Stanford campus in uproar over fellowship for Rumsfeld

[cal04]

Academics and students at California's prestigious Stanford University have launched a vigorous protest against the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as a visiting fellow to a right-wing campus think-tank, saying the former defence secretary and architect of the Iraq war offends their ideals of truth and tolerance.

Mr Rumsfeld's appointment as a one-year visiting fellow to the Hoover Institution was announced two weeks ago. Since then, more than 2,300 people on campus have signed a petition calling for the appointment to be revoked – among them an eminent professor of psychology who specialises in the wellsprings of bestial human behaviour.

The professor, Philip Zimbardo, lambasts Mr Rumsfeld in his most recent book, arguing that the defence secretary established the conditions that allowed low-ranking US military personnel to abuse Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Explaining his support for the petition, Professor Zimbardo told The New York Times: "It is unacceptable to have someone who represents the values that Rumsfeld has portrayed, in an academic setting."

The petition, drafted by a history professor, Pamela Lee, reads: "We view the appointment as fundamentally incompatible with the ethical values of truthfulness, tolerance, disinterested enquiry, respect for national and international laws and care for the opinions, property and lives of others to which Stanford is inalienably committed."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2987807.ece

[PSPS]

1. Gee, who could have guessed there would be an uproar over a war criminal being a fellow?

Just having the Hoover Institute on campus is enough of a stain for Stanford. But now they want to bring in war criminals and pretend that they have worth as human beings? Instead of being a fellow, Rumsfeld should be swinging from a lamp post somewhere.

[daninthemoon]

2. Bravo! Any place we can register our support for these folks?

[cal04]

3. Protests over Rumsfeld at Stanford:2651 Signatures on Petition

An online petition contesting the appointment on the grounds that Rumsfeld clashed with the university's core values had more than 2,500 signatures Friday.

"He contradicts the fundamental standards of the university, which are order, morality, personal honor and most importantly, the rights of others," said Pamela Lee, a Stanford art history professor who helped write the petition. "This person has played a critical role in a disastrously failed military policy. He has aggressively abused international law."

To: Stanford University Community
2651 Total Signatures
http://www.petitiononline.com/norummy/petition.html

Thousands of Stanford University students, faculty and alumni are protesting the conservative Hoover Institution's decision to appoint former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a visiting fellow.
http://www.hoover.org/

[Bjorn Against]

4. What better person to understand Rumsfeld than a professor of bestial human behavior n/t

[FloridaJudy]

5. Can they put Rumsfeld in a cage

So that Zimbardo can study him? That really could be educational.

[freeplessinseattle]

6. Isn't Zimbardo the guy who did the prison experiment?

the classic "Standford Prison Experiment" decades ago in which people got into their roles all too well and the experiment had to be ended early for the student's own safety?

[TheModernTerrorist]

7. I was thinking the same thing

and I'm pretty sure it is. He would be someone I would HOPE is against Rummy being there. His work, though now it would be deemed unethical, was amazing, and showed the willingness of the human populace to do horrible things.

[IndyOp]

9. And Phil was the man who ended it for the students' own safety, and since that time

he has worked to understand and teach the profound lessons learned. He spoke out as loudly as he could when Abu Ghraib happened - pointing out that it was high military command and the Bush administration who were to blame for creating the situation. His latest book "The Lucifer Effect" is very important work to which he is dedicating his "retirement" years.

The Lucifer Effect
http://www.lucifereffect.com/

Phil's interview on DemocracyNow! - Friday, March 30th, 2007
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/30/1335257&mode=thread&tid=25

Here is Phil at an anti-war protest at Stanford (1993) -


Former Brig. General Janis Karpinsky (2006)


With Rwanda Pres. Paul Kagami (2004)

[freeplessinseattle]

10. wow, thank you. I had no idea he was still around.

he looks younger than I thought he would be, but maybe I am getting the Milgram obedience to authority experiment from I think the 60's mixed up with it? or maybe Phil was just as impassioned at a young age as he is now and starting making his mark as a young prof-he certainly has the spirit and dedication!

[IndyOp]

14. How's this for coincidence? Stanley Milgram and Phil Zimbardo -

attended the same Brooklyn High School and graduated the same year...

James Monroe High School Yearbook
(June 1950 Graduating Class)
Milgram is 2nd from right in back row; Zimbardo is 7th

[freeplessinseattle]

15. whoa! now that is amazing

must be a heckuva school!

and sure takes care of the age question. maybe being peace oriented helps keep some people young looking.

[Vidar]

13. I'm pretty sure he is. Glad to see he's still around and fighting

against a demon like Rumsfeld.

[alittlelark]

8. Rumsfeld will not enjoy it here....

He can't use his Taos house either...


For some reason ppl just DON'T like him... Jimminy Crippers!!

[tblue37]

11. Zimbardo is the professor who ran the famous Stanford Prison Experiment

that showed how normal, ordinary people turn into absuive sadists or submissive victims just by being randomly labeled as "guards" or "prisoners" in an experimental study.

If you've never read about that experiment, you should. It was sort of a follow-up to the Stanley Milgram obedience experiment, and was also intended as research into how normal people could allow such things as fascism and the Holocaust to happen:
http://www.prisonexp.org/

[sce56]

12. Not the first time Stanford has protested a Bush Regime visit

NEWS UPDATE: Protests force Bush to relocate Hoover meeting; three students detained
April 21, 2006
By Amit Arora
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2006/4/21/newsUpdateProtestsForceBushToRelocateHooverMeetingThreeStudentsDetained
Although President George W. Bush was scheduled to meet with fellows at the Hoover Institution on Friday, the presence of more than 1,000 protestors forced him to change his plans and meet with advisers and faculty members at the residence of former Secretary of State and Hoover Fellow George Shultz on the outskirts of the Stanford campus.

Senior Sean Kendall holds a homemade sign he planned to hold up for the protest. Originally, Kendall was to form a line of mooners to the President, but ultimately settled on the sign.
Adrian Gaitan

Senior Sean Kendall holds a homemade sign he planned to hold up for the protest. Originally, Kendall was to form a line of mooners to the President, but ultimately settled on the sign.
EnlargeEnlarge
Jeb Eddy of Palo Alto holds up a sign protesting President Bush's visit to Stanford.
http://daily.stanford.edu/image/preview/5871?x=225(Editorial note: Jeb Eddy is actually a Democrat who poses as a Republican at several Bay Area events)
Shams Shaikh

Jeb Eddy of Palo Alto holds up a sign protesting President Bush's visit to Stanford. (Editorial note: Jeb Eddy is actually a Democrat who poses as a Republican at several Bay Area events)
A fireman became ...
Plus 1 more image...

More than 100 armed law enforcement and Secret Service officers lined the streets outside of Encina Commons, as students, parents, faculty members and local residents protested Bush’s anticipated arrival on east campus. While the protest was peaceful, three Stanford students—seniors Claire Wagenseil, Diogo Pereira and Caroline Martin— were arrested as police pushed the crowd out of Serra Street.

The protest began at approximately 2 p.m. in White Plaza, where 200 students gathered to make signs and rally against the administration. As they began marching toward Hoover Tower, others joined their ranks and began to chant slogans. By the time the rally reached the Institution at 2:30 p.m., approximately 400 protesters lined the police barriers set around the building.

People continued to join the movement, and the slogans for reform grew louder as time passed. The magnitude of the protest ultimately forced Bush to conduct the meeting at Shultz’s house located on Delores Street.