[W.F. Lantry]

Originally Posted by Quincy Lehr

the right-wing students who raised a stink when I was at Columbia because a climate scientist made a wisecrack in a lecture about the Bush Administration's environmental policies.

Exactly. This is a much more common, and for more significant, problem. And here's a little tidbit from today's news:

"“I feel as if I would have to compromise my personal Christian moral beliefs to read it,” Brian Grasso wrote on the Duke University Class of 2019 Facebook page, a closed group. He cited its “graphic visual depictions of sexuality,” as part of his reason. “Duke did not seem to have people like me in mind,” he added. “It was like Duke didn’t know we existed, which surprises me.”"

http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement...istian_beliefs

The right complains ceaselessly about trigger warnings and professorial statements, but the right also is ceaselessly saying they shouldn't have to read stuff. How can they have it both ways?

Best,

Bill

[Julie Steiner]

My apologies, John--I completely misread your reply to Andrew.

[John Whitworth]

Not at all, Julie. I am glad you see what I meant. You must admit those percentages are peculiar.

It is now accepted by right-thinking Telegraph readers (that's me) that the incidence of homosexuality in the community is 1.5% Really, I never heard such balls.

[Charlie Southerland]

Yes, Michael Cantor, I do wish to comment on this matter.

College kids are full of piss and vinegar on their very best days. It is a normal consequence of growing up, tweaking the establishment from every side. It is purely angst banging. Some of these young adults bring their brand of deviousness from high school to the college campus just to get a rise out of anyone for their own pleasure. These birds then step back and watch the carnage, drink beer, point their fingers, and laugh their collective asses off, all the while pretending to be serious.It is not a game for the naive to play. Some folks (another commenter or two) in this thread wish to pawn all of this silliness off on politics, left and right, or religion. How silly. These kids are still wet behind the ears. Professors run the risk of annoying these twits every day. Political correctness has run so rampant over the past twenty or so years that adults are scared
sh-tless to confront them. This political correctness is so pervasive and out of control that all of society (except ISIS) seems emasculated.

The same crap is happening to the writing world, especially poets who have been the guard against such crappery. Are there things that we shouldn't see with our eyes? Yep. Are there things we shouldn't hear with our ears? Yep. Are there things we shouldn't say to one another? Yep. But those things are said, heard and seen. Trigger warnings in the poetry here? Show me the monkey virgins who write around these parts. Come on, man. Free speech, Michael, free speech. We don't need no stinkin' warnings. Life is much worse than you can imagine. And better.

[Andrew Mandelbaum]

Sorry John. I should have been clear. I am interested in PTSD. My daughter deals with it. The section of the article that questions whether avoiding triggers is healthy or part of the problem made me look at things from another side. It may not be a good article. I don't know that site. Quincy and Julie's points makes good sense. I will just listen from here out on this. Sorry for my diversion.
Brian, any time you see my name consider it a split infinitive warning and spare us both the interaction.

[Andrew Mandelbaum]

Ha! Part one revoked!!

Charlie :Show me the monkey virgins who write around these parts.

I'm your huckleberry.
Wait....what's a monkey virgin.....?

[Quincy Lehr]

Originally Posted by Charlie Southerland

Yes, Michael Cantor, I do wish to comment on this matter.

College kids are full of piss and vinegar on their very best days. It is a normal consequence of growing up, tweaking the establishment from every side.

Except for those students who aren't particularly political and are in college to do a degree and get a job, as well as those who are more thoughtful and intellectually engaged without being generally anti-Establishment. I can attest to both kinds of student being fairly thick on the ground.

It is purely angst banging. Some of these young adults bring their brand of deviousness from high school to the college campus just to get a rise out of anyone for their own pleasure.

Again, having grown up around a campus (the University of Oklahoma), attended a couple of universities (University of Texas, Columbia), and taught at four of the things in two countries, I have never, not once, encountered a student of which this is true.

These birds then step back and watch the carnage, drink beer, point their fingers, and laugh their collective asses off, all the while pretending to be serious.

I hear they have necking parties without chaperons, too!

It is not a game for the naive to play. Some folks (another commenter or two) in this thread wish to pawn all of this silliness off on politics, left and right, or religion. How silly. These kids are still wet behind the ears. Professors run the risk of annoying these twits every day. Political correctness has run so rampant over the past twenty or so years that adults are scared sh-tless to confront them.

Jeepers! If this were not self-contradictory and not my experience, I'd find it terrifying.

This political correctness is so pervasive and out of control that all of society (except ISIS) seems emasculated.

Society's gone down the tubes because some kid spouted off about something in class or on Facebook while drinking a beer and possibly kissing a girl WHOM HE HAS NO INTENTION OF MARRYING?!? Someone call an exorcist!

The same crap is happening to the writing world, especially poets who have been the guard against such crappery. Are there things that we shouldn't see with our eyes? Yep. Are there things we shouldn't hear with our ears? Yep. Are there things we shouldn't say to one another? Yep. But those things are said, heard and seen. Trigger warnings in the poetry here? Show me the monkey virgins who write around these parts. Come on, man. Free speech, Michael, free speech. We don't need no stinkin' warnings. Life is much worse than you can imagine. And better.

I kind of lost interest by this bit. I mean, I read it, and it didn't hold together any better than what came before.

Blah blah blah.

The discussion's actually interesting at this point. Can you try not to ruin it for a change, Charlie?

[John Whitworth]

Andrew, I am not critical in any way of anything you said The article, IMO, is a crap article for the reasons I put forward.

[Martin Elster]

I didn’t read this whole thread, but noticed a couple of folks mentioned PTSD. Just a few days ago I read this article called “The secrets of extraordinary survivors.” I found it quite interesting.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2015...nary-survivors

[Brian Allgar]

Originally Posted by Andrew Mandelbaum

Brian, any time you see my name consider it a split infinitive warning and spare us both the interaction.

Thank you, Andrew, that's very considerate of you. I shall keep my tranquillizers to hand.