COLLEGES HAVE NO COMMON SENSE by Gary L. Morella

ona Charen in an article entitled "Colleges Have No Common Sense", Conservative Chronicle, January 14, 1998, reports on the trends of leading universities today to take your tax dollars to offer courses (and sometimes majors) in such subjects as "Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Studies," "Queer Lives" and "Sexuality Today." Charen says that many students today are simply "majoring in sex." I would suggest that "majoring in perverse sex" would be more to the point. The evidence she gives is as follows.

According to the NEW YORK TIMES, at the University of Virginia, co-ed pairs of students use Play-Doh (sic) to mold genitals. "If we can discuss the heart, stomach and elbow without embarrassment," explains Susan Tate, who teaches the Play-Doh (sic) course, "we should be able to talk about the penis, clitoris and vagina without laughing."

As an aside, this was the same tack followed by a representative from the AIDS Project of State College Pennsylvania who was allowed to talk to junior HS school students on the lie not only of safe sex, but presumably safe homosexual sex. In order to break the ice, she asked the students to scream out names of genitalia.

Charen asks some interesting questions. "This is an academic subject? How are the students graded, those who show the least embarrassment get A's?"

At Brown University, an Ivy League school, students can major in something called "Sexuality and Society." Charen observes that "even if one could imagine a serious scientific study within the context of psychology or physiology, it's difficult to imagine that there would be sufficient material to comprise a major. The inclusion of the word 'society' gives the game away. This is not an academic discipline. This is propaganda."

The NEW YORK TIMES reports that among the required courses in this field of study are the biology of gender (whatever that means, a problem common to the psycho-babble of such offerings), an introduction to gay and lesbian literary and cultural studies, the history of sexuality, and a course called Queers and Culture (which appears on the student's transcript as "Identities/Communities," the better to "bamboozle" future employers per Charen.) No doubt Alfred Kinsey's internationally recognized criminally fraudulent research, currently under congressional investigation, is pawned off as "gospel" per standard homosexual agitprop. Never mind that Kinsey's pedophilic tendencies caused irreparable harm to the youngest of childen as documented in a sordid video describing his "research".

Pedophilia is the part of homosexuality that activists/advocates don't want you to see. Evidence showing that pedophilia is in fact a common part of the homosexual lifestyle is staggering. Ironically, much of it comes from homosexuals themselves. In Gay Report, for instance, a survey of gay attitudes and behavior by homosexual researchers Jay and Young, revealed data showing that 73% of homosexuals surveyed had at some time had sex with boys sixteen to nineteen years of age or younger.

The journal Psychological Reports revealed that homosexuals, while representing perhaps 2% of the population, perpetrate more than one-third of all reported child molestations.

A recent study of Canadians imprisoned for pedophilia reveals that: (1) 30% of the offenders studied admitted to having engaged in homosexual acts as adults, and (2) 91% of molesters of non-familial boys admitted to no lifetime sexual contact other than homosexual. In other words, their sexual preference was clearly homosexua1. [W.L. Marshall, et al, "Early onset and deviant sexuality in child molesters," Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1991, vol. 6, pp. 323-336.]

In the January, 1994 issue of National Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) Bulletin, the organization added the following statement to its monthly manifesto, "Where We Stand: Throughout most of Western history (and not only Western), pederasty has been the primary form of homoeroticism, and it is this love for which NAMBLA stands."

Homosexual writer Carl Maves says, "How many gay men, I wonder, would have missed out on a valuable, liberating experience -- one that initiated them into their sexuality if it weren't for so-called molestation?" [Carl Maves, "Getting Over It," The Advocate, 5 May 1992, p. 85.]

On May 27, 1993, Washington Times reported that the University of Massachusetts at Amherst had revised its nondiscrimination policy to protect "persons whose sexual orientation includes minor children as the sex object."["PC 101 ," Washington Times, 27 May 1992, p. B-1.]

Dr. John Money, a retired professor of medical psychology and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, was quoted as saying, "... pedophilia should be viewed as a sexual orientation, not a disease or disorder." ["Michael Ebert, "Pedophilia Steps into the Daylight," Focus on the Family Citizen, 16 November 1992, vol. 6, no. 11, pp. 6-8.]

The same article quotes John DeCecco, head of the Human Sexuality Program at San Francisco State University, as telling his students that "adult-child sex" is a legitimate expression of sexuality.

