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London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

the-libertarian.co.uk

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Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#61

Post by sanskritabelt »

sillysaurus2 wrote: post #52
hga wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, no. Show up knowing what you're about, vs. someone with theories "no one else understands" (from watching this once, I wouldn't be surprised if MIT professors get a bit of training in how to handle the crazies), you've got a hypothesis that's interesting and you need to do specific tests, and, oh, yeah, you'll be happy to let them share credit. You might be surprised at how far you can get. Do some networking. If…

Yeah, worrying about being thought of as a crazy person is precisely what's prevented me from trying to contact any professors, because I'd imagine they have to deal with that sort of thing pretty often: outsiders bothering them with unscientific pet theories. That's why it's frustrating not having credentials. Attending seminars is a good idea. Thank you. I wonder if I should call up universities and ask for info re…

"I wonder if I should call up universities and ask for info regarding any computer graphics related seminars / events"

That shit's on the website, dogg.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#62

Post by C1D »

Sagat wrote: post #37

I'm disgusted by the head teacher's nosy behavior. I also think the student is an insufferable person according to his blog posts [1]. He's one of those people who try to use loaded words like "anarchism" and "individualism" to justify annoying or selfish behavior. Kind of like Galt-wannabe libertarians who hide being the word "liberty" to give credence to social darwinism. [1] http://hampsteadtrash.blogspot.co.uk/20…

I completely agree though I think the head teacher probably saw the attack on his school and used the students use of words like anarchism as a justification for punishing him which I don't think the student deserved.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#63

Post by unimpressive »

bolder88 wrote: post #46
omarrr wrote: post #7

Doesn't sound like the kind of teacher I'd like in my university Asked what had first inclined him to contact the police, Mr. Szemalikowski said “the fact that Kinnan has mentioned the ideologies of anarchism and individualism on this blog.” Digging himself even deeper, the headteacher added, “I must do something. In the last year he has become more and more enchanted by antiestablishment ways of thinking and has eve…

Read the blog. Doesn't seem like the kind of kid I'd like in my university...

Having recently had a "Fuck all of you" reaction to public high school, what I read was a kid ranting about apathetic students and apathetic instructors. He's probably frustrated by the people he sees on a daily basis and it comes out on the blog as him being a jerk.

His writing could use some work too, kind of cheesy.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#64

Post by dogweather »

SiVal wrote: post #34

This sort of thing is alive and well in US schools, too. The official policy of the Seattle Public School system is to stamp out racism in all its forms, and notice how many forms there are. (Note in particular the Cultural Racism section that includes, "emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology" as a form of racism that, by official policy, is to be stamped out by the government education sy…

Where, specifically, is the quoted text?

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#65

Post by sillysaurus2 »

sanskritabelt wrote: post #61
sillysaurus2 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, worrying about being thought of as a crazy person is precisely what's prevented me from trying to contact any professors, because I'd imagine they have to deal with that sort of thing pretty often: outsiders bothering them with unscientific pet theories. That's why it's frustrating not having credentials. Attending seminars is a good idea. Thank you. I wonder if I should call up universities and ask for info re…

"I wonder if I should call up universities and ask for info regarding any computer graphics related seminars / events" That shit's on the website, dogg.

Hmm... Is it?

Searching their events for "graphics" produced no results, and searching for "computer" (in hopes of anything CS related) wasn't very helpful. http://event.uchicago.edu/maincampus/search.php

EDIT: The CS research interests page is interesting... http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/research/interests though nothing specifically graphics-related.

EDIT2: The closest thing to graphics research I can find is http://www.mcs.anl.gov/research/fl/research/index.php?p=proj... ... though I don't really understand what its goals are based on its description: "Integration of Access Grid and ParaView to enable remote participants to interact with their visualizations in a coordinated manner across all sites, to improve information flow and expedite visualization development and scientific results. This will remove a significant bottleneck in achieving visualization results and understanding, by allowing participants to exchange data interactively while exploring their data visually. In this first development, specific areas of ParaView functionality will be targeted for inclusion in the shared interaction, based on feedback from the domain scientists as to the areas of highest relevance and impact." So I guess that's something graphics-theory-related, which I suppose is worth looking into...

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#66

Post by guard-of-terra »

hga wrote: post #35
guard-of-terra wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this guy wants to be a politician, which he seems to do, then passing thru hostile gatekeepers is his job description. Anyway, even if he would not it's not as easy either. Imagine someone cold-calling univercities telling he's a headteached (whatever this means) and persuading not accept the student N. He'll be seen as a lunatic, wouldn't he?

