This week, parents of students at the University of California at Berkeley took the extreme step of hiring private security to protect their children at the school after years of complaints over rising crime and anti-police policies. The university, however, is focused this week on another threat that has led students to object that they no longer feel safe on campus: the dating advice offered by Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Professor Jonathan Shewchuk in response to a query from a student.
Professor Shewchuk is known as a bit of a quirky character at the school, as illustrated by his long maintaining that he identifies as a “Smith & Wesson 460XVR .45 caliber revolver.” He has also suggested pronouns for himself that are a bit unconventional: “death/deathem/deathself.”
None of that has endeared the tenured professor with the far left faculty and students at Berkeley.
Recently, however, this all came to a head after a student asked for advice on both the inability to find a date in the Bay Area and the fears of finding work in computer science. On the dating question, Shewchuk pointed the student to prospects “out of the Bay Area.” He explained that “you’ll be shocked by the stark differences in behavior of women in places where women are plentiful versus their behavior within artillery distance of San Jose and San Francisco.’
That comment was immediately declared offensive and “blatantly misogynistic.” CS 189 student Rebecca Dang was interviewed and reportedly said that she felt unsafe on campus due to the advice.
The university quickly condemned the comment as “threatening” to students and women. UC Berkeley spokesperson Roqua Montez declared “We want to be absolutely clear that the offensive content of the original post goes against the values and Principles of Community we adhere to at UC Berkeley. The comment was hurtful and threatening to students – particularly women – in his class and beyond.”
Shewchuk removed the posting and apologized to the school. He has previously won teaching awards at the school. However, many want him fired as a threat to students.
Junior Noemi Chulo has reportedly begun the process of drafting grievances on behalf of Academic Student Employees through the local UAW 4811 against UC Berkeley, as creating a hostile work environment by employing Shewchuk.
Shewchuk’s own teaching assistant Lydia Ignatova denounced him as furthering discrimination against women and nonbinary people in EECS.
I can certainly see why the comment was offensive to many. However, the call to fire the professor stands in sharp contrast to how controversial comments on the left are often handled in higher education, including in the California system.
Radical professors are often lionized on campuses. At the University of California Santa Barbara, professors actually rallied around feminist studies associate professor Mireille Miller-Young, who physically assaulted pro-life advocates and tore down their display.
We have also seen professors advocating “detonating white people,” denouncing police, calling for Republicans to suffer, strangling police officers, celebrating the death of conservatives, calling for the killing of Trump supporters, supporting the murder of conservative protesters, and other outrageous statements. University of Rhode Island professor Erik Loomis defended the murder of a conservative protester and said he saw “nothing wrong” with such acts of violence. The university later elevated Loomis to director of graduate studies of history.
Berkeley has a long history of treating liberal and conservative speakers and academics differently in such controversies. The blog is replete with examples of the intolerance and bias at Berkeley. It has lost major court rulings due to its unconstitutional treatment of conservative speakers. Nevertheless, student groups at Berkeley have pledged to block pro-Israel speakers for years as threatening to many on campus. Even liberal speakers with pro-Israeli views have been cancelled at Berkeley.
We previously discussed how a Berkeley physicist resigned after faculty and students opposed a presentation by a UChicago physicist due to his questioning the impact of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The school has long employed faculty with radical left ideologies, including professors like Professor Zeus Leonardo who has discussed the need “to abolish whiteness.” That is not viewed as making white students feel unsafe. Conservative sites have previously criticized Leonardo for inflammatory statements, including a guest lecture at George Washington University where I teach. At GWU, Leonardo argued that children are born “human” and then are “bullied” into becoming white: “They were born human. Little by little, they have to be abused into becoming white humans. This abuse is sometimes physical … such as being bullied into whiteness. But also it’s psychological and cultural.”
The students on the campus newspaper have defended for violent resistance against the right. That is particularly threatening after conservatives were attacked on campus. Faculty has joined in declaring that some views are not protected on campus in seeking limits on free speech.
None of this means that comments from conservative or libertarian faculty are not worthy of criticism, but the response to such comments appears far more pronounced in controversies involving conservative, libertarian, or contrarian faculty.
“out of the Bay Area.”