Per Andy Humm, "civil rights" encompasses whatever one can imagine regardless of the harm to society. Humm, a leading gay activist and "outreach coordinator" for the Hetrick-Martin Institute, an organization for gay youth that runs the Harvey Milk school, a public school in New York City for "homosexual youth", says the following: ". . . I led the fight to draft what is known as the lesbian and gay rights bill in the [New York] City Council to remove limiting definitions from the term sexual orientation that we hope to add to the list of protected statutes. No one should be denied basic civil rights because of his or her orientation, whether the person be homosexual, heterosexual, transsexual, transvestite, pedophile, sadist, masochist, asexual -- whatever one can imagine."[Andy Humm, "Natural Variations" letter to the editor, New York Native, 1-4 August 1983.]

Meanwhile, an esteemed array of psychologists, psychiatrists and reparative therapists, Nicolosi, Satinover, Van den Ardweg, Moberly, and Harvey, tell us that there is NO definitive proof of something called "sexual orientation". Moreover, they caution that no one under the age of 18 is in a position to make any kind of final statement regarding what his sexual tendencies are, in particular tendencies which are perceived as dangerous from both psychological and physical standpoints.

You don't have to be a P.hD. to see the self destructive consequences of promoting homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle to minors - the agenda of militant homosexual activists who infiltrate our public schools via in-services and propaganda videos. The statistics regarding disease and death counts speak for themselves. The real "travesty of diversity" is that Andy Humm's vision is rapidly becoming part of an "anything goes" menu which in effect encourages child molestation in the form of pedophilia as a liberating activity from the "backward", "conservative" thinking of parents who are not to be trusted.

As has been shown, pedophilia is not only a basic part of the homosexual lifestyle, it's also one of the most frightening aspects of their political agenda which is wrapped within the acceptability of "queer theory" by our enlightened academics.

One former student who now works for a "gay" health center in Boston, commented "What I really like about queer theory is that rather than looking at minority or dissident sexuality vs. the mainstream, we question a lot of basic assumptions we have about sexuality". Say what?

Ordinary Americans slowly becoming aware of the literal perversion of higher education are coming to the realization that universities are off in some peculiar world of their own.

Consider the case of the State University of New York. Charen reports that the New Paltz campus hosted a conference on women's sexuality titled "Revolting Behavior: The Challenge of Women's Sexual Freedom." Topics covered included sex toys and sadomasochism - both of which were enthusiastically endorsed by the "scholars" involved. The title of the sadomasochism lecture was "Safe, Sane and Consensual S&M: An Alternative Way of Loving." Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. I had to read it three times before I could believe it.

One of the members of the board of trustees of the State University of New York, Dr. Candance de Russy, who attended the conference had the intestinal fortitude to immediately call for the resignation of the president of the university, Roger Bowen, who gave opening remarks at the conference. De Russy called the conference "a travesty of academic standards" that had "absolutely nothing to do with the college's undergraduate mission."

Nowadays if anyone complains about excluding such idiocy from curricula on any level, they are accused of committing a "travesty of diversity" as was the charge by a clinical psychologist at a recent State College Area School Board meeting when parents objected to militant homosexual activists speaking to teachers at an in-service.

Dr. de Russy's observation was obvious, one would have thought. But she was slapped down by the totalitarian politically correct not-so-secret police in the form of other trustees and the ever reliable "liberal" media in the person of the NEW YORK TIMES editorial page. "The conference on 'womens' sexuality' may have made some people uneasy," sniffed the TIMES, "but it deserves protection 'on grounds of free speech and academic freedom.'" De Russy, the voice of the establishment admonished, "should halt her 'destructive assaults on the institution she is supposed to be safeguarding.'" It appears that "free speech" was extended to all in this instance with the exception of the lone critic who had no such rights.

The TIMES confuses authentic freedom in doing what one ought to do with doing anything one wants to do which has another name - license. The question remains unanswered, just what do you do when your unlimited freedom for the autonomous, unencumbered self conflicts with your neighbors? Just who or what do you appeal to? In the absence of the recognition of absolute truth knowable through the natural law and reason alone (you don't have to be a "believer") you're in a real dilemma from which you cannot be extricated by the disciples of "academic freedom". They fail to see that their mantra leads inevitably to slavery. Maybe I'm being too kind here. Can it be that said disciples DO see this result but don't have any problems with it since THEY will be the masters? De Russy's fate would seem to indicate that that is exactly the case. In a one-ups-man-ship worthy of the sophistry hall-of-fame, a university trustee's concern about the promotion of "destructive" behavior by any sane definition of the term is attacked as being "destructive". Sound familiar?

