By Saswat Pattanayak

Jayson Blair is the latest disgrace. But the unparalleled publicity he is getting is beyond reason. And the breeding ground for such a claim to defame is incidentally my college.

What should not come as surprising is that we breed journalists to be truthful, and credible, instead of socially relevant and useful.

Hence with much stress on these unattainable traits as truthfulness (unattainable since nowhere does a single truth exist anyway) the first casualty is honesty. And of course if Blair and his types only understood that journalism has a mission to serve the society rather than their own interests as career professionals, things would be different. The social responsibility explains the conducts of people in a way that self-growth syndrome cannot.

Secondly, the schools expecting huge amount of money and commitment from students of course function as big business houses. And they instill a sense of arrogance (like Maryland says “Fear the Turtle&rdquo than a sense of duty. They lead the students to use education for a personal career rise using competitive yardsticks instead of using education as a utilitarian means to promote cooperative understandings.


Anyway, contextually speaking, Baltimore Sun has an extensive report on who created the genius!

Tags: Saswat, Media, Technology

For sure, always a relevant review.

Dustin Langley in Workers reviews Deacons for Defense:

"My name is Charles Sims. I'm 43 years old and I fear no man. Some of
you may leave disappointed. I'm a fighter, not a speechmaker."

These are the real words that the founder of Deacons of Defense used to
introduce himself in 1964 as he spoke about the struggle in Bogalusa,
La. These words, backed by weapons and the determination of the African
American community to defend themselves against racist attacks, won a
powerful victory over the status quo of the Jim Crow South in the mid-
1960s. Read More...

Tags: Saswat, Film, Black Power, History

Now in its 22nd year, the Socialist Scholar's Conference is the largest annual gathering of the US left. Two days of more than sixty panels will feature leading activists and thinkers discussing the quagmire in Iraq, the future of the global justice movement, the drive to unseat George W. Bush and a raft of crucial political and economic issues.

Program details are as follows:
March 12-14, Cooper Union fo the Advancement of Science and Art
7 East 7th Street, New York City
For ticket information, schedules and directions, please call 212-817-7868 or click here.


Speakers this year include The Nation's Naomi Klein, William Greider, Doug Henwood, Liza Featherstone and Ian Williams as well as Laura Flanders, Manning Marable, Marshall Berman, Hilary Wainwright, Christian Parenti, Dilip Hiro, Frances Fox Piven, Greg Palast and Micah Sifry, among many others.

Check out the full line-up here.

Tags: Saswat, Communism, Academic

Doing an internship with the Office of Human Relations Programs. This is the President's Office for Equity and Diversity.

Currently producing materials for a program called Social Justice from Classroom to Community!
Whoa...thats a useful name for a university program.

Tags: Saswat, Academic

James M. O'Neill writes on how Penn grad students authorize a strike

Graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania, seeking recognition to
unionize, last night voted to hold a strike on the Ivy League campus on
Thursday and Friday. Union organizers said last night that 83 percent of
more than 200 students attending voted to go ahead with a strike. "It's a
measure of the frustration we have with the university's legal obstruction,"
said graduate student spokesman Dillon Brown. "It also shows that graduate
students are eager to demonstrate how much they want their votes to be
counted."

Tags: Saswat, Communism, Academic

In a national phone survey between March 12 and May 20, 2003, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that more than 53 million American adults or 44% of adult Internet users have used the Internet to publish their thoughts, respond to others, post pictures, share files and otherwise contribute to the explosion of content available online. 21% of Internet users say they have posted photographs to Web sites. 13% of Internet users maintain their own Web sites. Around 7% have Web cams running on their computers that allow other Internet users to see live pictures of them and their surroundings.

Read all about it here.
As always Interesting stuff, this Pew research. Wondering what they mean by "American adult Internet users". This is funny but I must confess, after reading thousands of opinion polls, I see I am never intereviewed for a poll in life. Just a sheer coincidence or an exalted call to an idea that I am one in a million.

Tags: Saswat, Technology, Media, Academic

Australian aboriginal activist Michael Anderson has stirred some feathers for sure!

Shouting at top of his voice that Australia does not deserve to be on the UN human rights body, he has a question: How can a racist country like Australia have a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Commission, much less chair it?

Well, I must say I am listening to Anderson, who is a facilitator of the Gumilaroi/Euahlayi Aboriginal Nations (they're one of the largest Australian Aboriginal groups, numbering 15,000 people)

Anderson says, "Australia is yet to admit to its racist past and accept responsibility. Their constant denial of what they did to us, the Indigenous people, is in fact a crime against humanity that also disqualifies them from sitting in judgment on any other regimes of the world."

Well here is the context. Appears that Australia's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Mike Smith, has just been appointed as chairman of the U.N. Human Rights Commission for 2004.

More quotes from Anderson, as I found on my cyber journey:

‘Given the fact that they continue to have outstanding matters to deal with from the fallout of the 1998 Native Title amendments, Australia are now in a position to cover up their inactivity on the recommendation made by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).’

For the uninitiated, CERD has accused Australia of genocide in the past, too.

‘The government cries crocodile tears over the treatment of white farmers in Zimbabwe, while in Australia they’re granting bucketloads of extinguishments of Native Title interests in favour of European farmers, assuring security and certainty for them. What about land security and certainty for Aborigines?’

‘I hope that the people of Australia and other countries who are aware of the real Australia will inundate foreign embassies within Australia and the various UN Human Rights Committees with submissions about the shameful human rights record.’

‘As long as Australia continues to deny its racist treatment of my people they will always be haunted by an unjust past, and our continued presence will hurt because they will be reminded of it every time they look into our faces.’

Tags: Saswat, Australia, Racism, Capitalism, History

Congratulations, Todd!
My friend Todd S Burroughs will be reading out portions of his new chapter in the new most relevant book!

The Book Launch for Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching is taking place on the Wednesday, March 31, 2004, 6:30–8:30 p.m at the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. 633 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20004.


Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching, is a new publication from Teaching for Change and PRRAC (Poverty and Race Research Action Council). The event will be joined by editors, contributors, and Movement activists to celebrate this book that will help students find their connection to the Civil Rights Movement and discover the roles they can play in fighting injustice today!

Dr. Dorothy Height, Chair and President Emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, will grace the occasion as welcoming speaker.

More information on Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching can be found on its companion website. For directions and information about the venue, visit here.

Tags: Saswat, History, Black Power, Academic, Literature