, 2007 06:13 PM

Somewhere, Baby Che Guvera is crying right now.

Posted by Mike Puckett at April 12, 2007 08:14 PM

Poseurs.

Posted by Ed Minchau at April 13, 2007 01:08 AM

Robert... look up "sarcasm". Then, don't just read my comment, but think a little after reading it. Before you reply back, stop. Spend more time thinking about it. Then, you can try responding.

Posted by Leland at April 13, 2007 07:02 AM

Robert... look up "sarcasm". Then, don't just read my comment, but think a little after reading it. Before you reply back, stop. Spend more time thinking about it. Then, you can try responding.

Posted by Leland at April 13, 2007 07:02 AM

Leland...I owe you an apology...that went right over my head when I read it due in part to what was going on "external" when I read it....

Reading it again, before seeing your post, I got it.

"Courage" is a wonderful thign for the far left...they are always glad someone else has it.

Take Care

Robert

Posted by Robert G. Oler at April 13, 2007 07:17 AM

Fair enough, Robert. Rand, really does need to get those sarcarm tags working, because my attempts usually flounder without them. Some say it is the lack of talent on the writer, but I say it is simply lack of technology.

Posted by Leland at April 13, 2007 08:24 AM

[ sarcasm ] insert sarcasm here [ /sarcasm ]

Posted by Ed Minchau at April 13, 2007 09:05 AM

Posted by Leland at April 13, 2007 08:24 AM

To paraphrase Michelle Malkin...I was having a "ching ching chang chang" moment when I read your post...

With apologies (not really) to Rosie Ching Ching Chang Chang O D...

Casey Sheehan's mom needs either professional help or professional committment to a fracken rubber room. She just dishonors her son everytime she opens her mouth.

(but the Peace house in Crawford seems to need an investigation by the ATtorney General to see where its funds have gone)...
Robert

Posted by Robert G. Oler at April 13, 2007 09:25 AM

USC = University of Spoiled Children

Posted by Fred K at April 13, 2007 10:47 AM

Ummmmm...yes, Fred. That was the title of the post...

Posted by Rand Simberg at April 13, 2007 11:34 AM

Hmmm... 20-20 tactical hindsight: protesting
students have parents in the loop beforehand;
parents have lawyers and process servers standing
by, ready to drop papers in the appropriate
slot in the courthouse etc. Protest area is
surrounded (at various distances) by accomplices
with camera phones.

Protesters, on receipt of "suspension" letters,
respond with "we're not going home just because
you say you're 'suspending' us." If university
tries to enforce suspensions by calling in cops
to drag protesters away, it ends up all over
You-Tube. (If cops start breaking heads to
supress that ugly spectacle, next layer out films
_that_... with enough layers, the information
will escape.)

When parents get phone calls, they respond with
legal action.

Perhaps the university management will remember
that it hates bad PR, and having lawsuits filed
and pending, even worse than it hates having an
issue forced to its attention by student protests.

(Is there an exemption in California landlord-
tenant law for university-owned student housing?
Otherwise, denying housing to a renter on 1 day
notice is highly illegal... 30 days written
notice must be given, and a court petition for
eviction must be filed!)

-dw

Posted by dave w at April 13, 2007 12:22 PM

Posted by dave w at April 13, 2007 12:22 PM

I'll ignore the legal errors in your post (college on campus housing is "at will" by the University...you need to read the print one signs when one gets it)...

but to a larger point campus protest.

this is dumbest thing that one can imagine. A sweatshop protest...ridiculous.

College students are at college to learn, someone is paying tuition for them to learn and that is what they should do. Self aggrandizing their efforts by calling it "bringing to the attention" is just another way of agreeing to bad behavior.

Go to school or go out and protest...take your pick...they are incompatible.

Robert

Posted by Robert G. Oler at April 13, 2007 07:36 PM

There must have been some sort of communication error somewhere. As far as I know, USC neither owns nor operates a sweatshop.

Are these morons even suitable for a university environment?

Posted by Adrasteia at April 14, 2007 12:37 AM

RGO said:
"college on campus housing is "at will" by the University"

OK, thanks for the clarification - as I said, I
didn't know whether colleges had exemption from
CA landlord/tenant law that would otherwise
apply - sounds like you're saying they do.

"College students are at college to learn,
someone is paying tuition for them to learn and
that is what they should do."

IOW, they're _paying customers_ of the college's
instructional services...

Adrasteia:
"As far as I know, USC neither owns nor operates
a sweatshop."

As I understand it, the issue was whether their
suppliers of apparel items (i.e., sweatshirts
with USC logo etc.) do....

-dw

Posted by dave w at April 14, 2007 01:50 PM


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