Clark University

My alma mater is making big news this week for a controversial decision that stirred up debates on freedom of speech.

A few months ago, the Clark University Students for Palestinian Rights (CUSPR) invited Dr. Norman Finkelstein to speak on campus. Dr. Finkelstein is a controversial scholar who asserts, among other things, that Israel purposefully uses the memory of the Holocaust to grant itself immunity from criticism. He believes that Israel is a huge military power that has been allowed to commit human rights violations (specifically against Palestine) without question from the rest of the world.

Dr. Finkelstein, a child of Holocaust survivors, has views that are certainly controversial. He frequently engages in vigorous academic debate with scholars who do not support Palestine, and at times uses language that can be seen as disrespectful (calling the work of some pro-Israel scholars "nonsense" and "fraud"). However, it seems that Dr. Finkelstein's books are meticulously researched and well-written, and have garnered much praise from Noam Chomsky, among others.

In fact, one could argue that he actually honors the memory of the Holocaust by so adamantly arguing against its exploitation.

Apparently, Dr. Finkelstein was scheduled to speak at Clark on April 21. However, Clark's Hillel protested that the speech fell on Holocaust Remembrance Day. CUSPR was open to this comment and promptly tried to move Dr. Finkelstein's speech to April 23. Apparently, this date was still a problem for the University, as it fell too close to a conference being hosted by Clark's Holocaust Studies department. (This was even though Dr. Finkelstein was NOT scheduled to speak about the Holocaust. Rather, his speech was about the recent conflict in Gaza and the importance of a Palestinian state.)

Enter the President's office of Clark University. During a hastily scheduled tiny meeting, attended only by a few members of the President's office and several members of CUSPR, the President cancelled Dr. Finkelstein's speech altogether. According to members of CUSPR, the President of Clark likened Dr. Finkelstein's views to those of a white supremacist. Of course, the public does not know what was actually said during this clandestine meeting. Clark University's official statement was that the timing of Dr. Finkelstein's speech was "unfortunate." Later on, Clark wavered and decided that Dr. Finkelstein could speak at the University, but only months after the conference for Holocaust Studies.

Apparently, Clark is open to opposing viewpoints only if they are presented months apart.

Technically, this is not an issue of free speech, as Clark is a private institution that is allowed to invite whomever it chooses to speak on campus. I can concede that granting someone the honor of speaking on such a huge platform as a University stage should be considered carefully, and granted only to those who will promote thoughtful debate. I agree that we should probably not invite Matthew Shepard's murderers to speak at Clark (Clark University professor of Holocaust history Deborah Dwork made this comparison).

However, I wonder what message we are sending to up and coming Clark grads, as well as the rest of the world. I personally do not want to have my undergraduate degree from a university that is being associated with censorship. Dr. Finkelstein is a well-educated scholar and a thoughtful debater. It is time for America to hear the argument for Palestine. What better place to do this than a liberal university that claims to embrace diversity?

Economics?

Can someone explain to me how Republicans are against this stimulus package, even though many of these same Republicans approved of the last stimulus package? I don't claim to be any sort of economics expert, but it seems to me that the first stimulus bill entailed handing out billions of dollars to private corporations with absolutely no regulations or oversight whatsoever. This bill, on the other hand, outlines specific plans for the money, and allows for the general public to debate how the money should best be spent. How exactly do you support the first without supporting the second? It baffles me.

Unless, of course, I am just missing something. In which case, please, enlighten me!

I support the Jon Stewart stimulus package, which consists of sending the billions of dollars directly to American citizens so they can pay off their debt. It's win-win; citizens get a clean, debt-free slate, and the banks get cash again. A ridiculously simple plan, but doesn't it just make good common sense?

Partisan politics is so tired. Can't we have a real discussion anymore?

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In other, less important news, have you seen Steve Martin play the banjo? Incredible! The man has infinite talent.

I found Etta James' comments against Beyonce Knowles and President Obama to be in extremely poor taste. The thinly-veiled reference to slavery ("She deserves to have her ass whipped!") was particularly offensive. I know Ms. James is a legend, and that she's getting on in years, but come on! What happened to class?

I am currently in the process of applying to yet another year of externship. Also in the works: two IRB applications and my competency exam. If nothing else, graduate school is a never-ending process of proving, over and over again, that I deserve to be in graduate school.

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Philosophy

Sometimes when clients are starting to get angry at work, I take them for a tour of the hospital, a short walk to calm them down. The other day I was walking an 11-year-old boy around, pointing out the various sites: "There's the lobby... the elevators... the mail room... oh, and there's the doctor's lounge."

"What's that?" he asked.

"The special room where doctors get to go and take a short break during the day."

Then he asked a deeply insightful, probing philosophical question - one that speaks to the very nature of our society: "Where is the janitor's lounge?"

Inauguration

Never before have I watched the Presidential inauguration with the overwhelming feeling of "this is my President. He represents me." Many incredible moments... "Simple Gifts" with Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, normally unshakable Obama giggling before his oath, Obama instantly erasing the memory of the awkward oath with a breath-taking address, Reverend Lowery ending the ceremony with a prayer and a smile, the Obama girls dancing during the parade, and watching Mr. President and First Lady Obama exude pure class during the Inaugural Ball. A beautiful family, a President of incredible depth, and a country I am finally excited to be a part of.

Truly, a new era has begun. Bitterly partisan arguments and finger-pointing seem archaic. The louder Fox News screams and shouts about Obama, the less they are heard. The reporters who throw tantrums about Timothy Geithner missed the boat. This is a time for action, and the blame game has never seemed quite so petty.

Guantanamo closed. Stem cell research legalized. Missiles sent into Pakistan. An enormous stimulus bill. Obama has been President for less than one week and already things are happening. What a time we live in!