Recently, the following course was promoted as part of a Penn State Summer Scholars Program. The introduction below was supplied by a friend of the presenting visiting professor, Jose Munoz. Caution, you may find the course syllabus incomprehensible as it is totally devoid of rational thought.

"As part of the Minority Summer Scholars program, Penn State will host visiting professor from NYU. He will give a one credit course in the last two weeks of June. He is an excellent teacher and a wonderful person to know. If you will be here this summer, please consider this course. Don't be afraid of the big words below -- he's very accessible and the course should be a lot of fun." (Readers note, it's impossible to be afraid of the big words below because they are nonsensical.)

"Here is the description, a tentative syllabus and so forth from the presenter.

"Sex and Gender in Latina/o Cultures

"This course will employ the critical tools of gender studies/ queer theory studies to read the location of gender and sexuality in Latina/o cultural production. (The above critical methodology will be historicized and introduced to students with little prior knowledge of the fields.) The course will look at homophobia and sexism within different Latino communities as well as the ways in which these toxic cultural forces inform representations of the exoticized Latina/o other in dominant culture. These concerns will lead us to broader questions concerning the production of minoritarian identity in the majoritarian public sphere. We will consider the epistemological and ontological instability of the term Latina/o alongside the need to mobilize alongside this very term for the purpose of enacting transformative politics. These theoretical questions will be grounded in readings of cinematic, performance and literary texts.

"Seminars will include screenings of film and video shorts and documentations of performances. Reading will include articles by Judith Butler, Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldua, Diana Fuss, Judith Halberstam, Coco Fusco, Tomas Almaguer, Chon Noriega, Ana Lopez,Jose Esteban Munoz, David Roman, Celeste Fraser Delgado, Micheal Warner, Lauren Berlant and Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano.

"Books to Order

"Judith Butler-- Excitable Speech Chon Noriega and Ana Lopez-- The Ethnic Eye: Latino Media Arts Celeste Fraser Delgado and Jose Munoz-- Everynight Life: Culture and Dance in Latin/o America

"There are five class meetings

"Meeting 1: Butler's Excitable Speech Michael Warner and Lauren Berlant 'What does Queer Theory Teach us about X' Screenings

"Meeting 2: Over the Border: Reading Latina Lesbiana Feminisms Essays and critical Readings by: Gloria Anzaldua, Yarbro-Bejarno, Norma Alarcon, Cherrie Moraga, Achy Obejas

"Meeting 3: Ethnic Eyes Readings from The Ethnic Eye, Screenings

"Meeting 4: The of Latinidad, Readings from Everynight Life, Listenings

"Meeting 5: Performing the Latina/o Self, Essays by: Judith Halberstam, Diana Fuss, David Roman, Coco Fusco, Tomas Almaguer, Screenings of Documented Performances

"Bio: Jose Esteban Munoz is Assistant Professor of Performance Studies at New York University. He is the author of various articles that have been published in GLQ (Gay and Lesbian Quarterly), Screen and TDR. He is the co-editor of Pop Out: Queer Warhol and Everynight Life: Culture and Music in Latin/o America. His book, Disidentifications: Race, Sex and Visual Culture, is forthcoming from the University of Minnesota Press. He serves on the board of directors for CLAGS (Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies) and the editorial board of the journal Social Text. He received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Program in Literature Duke University."

Charen correctly points out that "something queer IS going on here, and it isn't just queer theory. America's elites have completely lost their judgment and common sense. College is a unique opportunity for students to revel in the riches of learning through three millennia. There is more beauty, mystery and wonder in the world than any student can hope to taste even in four full years. To waste any of that precious (and expensive) time on nonsense is almost criminal."

The only problem with Charen's piece is her conclusion. The word "almost" needs to be stricken.

Indoctrination not education is the rule of the day on our college campuses. If you don't believe that, check out the courses offered in any womens studies program. One can't help but wonder just what happens to the majority of those graduates after spending 4-5 years of time and hard earned money (usually their parents) toward a college degree. I mean, does the world really need a generation of Bella Abzugs who aren't content with the two genders of Genesis but have to invent three others at UN conferences?

And they tell pro-lifers to "get a life!"