When asked why he robs banks, the infamous thief Willie Sutton replied: “Because that’s where the money is.”
When you are looking for a *woman*, you go to where they are — say Tennessee or Texas. If success is your goal, you don’t look to where they are not.
If you find those facts “threatening,” then you have a challenging relationship with reality.
Oops. Forgot to sign in.
Sam said: “Oops. Forgot to sign in.”
I have seen several such referenceS to “signing in”, which to me implies a site registration process. I am uncertain whether I would want to register in that way or not, but I have looked, and I can find no evidence of such a process anywhere on this site. Or were you referring to tagging a post with email and name, then saving that information for the remainder of the browser session?
I think their reaction proved his point. You want to have a normal dating life you have to get away from the wackos at the university and the city in general
So, the Berkely imbeciles are angry with the good Professor for a simple restatement of the law of supply and demand? I suspect he knew what the reaction would be when he made the statement, and was deliberately amusing himself at their abject stupidity. Of course, pretty much the identical set of imbeciles would strenuously object to articulating that law, as well. but first they would need to gain about 20 IQ points each to understand what was being said.
Truth. True truth is the anecdote to this cult spell. That is why radicals fear truth and freedom of speech. They live in a bizarre, thin bubble.
E.M.
Well said.
“True truth is the anecdote to this cult spell.”
That ^^ should be a bumper sticker or T-shirt.
HA! His comment was awesome!
And their response that is comment made them feel “unsafe” on campus is idiotic and moronic. These snowflakes have the emotional maturity of a angst filled teenager and will continue to do so for as long as us normal people continue to give into them.
What they are truly butt hurt is his advice was spot on. Want to find “normal” people to date, gotta get out of the insane asylum that is Berkeley.
UpstateFarmer said: “These snowflakes have the emotional maturity of a angst filled teenager”
I’m not sure that is fair to angst filled teenagers.
Number 6,
You have a point there.
Angst filled teens have an excuse for their condition.
These people do not.
Difficult to watch.
Day after Day, an entire Generation of Americans hanging themselves with the noose of hypocrisy.
And when the tidal flow of Humanity turns away, they will find themselves washed up,
left out, on the beach unable to swim, slowly to die, as Anglo World fades away and the Latino World arrives to domination.
Thereupon which, the new victor will fight back the waves of Mandarin and Bengali & Hindi.
One Hundred Years from now [2124] the United States should it survive will be a completely different place.
That’s 1 Lifetime from the Day.
Will lessons be learned or lost?
*Spanish is the world’s second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese
Very much on topic, this article today:
If one studies the archetypal ideals of the hero’s journey (a hallmark of the male power fantasy), what we almost always find are stories of self sacrifice. Power for most men is meant to be used in service to others; to protect and to provide for those who cannot protect themselves. This symbolism is found everywhere in literature, television and movies centered on powerful and popular male figures. Rather than being “toxic,” men are compelled by their inherent relationship to power to achieve something greater for all the people around them.
The female power fantasy, unfortunately, is very different. For feminists in particular, great power means never having to take responsibility for anything ever.
When fictional women with power are written by women (specifically feminists) or woke activists, you will see a considerable juxtaposition when it comes to how that power is attained and used. A female power fantasy does not inspire a woman to be a hero. In fact, when feminists write protagonists they often act like villains – They tend to be selfish, narcissistic, they lack depth and lack the redeeming qualities associated with principled people. When women fantasize about power they are more likely to reflect psychopathic traits instead of nurturing feminine traits.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/delusional-feminist-power-fantasy-relies-male-charity-and-tolerance
and this video! ROTFLMAO!
Help me someone!! A professor used words i don’t like!! I feel unsafe!! Is there a safe space nearby where i can go cry and get counseling!!?? Not fair!!
Words scare liberals….the biggest collection of effeminate, wimpy cowards the country has ever had the misfortune to experience.
“I can certainly see why the comment was offensive to many.”
I don’t see how, at all. Comments like this only make things worse.
Floyd,
My take on the comment was, in order to find someone desirable to date, they would have to look far outside the Berkeley bubble. Which, based off their response to the professor’s comment, was accurate.
Those within the Berkeley bubble have the emotional maturity of a angst fill teen. Of course no one would find them attractive. So, his advice to leave the bubble to find desirable attractive people offended them.
