conservative morons cancel college's study abroad program due to Spain's war stance
 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ogram_canceled

Troop Withdrawal Affects Study Abroad
Sun Mar 6,10:09 AM ET

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. - Two community colleges have ended their study-abroad program in Spain, citing the country's troop withdrawal from Iraq.

Trustees of the South Orange County Community College District, comprising Irvine Valley College and Saddleback College, voted 5-2 last week to cancel the 14-year-old summer program.

"Spain has abandoned our fighting men and women, withdrawing their support," said trustee Tom Fuentes, a former head of the Republican Party in Orange County. "I see no reason to send students of our colleges to Spain at this moment in history."

Spain pulled its 1,300 troops after the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people in March last year.

Fuentes said the bombing also raised concerns about student safety, although students were allowed to visit Spain three months after the bombings.

"Bringing this up now is strange," said trustee Marcia Milchiker, who voted to keep the program.

"I'm still in shock," said Professor Carmenmara Hernandez-Bravo, who runs the study abroad program. "I cannot believe a community college can put this much politics into academics."

A great lost to the academic world. What colleges were they from again?

That is so stupid.

I've studied in Spain before (Barcelona) and loved it. What a wonderful experience....I sure hope that these students can go to Spain through a different program, because it is completely different from Latin or South America.

The study abroad programs are with a limited amount of countries in the world. A college has every right to decide how it wants to ration its programs.

But then again a liberal moron would enjoy cancelling a college's study abroad program in countries other than Spain.

-Rudey

That's true. On the other hand, the people who are "punished" in this case are the students.

This doesn't mean a thing to the Spanish government one way or the other.

I don't think anyone is punished - not the government and not the students. Either way they will get their study abroad experience, right?

When I was in college, our Argentina program was shut down unexpectedly and all students shifted to Barcelona.

Really, I think everyone will be OK here. Liberal morons should refrain from insults and name calling though.

-Rudey

That sucks. They can go through FSU's program, I'm going to Valencia this summer. And it's killing my wallet too.
I can understand if they were pulling out of a summer program to Chechenya, but this is just another one of those things that makes Europeans laugh at the American govt.'s naivete.
Although I did learn in my international conflict class this year that the most terrorist acts happen in Western Europe.

i know a girl from saddleback who was planning on going to this abroad program to spain. she is pretty bummed :(

My thought is that since these are Community Colleges, they may not have as many opportunities for foreign study, so the students may in fact have more significant problems than if they were at a major university with a lot of offerings.

I didn't know community colleges even had study abroad programs.

Chances are, if they really want to go, they can find another college that sponsors a Spain program and go with them as a visiting student.

I agree.

Hopefully, these students who are now not allowed to go will take the money they would have spent on this program and go on their own time.

I was in college when the first Iraq War occurred, and many of the study abroad programs were cancelled or modified. Students and their parents received letters warning them of the possible risks of studying abroad during the war including being bombed, kidnapped, and killed. Their safety could not be guaranteed. I knew a few friends who had to adjust their educational plans as a result. They were able to go abroad the next semester or year.

I think canceling a program due to safety concerns is valid. I don't think it is fair to students to cancel the program because the trustees don't like Spain's withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

It's also a surprise to me that community colleges have study abroad programs.

Fair to whom? Is it fair if they chose Spain over Portgual to begin with (an example)? At some point you make decisions over what countries to support in your program and the list of qualified countries is long.

-Rudey

I do say, Rudith's debate tactic of avoiding the issue at hand is quite fantastic in this thread.

"Spain has abandoned our fighting men and women, withdrawing their support," said trustee Tom Fuentes, a former head of the Republican Party in Orange County. "I see no reason to send students of our colleges to Spain at this moment in history."

Actually, let me repeat since you have trouble reading.

There are many countries to do a study abroad program in. It is fair to choose one country over another if both offer students the same great experience. Get over it. Learn to read and don't make accusations.

-Rudey

As I wrote, "I don't think that it is fair to students." By that I mean the students who had already applied to, enrolled in, and were planning to attend this study abroad program to Spain.

When my friend's study abroad program was canceled in 1991, it delayed her graduation for one semester because she couldn't enroll in the classes she needed for graduation. I would not be surprised if it impacted some of these students in a similar way.

Just to play "Devil's Advocate" here... are there any examples that can be found that involve the cancelling of study abroad programs - either 'liberal' or from other countries sending students to the US?

If this is a relatively isolated case of nationalist politics influencing academic freedom - then yes bad... (I'd also suspect somewhat promotional too).

Why are people making this an issue of academic freedom?

They just stopped their study abroad program to Spain. I doubt that they won't let students go study there and transfer credits - it just isn't an official school program. Nobody is stopping professors or barring anyone of Spanish descent from teaching.

They can choose to stop the program in Spain and open one up in France because they love crepes or because they don't like the policies of the country against their own country. Is food preference just more politically correct than policy preference?

-Rudey

Seems to me that the students are bearing whatever hardships this causes -- even if it's just finding different programs -- so that some other folks can make some headlines.

I don't care if it's a Liberal or Conservative issue, it's still the students who have to live with it.

They all do.

Usually it means that you can study in the next county for a semester.

OK but do you know what the details of this are? Perhaps it's the fact that after 2006 the college will no longer offer an official program there? Perhaps those that want to go there are not all packed with a suitcase and ready to get on a plane, ya know?

