01 The Gang

[Virtual Bison]

Now, while these folks on the other board keep ranting, shouldn't they be "refuted" by making a bit of them, especially when taking into account the fact that you can't discuss with them in a civilized manner?!

Almost everyone here used to engage in conversation with them on their websites but were banned for their opinions.  Pornographer Chip White, owner of Degreeinfo used to say it wasn't a democracy.  This is a democracy.  Most people here simply don't believe that government provides the best model for higher education nor that they are effective at regulating it.  Government is best at perpetuating a system of more professors working less hours with rapidly rising tuition. 

An example would be George Gollin of the U of Illinois who teaches one intro physics class for around $100,000 per year.  I wonder why the laziest civil servants are the most vocal when it comes to defending a crumbling system?

And being banned at Degreeinfo and that DL Discussion or whatever it was called, was really one of the more mild forms of harassment people here suffered. Some of us were actually harassed at home and at work by assholes. While nobody would admit publicly that they engage in that kind of behavior, it has been known to have happened.

My argument is not about government, per se, but rather about abuses of power by those who can do so. This includes public servants, writers, politicians (both right and left) and all other self-important assholes.

Gollin once tried to defend his use of the University of Illinois website for the purpose of stalking and harassing people who pissed him off. He cited this as his own expression of "academic freedom."

IMHO this is an extreme form of hypocrisy. Think about it. This guy will stalk graduates and others associates of institutions of higher learning that he believes are worthy of his own scorn. Yet he uses "academic freedom" as his defense! A classic example of projection.

I am sure there is a very special place in hell for such people.