That's the thing we don't know. His attitudes aren't necessarily "lunatic" based on post-WWII U.K. history, and we don't know how much this sort of thing is still an "old boys club" in which he got a hearing from people who weren't entirely cold called. Conflict with a teacher cost Richard Gabriel of "Worse is Better" fame entrance to Harvard or MIT and a lot of subsiquent grief: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_…

If this would be true I would not be happy with the situation in the UK. But, if he's really going to be a politician, it would be very good for him to face this thing he's supposed to fight later on.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#67

Post by rz2k »

rhizome wrote: post #6

The headteacher, in addition to reporting Zaloom to the police, phoned Glasgow University, where the student had applied to study, in an attempt to dissuade them from accepting him. Not the best way to counter charges of endemic corrpution in society, I must say. In the US, this kind of interference would pose a great deal of trouble for the ambitious functionary.

Earlier this year [1]:

>Then there is Katelyn Campbell, 18, whose objection to a factually dubious sex-education assembly at her high school bubbled over into a confrontation with her principal, which bubbled over onto the Internet.

> As a senior at George Washington High School in Charleston, W.Va., Ms. Campbell complained to the American Civil Liberties Union about an April assembly featuring an abstinence advocate, Pam Stenzel.

> [...] Irritated by her actions, Ms. Campbell said, her principal threatened to tell Wellesley College, where Ms. Campbell had been accepted, that she was a troublemaker. Ms. Campbell filed an injunction against her principal, seeking to prevent him from “discriminating against me in any way,” and told the news media her story.

> [...] Several days later, Wellesley used its Twitter account to make its position known: “Katelyn Campbell, #Wellesley is excited to welcome you this fall.”

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/science/young-and-against-...

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#68

Post by corresation »

dmix wrote: post #45
SiVal wrote: post #34

This sort of thing is alive and well in US schools, too. The official policy of the Seattle Public School system is to stamp out racism in all its forms, and notice how many forms there are. (Note in particular the Cultural Racism section that includes, "emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology" as a form of racism that, by official policy, is to be stamped out by the government education sy…

In Canada this week, my girlfriend is required to visit the dean of a [top Canadian law school] for calling a girl a "bitch" on Twitter. Backstory is interesting, because the girl had bullied her in person at school. GF never identified the girl on Twitter only saying "Some bitch blah blah at school today". But because she mentioned the school name, the dean found out and now wants to talk to her. There's apparently…

I don't think expecting basic good judgment of those in law school is 'scary'. Further it is worth mentioning that hateful speech is not protected in Canada, and while you could say that it was but a response, such a tweet is almost certainly in violation of several new anti-'cyber' bullying restrictions.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#69

Post by aheilbut »

dmix wrote: post #45
SiVal wrote: post #34

This sort of thing is alive and well in US schools, too. The official policy of the Seattle Public School system is to stamp out racism in all its forms, and notice how many forms there are. (Note in particular the Cultural Racism section that includes, "emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology" as a form of racism that, by official policy, is to be stamped out by the government education sy…

In Canada this week, my girlfriend is required to visit the dean of a [top Canadian law school] for calling a girl a "bitch" on Twitter. Backstory is interesting, because the girl had bullied her in person at school. GF never identified the girl on Twitter only saying "Some bitch blah blah at school today". But because she mentioned the school name, the dean found out and now wants to talk to her. There's apparently…

Just wanting to talk to her does not seem inappropriate.

Lawyers in particular are expected to chose their words carefully and keep decorum. Perhaps it's a teachable moment.

Re: London student reported to police: “Enchanted by anarchism and individualism”

#70

Post by AimHere »

mezmor wrote: post #13
rhizome wrote: post #6

The headteacher, in addition to reporting Zaloom to the police, phoned Glasgow University, where the student had applied to study, in an attempt to dissuade them from accepting him. Not the best way to counter charges of endemic corrpution in society, I must say. In the US, this kind of interference would pose a great deal of trouble for the ambitious functionary.

The UK has pretty strict libel laws. I wouldn't be surprised if approaching Glasgow U falls under that category.

Defaming a third party by telephone would more likely be slander than libel, but it's certainly not clear that what went on here would be defamation at all.

A defamatory statement must be a false factual allegation. As long as what the headmaster claimed was true, he should be safe from libel or slander lawsuits - saying "I don't like this guy's politics and you shouldn't take him on as a student." is a fair expression of opinion, however silly that opinion is, and despite the rather insidious attempt to harm someone's career over a personal/political disagreement.

Mind you, I'd guess that in these sorts of circumstances, Glasgow University would likely thank the headmaster for his concern and file the note of this communication in the waste paper basket, where it belongs. Universities are no stranger to having to fend off third parties - parents, police, stalkers and whathaveyou - attempting to meddle in the affairs of their students; if their admin staff are halfways competent, they already have 50 tactful ways of telling outside interferers to fuck off.

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