Thing is, it has nothing to do with the student seeking the advice or the professor. These snowflakes, by their own doing, make themselves undesirable and unattractive.
As a woman, I don’t even understand what was supposed to be offensive about the statement. Further, it appears that the comment was a response to a request for dating advice. Why ask for advice if you don’t want it? Seems like a setup to me and this guy fell into it. Twitter in general just seems like a professional minefield. People like Professor Turley use it correctly, as a tool to further the reach of their commentary but don’t engage in nonsensical banter that profits them nothing.
FREE PETER NAVARRO!!
Peter Navarro did not show-up after receiving a subpoena to appear before a Congressional Committee. If you or I blatantly and publicly refused to obey one, we’d be in jail too. He needs to get off his high horse and do his time, as do the others who did the same.
Like Eric Holder?
Like Scunter Biden?
Yeah, only people like Eric Holder can get away with things like that.
“If you or I blatantly and publicly refused to obey one, we’d be in jail too.” Well…I guess you would have to ask Lois Lehrner, Eric Holder and Hunter Biden about their jail experiences.
Anonymous, another piece of garbage that won’t name himself, is a lying partisan hack.
Hey teen girl, at least I have a name (Hullbobby) that people know so that if they don’t like my comments they can either skip them or reply to ME, not one of a hundred people with the same name.
Anonymous is a little girl who won’t, not can’t, pick a name because it is part of her contrarian weirdness that makes her come here every day to disagree with the host and 90% of the readers. ODDBALL!
Conservatives don’t watch Joy Reid and cry at her every day, we CHANGE THE CHANNEL. We do the same with all MSNBC nuts, and CNN fools, and the lying NY Times. But oddball liberals aren’t happy changing the channel or not buying the paper, they NEED to shut down opposing views because a) they are week little fascists, b) their arguments are lousy and c) you can’t win when you are holding a pair of 2s and the other guy has a full house.
HullBobby,
Well said! Great comment!
This particular one of the Anonymi may be the one with severe OCD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and a good dose of Anti-social personality disorder on the side. If so, he/she/it can not get over being banned previously, and has to act out in an oppositional fashion. I would love to get a look at the crawl space under the house, assuming that they are not posting from the community room at a psychiatric facility. A cyberstalker is like a woman, who has been rejected by a lover, and now watches his house to see what other new chicks the dude is messing with. A really sick type of person, who can’t take, “You’re Banned!”, for an answer.
HullBobby,
See this one?
California proposes restricting ‘influential’ anonymous online speech
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/california-proposes-restricting-influential-anonymous-online-speech
All the anonys might have to get screen names if this kind of thing catches on.
IIRC, there have been some calling for similar laws in Congress.
Never said I supported it.
For that matter, I am against it.
I was only pointing out the bill and others in Congress have called for similar laws.
This follows Democrats fascist drive against the 1stA.
@Anonymous
Even your insults are lame. 🥱
UpstateFarmer said: “California proposes restricting ‘influential’ anonymous online speech”
Saw that this morning. Thought it might prove interesting reading material for SCOTUS justices as they ponder their Murthy v. Missouri decision(s). That regulation would definitely have a potential chilling effect on whstleblowers and others who might have very good reason to avoid personal identification. Might also be interesting to the sites that have been lackeys for the government on suppressing speech, since a requirement to verify user identity would non-trivially add to per user maintenance costs. (If there is no verification requirement put on sites, the entire exercise is only cosmetic). It would be somewhat gratifying to see those sites receive their share of the punishment in spite of their toadying tactics.
Twitter: the Ready, Fire, Aim Network
“Safety” is the facetious buzzword with which these little unaccomplished, privileged pajama thugs shield their poisonous machinations. Quiver with manufactured fear so you can claim victimhood and ruin reputations, livelihoods, and lives. It is practiced by the Left from top to bottom. These corrupt Leftist hotbeds are beyond reform. They must be refunded, dismantled, and eradicated.
Cionnath, you are exactly right. They aren’t worried about their safety when their mommies and daddies have to hire guards to protect them from the results of their own voting habits, they only are worried about the thoughts and words of the “other”.
