Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Might Pitt's Pleas Fall On LRAD-Deafened Ears?

Within hours of Gov. Corbett's Spare-The-Shale, Rod-The-Children budget proposal, the University of Pittsburgh circulated a plea for support, begging alumni and friends to pester legislators. Since the University abandoned its students during and after the G20-related siege of Oakland (left), however, some recipients might have a hard time hearing Pitt's request for help -- even if the University used a military-grade sonic cannon (like the one used on Pitt students without objection from Mark Nordenberg).

Aside: Is there no one left in the English Department who could have proofread a message circulated among alumni, some of whom learned the language before Pitt abridged its writing program?

Infinonytune: Help!, The Beatles

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Even if the governor is just lowballing a first bid, and even if that G-20 thing was not Pitt's shining moment, Pitt funding is too important for a stunt like this.

Deal with your grievance some other time.

JenEngland said...

I'm going to have to disagree vehemently with you on this one Infy. You are conflating PITT, the powerful, with Pitt, the students, teachers, employees, and community. That's like saying Pittsburgh deserves to be screwed because our Mayor is a weenie. This draconian cuts will hurt everyone that works for Pitt from Professors to Janitors. More personally distressing is the promise of drastically skyrocketing tuition. My son is hoping to attend there in a year, but if tuition goes up by more than a few percent, I don't know how we have any hope of paying for it. That is true across the board at the state schools. If all the state school tuitions suddenly sky rocket, we'll have to look out of state for options. What ever Pitt the elder did during the G20, these cuts would have devastating ripples.

Infinonymous said...

The disagreement might not be so deep as perceived.

Pitt does not deserve to be tossed into the volcano. It does deserve to roast on a spit for a bit.

We did not call for the Commonwealth to defund Pitt. We opined that some (the moral, the perceptive) might find it more difficult to join Pitt's outrage at Tom Corbett's poor choices.

Mark Nordenberg's treatment of Pitt students during and after the G20 assault was cowardly, immoral and (as CMU demonstrated, publicly and privately) unnecessary.

Plus, having three -- count 'em -- three List-Makers on the board brands Pitt as a compromised institution, although all three jackasses reached the board as Commonwealth appointees.

To recap. Pitt probably will do better than Corbett's initial jab . . . eventually. Until then, if Nordenberg and other Pitt leaders lose some sleep (assuming enough remnant conscience to cause it, which can safely be dismissed in the context of the List-Maker trustees), great.