Bill Carnagey, "you got it" when you compare Singer to Rush Limbaugh...
all marketability; little substance. I'd also add to RL, Camille
Paglia, the obsessively contrarian ultra-conservative version of a
feminist...who was once summed up by the Village Voice as "the perfect
infotainment celebrity" due to her talent for giving good sound bytes,
for reporters eager for the quick quote.
I am also of some mind to agree with Phyllis, in that everything we
state to the public does not have to revolve around Singer, (it esp.
does not have to involve having him "share the stage") and thereby, give
him further prominence. We also have the option to just directly say
what we DO think, to the public.
Last thought on Princeton & Singer: What professor, of equal status to
the "chair" they instantly gave Singer --- is bringing students the
opposite academic POV?
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On Princeton (but not Singer)
Princeton has a School of Architecture.
I visited it recently, to hear a guest lecture by an architect. The
"Architecture Building" is a modern-looking building, or 2 or 3
stories.... with an accessible lecture hall, offices, etc. on the ground
floor. When it was time to leave & call a taxi, it turns out the only
pay phone was on the inaccessible 2nd floor. As are the "studios".
Princeton has a "studio-based" design program, in which students are
assigned desks in a common studio, and you do your design work there.
(Not at home, or in the dorm.) So you learn from seeing other students'
work... which is displayed over their desks.... therefor -- you can
learn plenty, and get inspired to work harder, just by a casual tour of
the studio and by seeing all the interesting models, drawings, etc.
But I was told that there is no elevator, and you can only get up there
by climbing the stairs. Therefor, any claims that a student who cannot
climb these steps, is getting an "equal education", by working at home &
bringing in the work... wouldn't be true.
How design is taught:
A look at the school's website, and list of undergrad architecture
courses, does not show any on Universal Design / "accessibility", etc.
Of course the standard defensive reply of schools that are negligent in
this area, would be (like the spaghetti sauce commercial) "It's IN
there." Somewhere. Hidden in courses whose descriptions never mention
it?
So, if Princeton is training architects of the future, to not perpetuate
the building of more "barriers" to environmental accessibility for
all... I don't see it on their architectural school's web site. Perhaps
someone should bring this up, the next time the President of Princeton
puts his "no ableism" public "spin", on their coronation of Singer as a
high-ranking ethics professor, with instant tenure.....
To see these course descriptions for yourself, GO TO
http://campuscgi.princeton.edu.80/~scg/dept/arc/all.shtml ("changed
Thurs. Oct. 14, 1999) ...OR... go to www.princeton.edu and click
on the upper left "Search" Screen shows 3 search engines.... using the
middle one, enter "Architecture". The short list of items found will
include "Architecture, All Courses" and Architecture, Fall Courses".
Very few schools of architecture in the US (I think maybe 2?) require
students to take a course in Universal Design. Maybe a dozen offer it
as an optional elective. So, the percentage of students graduating with
a "first professional degree" in architecture, who have had exposure to
Universal Design, would certainly be less than 10%.
Jim L. Davis
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