COULD McCarthyism be making a comeback in the US? If so, it seems the target
this time is not Hollywood and the Communist Party of America, but American
universities.
Writing in February鈥檚 Harper鈥檚 Magazine, editor in chief Lewis
Lapham draws readers鈥� attention to a report he describes as 鈥渁 guide to the
preferred forms of free speech鈥�, entitled Defending Civilization.
Produced by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA)鈥攁 group of
conservatives including Lynne Cheney, the wife of the vice-president鈥攖he
report is subtitled 鈥淗ow our universities are failing America and what can be
done about it鈥�.
The report argues that the universities failed to respond to the events of 11
September with a proper degree of 鈥渁nger, patriotism and support of military
intervention鈥�. Instead of exhibiting American flags and 鈥渃alling evil by its
rightful name鈥�, professors and students succumbed to 鈥渕oral relativism鈥�: 鈥淢any
invoked tolerance and diversity as antidotes to evil,鈥� the report says. 鈥淪ome
even pointed accusatory fingers, not at the terrorists, but at America
颈迟蝉别濒蹿.鈥�
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To prove its point, the report goes on to list 115 subversive remarks that
have emanated from the country鈥檚 campuses since 11 September. These include
blatantly treacherous statements like: 鈥淲e should build bridges and
relationships, not simply bombs and walls鈥� (Speaker at Harvard Law School) and
鈥淚ntolerance breeds hate, hate breeds violence and violence breeds death,
destruction and heartache鈥� (Student, University of Oklahoma).
To counter this kind of 鈥渕oral equivocation鈥�, the ACTA recommends that
colleges and universities adopt compulsory courses on American history and 鈥渢he
great works of Western civilization鈥�. What it doesn鈥檛 say is whether such
courses would include a segment on the great works of the House Un-American
Activities Committee back in the 1950s.
IT SOUNDS like a Zen meditation technique, or possibly something out of
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The journal Neurologia (vol 16, p
272) carried a paper by Bordas Barraquer entitled 鈥淥n the duality of the sign of
fanning of the toes鈥�.
惭肠顿翱狈础尝顿鈥橲 is currently running an extensive advertising campaign in Britain
that proclaims 鈥�40312 possible combinations鈥� and shows eight photographs of
different 99p foodstuffs. But reader Sally Baker point out that in fact there
are only 255 possible combinations of eight foods. There are, however, 40,320
permutations鈥攏ot 40,312, as the ads suggest.
These permutations include, for example, having a hot dog followed by a
McFlurry, as distinct from having a McFlurry followed by a hot dog. But
McDonald鈥檚 has apparently not included the possibility of people having just one
of any of the eight items, and hence obtain only 40,312.
Baker concludes that the statement should be altered to 鈥�40,320 possible
permutations鈥� or 鈥�255 possible combinations鈥�, and adds that if McDonald鈥檚 thinks
鈥減ermutations鈥� is too difficult a word, then it should be made aware of the
content of the GCSE maths syllabus that is required knowledge for English
16-year-olds.
READER Tony Box tells us that our mention of a headline in the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer (19 January) reminded him of his favourite British
headline over the Christmas holiday season, from The Times: 鈥淎ustralian
police hold two over Bush fires鈥�.
IT鈥橲 BAD ENOUGH that aspiring students have to worry about colleges accepting
their applications. They also have to worry about e-mail servers forwarding
letters of acceptance.
After last autumn鈥檚 anthrax scare, Harvard University decided that e-mail was
the best way to notify applicants for early admission to the freshman class. In
early December, the college duly sent out nearly 6000 responses, including
several dozen to applicants with AOL addresses.
AOL鈥檚 computers decided that they looked like electronic junk mail, or spam,
so they deleted all the messages鈥攆orcing anxious applicants to call
Harvard to find out what happened. AOL says it fights a continual battle against
spam, but an embarrassed spokesperson told the Boston Globe: 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard
to say what would have caused the system to filter e-mail from Harvard.鈥�
THANKS to reader Anthony Daniel for drawing our attention to a new extension
to Britain鈥檚 National Health Service. An article in his local newspaper, the
Sevenoaks News in Focus recently explained the reasons for a projected
downgrade of the local maternity services. 鈥淭he consultant specialist鈥�, it said,
鈥渨as hoping to set up an infidelity clinic which would benefit hundreds of
couples living in the Sevenoaks area.鈥�
THE APPLICATION form for joining Tesco鈥檚 鈥淲orld of Wine鈥� club asks you to
tick boxes indicating your dietary preferences, such as vegetarian or kosher.
One of the options given is 鈥渢eetotal鈥�.
THE SPECIAL handling instructions that come with a Citizen watch warn users:
Do not wear this watch in the presence of chemicals and gases
RISK DIGEST, the online news provider, tells us that the Chesterfield and
North Derbyshire Royal Hospital admitted last month that it had mistakenly sent
letters to 30 patients telling them they were pregnant. Six of the patients were
elderly men.
The hospital鈥檚 system operator had intended to inform them that their
operations had been postponed, but had chosen the wrong option when setting up
the computer to generate the letters.
FINALLY, the manual for the Rank Xerox System 35 Document Centre (that鈥檚 a
printer/copier) helpfully informs users that two-sided output on transparencies
is 鈥渘ot recommended鈥�.
In the same vein, the tray for transparencies in the Tektronix Phaser 360
printer carries the warning 鈥淧rint on one side only鈥�.