Ah-ha-ha-ha! The big projects are done.

[silveradept]

So, it's all done. No more presentations. Just one assignment tomorrow, which is going to be a bit more of a nuisance than usual, I think, considering the amount of concepts I have to consider, as well as the depth of the actual assignment. But, on the plus side, no exams until the 21st, and after this assignment is done, no more assignments, either. Hopefully, the presentation grades come back good for me. It's a conglomeration between the instructors' opinions of me and the class's opinions of me. So I hope that I don't get reamed by either. I don't think I made too many "erm"s and "uh"s. Instead, I tend to cough to clear my throat when nervous. And possibly repeat myself and flutter a bit with gestures. And I was sweating pretty hard up there, for something that doesn't really matter that much. I must need a very good editing and coaching staff if I'm ever going to give presentations, I guess. Hopefully the report impacts the final project grade favorably.

Time for another side-by-side comparison. This is how we demonstrate the schizophrenia of public opinion. (Is that the right diagnosis? I'm not entirely sure, since I've heard that term bandied about considerably by a lot of people, which may take it to mean many different things.) Anyway, on the left, mixed but generally negative reactions to a student being expelled from a Baptist university. because he came out to being gay. On the right (and I now realize what sort of horrible pun I'm making), a student suing her university for the right to express negative opinions of gays without punishment. You make the call on any comparisons.

In the beginning, there was the Command Line... A piece about one person's journey through the evolution of the machines that we know and love, and the operating systems that make them tick, tock, and set up us the bomb. It's a very interesting read - a bit longish, but very cool for those who have an interest in seeing how things can come to pass in the computer world, and who you may need to thank or throttle for things turning out the way they did.

Okay, bedtime now. Have forms to file tomorrow, an assignment to complete, and more refereeing.

Comments

[2dlife.livejournal.com]

Doesn't that depend on whether the University receives government money? I'm not sure how this works, but yes, private universities can discriminate at will.

She's within her rights to express her opinions to a point: slander, libel or abuse would not be justified and could be punishable. In fact, at university, the Fundamental Standard required a base level of respect for others that would allow the university to impose sanctions on such behaviour.

C.

[silveradept]

I believe it does matter whether the private university receives government money - the state and feds impose restrictions on the ways their monies can be spent. If the university has violated those in some way, the state is within its rights to cease funding, and possibly to demand repayment. Beyond that, yes, a private university is not bound by any nondiscrimination statues regarding public institutions.

With regard to the other case, the university is also within its right to impose standards for behavior of its students. We have an additional document that we agree to when we come to courses here, and there's probably something in it that governs the degree to which we can express our own opinions beyond the laws on slader/libel and abuse.

In both cases, I think both universities are within their rights, so long as laws aren't being violated, but I put the two next to each other because it causes a sort of cognitive dissonance for me, forcing me to realize that the rights of free speech do work both ways - if I want the Baptist University (in the perfect world) to tolerate the gay kid, I also need to realize that I'm also saying that the Georgia University has to tolerate the outspoken and vehement Christian, within reason and the bounds of law.

It reminds me a bit of playing Battlefield God when that happens.