Evan asked me to write on the blog in a more personal nature. I am at a bit of a loss for words and in a bit of a rush to get back to the office, so here is a short bit. Since yesterday morning, a couple of students, including myself, began to fast to express our solidarity with professors Dr. Norman Finkelstein and Dr. Mehrene Larudee, and to display to the university administration our determination and self-control. The last thing I ate was left over Chinese BBQ pork and Chinese sausage with some rice, and a mix of light and dark soy sauce. It was really delicious except that when I got home yesterday evening my brother was finishing the rest. Of course, it would have gone bad in a week or so, anyways.
There aren't many opportunities for me to fast, though Buddhists monks have always told me that fasting is a personal display of self-restraint, as a path to understanding. That is the approach I take to this protest. I have spent time meditating on the events of the past few weeks and on self-reflection, and I have only been emboldened in my protest. I feel hunger, of course, though I do not feel any desire to eat. This fast have given me greater clarity in this quest.
Thank you for your interest in our cause... I apologize if this is kindof a weird post. Take it easy...
-Vic
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6 comments:
Dear Mr. Finkelstein's supporters,
Mr. Finkelstein professes to be a proponent of free and unrestricted speech. Why hasn't he linked to the Chicago Sun-Times article and the minority report from the DePaul tenure committee about his alleged sexism? Why did he selectively leak only the majority report? How can his readers accurately gauge the wisdom of DePaul's decision to deny him tenure without all of the available information?
We, his readers, are left to conclude that the reasons provided in the report are accurate reasons for his denial of tenure.
Sincerely,
Charles Johnson
I admire your fast, Vic. I have often fasted when things have troubled me. However, I hope the fast does not mean that you are not going to eat at *all* during the period of the fast. Fasting should be from sunrise to sunset. Eat before sunrise, and eat after sunset, than fast the next day. You can keep up a fast like that for months. Another option is to fast every other day. I think it will actually make the cause stronger, because you would be able to extend the period of the fast. Many religions define fasting continously in exactly the terms I have described to you.
Keep up the good fight!
Peace.
Charles:
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the minority report. The fact is that no one really knows how the minority report was leaked out, though faculty in the Political Science dept were expressly forbidden from distributing it. Nontenured faculty in the dept despite being in the personnel committee have also not seen it. It is under very tight wraps. The truth is I have never read a copy myself and am very eager to read the whole thing. While the Sun Times may have a copy, we don't.
You are right, there are no ways to accurately gauge the reliability of the decision, we have not been given the chance to see the minority report! From faculty that have told me they know the minority report, they said that President Holtschneider's letter to Finkelstein almost exclusively cited from the minority report. Of course there is no way to know because we have nothing to compare to.
I talked with a different senior faculty, and there is a rebuttal written by the majority in response to the minority report, which was handed to the Dean and the President but was not put in the file. The reason? Because the rebuttal was not delivered by Finkelstein himself, but the senior faculty who helped write it.
At this time, we are left to conclude that provided in the report are only a part of the real story - we are not allowed access to the minority report.
If you have any further questions please feel free to continue posting questions. I hope to try to answer then to the best of my abilities.
Vic,
are you still fasting? Why are you fasting?
Are you in touch with the professors who took issue with the decision?
The world wants to know.
Thanks
Adam
Vic,
are you still fasting? Why are you fasting?
Are you in touch with the professors who took issue with the decision?
The world wants to know.
Thanks
Adam
Vic,
are you still fasting? Why are you fasting?
Are you in touch with the professors who took issue with the decision?
The world wants to know.
Thanks
Adam
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