This is the same game that the little girls at the NY Times played with the opinion column by Sen Cotton. They fretted that they were worried about their safety because a Senator said maybe we need the NG to stop the burning and looting of our cities. Of course 6 months later Pelosi and Mayor Bowser called out the NG and…not a peep.
‘Pajama thugs’
This is something I’ve been noticing lately. Pajamas in public had already become a thing, now I’m seeing a lot of sub-18 but over-13 year-olds in public places (restaurants, groceries, etc.) dressed in pajamas, with unkempt hair, and carrying/wearing blankets, like they just rolled off the couch. The further infantilization continues, I’m afraid, and their parents, whom they’re with at these times, appear to think it’s just fine. I am not surprised people babied in this fashion can’t keep it together in life, and I’m not surprised they can’t date or hold a job.
James,
“Pajamas in public had already become a thing, now I’m seeing a lot of sub-18 but over-13 year-olds in public places”
I saw that at an airport!
The offended students are doomed to a sad and pain-filled life which, except for sociopaths, is the natural outcome of a self-centered, woe-is-me world view. Parents be aware!
Well there is also reality and then there is Berkeley. I had to correct my spelling from my previous post.
Think of the Multiverse out there and Berkeley as one of the most strange of destinations.
GEB said: “I had to correct my spelling from my previous post.”
After locating your misspelling, it cause me to wonder if the nickname “Berserkely” might not be appropriate for that place?
Since when does an allegedly controversial statement amount to a physical threat? Those who feel “unsafe” should probably seek counseling.
Nobody feels unsafe. The reality is some chick didn’t like his joke. She groused about it to other chicks. They decided to use their female privilege to punish him.
We all know that’s what is going on.
The chicks want to use their power to deprive him of his livelihood – for an unapproved joke.
Their reaction actually proves that his sarcasm is based in reality. What self respecting male would want to date Rebecca Dang, Noemi Chulo, Lydia Ignatova?
Frankly I thought the Professors answer was imaginative and funny. The correct next question to the professor should have been “is the artillery piece a 75 mm, a 105 mm, or 155 mm. Actually with those caveats his answer is quite lucid and accurate except for the brain dead snowflakes that surround him in Berkerley. Next question is “Do they have principles any more at Berkerley?”. I’ve vigorously been searching far and wide for the last 15 minutes and can find no lucid statement of principles from Berkerley.
The professor’s answer on dating was almost as good as asking a west German how far it was to Paris and the correct answer was “about 3 days march”. That kind of answer would probably have invoked riots at Berkerley because no one would have had any idea what the answer meant, plus they don’t have a clue about history.
One day those students trying to force him out will face the same thing. They will be judged in the same manner they judged others.
Free speech for me but not for thee
and to think…berkeley birthed the FREE SPEECH MOVMENT of the mid60s-early 70s!! now i know why people think im a right wing extremist!!!
You have to wonder at what point students and faculty actually work on the task at hand, education in their assigned fields.
None of this tomfoolery is going to help students succeed in the job market.
Darren Smith said: “None of this tomfoolery is going to help students succeed in the job market.”
Another 4 years of Democrats in control and facilitating this kind of decadent self-indulgence, in pursuit of the objective of bringing our entire society and culture down around our ears, and there might not be anything resembling a real job market.
Number 6,
“. . . objective of bringing our entire society and culture down around our ears, and there might not be anything resembling a real job market.”
That is why I continue to support the idea of two societies, operating in parallel, which never meet.
Leave all these woke leftists in their bubble while the rest of us go on with our own society that is productive and succeeds.
UpstateFarmer said: “two societies, operating in parallel, which never meet.”
That’s a great concept. The implementation details could prove challanging. If we could convince all of the woke insane to migrate to Cali, tactical nukes in the San Andreas fault might be worth a try. I’ve seen speculation that Biden’s “supplies” Red Sea port is actually intended to allow the Israelis to get rid of the Palestineans by setting them adrift on large unpowered ships or barges. That has potential application to your idea as well. The woke obviously believe that their mere wishes can be expected to result in real world events, so let propel their vessels to some pleasant clime by wishing, and wish food and water to materialize on deck (and human waste to dematerialize). It would be a highly interesting experiment.