-Rudey

Sure, but it could just as easily be the other way.

This quote from the original post makes sense to me, though:

"I'm still in shock," said Professor Carmenmara Hernandez-Bravo, who runs the study abroad program. "I cannot believe a community college can put this much politics into academics."

What part of "the students are the ones who will be the ones that suffer" do you not understand, Rudey? Granted, it'd be one thing if it were for safety concerns but this is for Spain's pullout of soldiers from Iraq, etc. not because of any safety issues in Spain. To me, the whole point in going to another country is to learn about the political and cultural differences there are in that certain country. Once again, it's the STUDENTS who will suffer academically and culturally, not the school. I don't think there will be a major fund withdrawal because this community college is sending students to a country that doesn't support a certain war. They're not now so that's neither here nor there. Heck, don't send students to a certain American state that is predominately liberal or conservative because that college doesn't support a certain political stance.

To me this is all a part of groupthink that Americans seem to buying into lately. Of course, it could've been happening long before I started paying attention to what Americans thought. Granted, I am only 24.

Do you think you could figure out what the words "read" and "think" mean and possibly figure a way to do both?

Here I will help you out and provide definitions.

read ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rd)
v. read, (rd) read·ing, reads
v. tr.
To examine and grasp the meaning of (written or printed characters, words, or sentences).
To utter or render aloud (written or printed material): read poems to the students.
To have the ability to examine and grasp the meaning of (written or printed material in a given language or notation): reads Chinese; reads music.

To examine and grasp the meaning of (language in a form other than written or printed characters, words, or sentences): reading Braille; reading sign language.
To examine and grasp the meaning of (a graphic representation): reading a map.

To discern and interpret the nature or significance of through close examination or sensitive observation: The tracker read the trail for signs of game.
To discern or anticipate through examination or observation; descry: “I can read abandonment in a broken door or shattered window” (William H. Gass).
To determine the intent or mood of: can read your mind like a book; a hard person to read.

To attribute a certain interpretation or meaning to: read her words differently than I did.
To consider (something written or printed) as having a particular meaning or significance: read the novel as a parable.
To foretell or predict (the future).
To receive or comprehend (a radio message, for example): I read you loud and clear.
To study or make a study of: read history as an undergraduate.
To learn or get knowledge of from something written or printed: read that interest rates would continue to rise.
To proofread.
To have or use as a preferred reading in a particular passage: For change read charge.
To indicate, register, or show: The dial reads 32°.
Computer Science. To obtain (data) from a storage medium, such as a magnetic disk.
Genetics. To decode or translate a sequence of messenger RNA into an amino acid sequence in a polypeptide chain.

v. intr.
To examine and grasp the meaning of printed or written characters, as of words or music.
To speak aloud the words that one is reading: read to the children every night.
To learn by reading: read about the storm in the paper today.
To study.
To have a particular wording: Recite the poem exactly as it reads.
To contain a specific meaning: As the law reads, the defendant is guilty.
To indicate, register, or show a measurement or figure: How does your new watch read?
To have a specified character or quality for the reader: Your poems read well.

think ( P ) Pronunciation Key (thngk)
v. thought, (thôt) think·ing, thinks
v. tr.
To have or formulate in the mind.

To reason about or reflect on; ponder: Think how complex language is. Think the matter through.
To decide by reasoning, reflection, or pondering: thinking what to do.
To judge or regard; look upon: I think it only fair.
To believe; suppose: always thought he was right.

To expect; hope: They thought she'd arrive early.
To intend: They thought they'd take their time.
To call to mind; remember: I can't think what her name was.
To visualize; imagine: Think what a scene it will be at the reunion.
To devise or evolve; invent: thought up a plan to get rich quick.
To bring into a given condition by mental preoccupation: He thought himself into a panic over the impending examination.
To concentrate one's thoughts on: “Think languor” (Diana Vreeland).

v. intr.
To exercise the power of reason, as by conceiving ideas, drawing inferences, and using judgment.
To weigh or consider an idea: They are thinking about moving.

To bring a thought to mind by imagination or invention: No one before had thought of bifocal glasses.
To recall a thought or an image to mind: She thought of her childhood when she saw the movie.
To believe; suppose: He thinks of himself as a wit. It's later than you think.
To have care or consideration: Think first of the ones you love.
To dispose the mind in a given way: Do you think so?

adj. Informal
Requiring much thought to create or assimilate: a think book.

n.
The act or an instance of deliberate or extended thinking; a meditation.

-Rudey
--I am always willing to help out people like you to better themselves

I am not here to start anything with you Rudey but apparently that's what you're here for Rudey.

ztawinthropgirl
-- I think for myself so therefore I am a moron according to Rudey.

No actually I think for myself. You don't. That's why I provided the definition of think and read. Should I also have included a tutorial on manners for you?

-Rudey
--Now go create another username to be rude, lack intelligence, and attack me.

I didn't attack you. I asked you a question. You're the one that thrives on attacking people and keeping things in a turmoil.

ztawinthropgirl
-- I am through with this little tiff with Rudey. If he decides to keep this up, then, I am left with nothing else than not to respond. I refuse to stoop to such low levels of Rudey's sensitivity to opinions that disagree with his.

What part of what I wrote didn't you understand? Rude? Think? Read? Which part?

-Rudey
--Now will you insult me and KillarneyRose again and pretend it was your roommate who did it while DeltAlum said it was OK? hmmmmm such a kind person you are.