Tuesday's Most Active Threads

Since yesterday was a national holiday, usage of the site was lower than normal and many of the most active threads were threads that I've already covered. So, some of the "most active" threads that I'll cover today weren't actually all that active. The first one that I'll discuss was titled, "Complaint ag Harvard Re Legacy Admissions" and posted in the "College and University Discussion" forum. The original poster linked to articles describing a civil rights complaint filed against Harvard University arguing that the University's legacy and donor admissions preferences violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Several posters supported ending these admissions preferences, which strongly favor White applicants. Others argued that such preferences are different than affirmative action and should be continued. I was only able to read the first few pages of this thread before I became ashamed to be associated with the low level of discourse occurring and had to stop reading. A significant number of the posts that I read consisted of some of the most poorly-informed posters I've ever encountered calling each other "dumb". For example, one message said, "You’re so dumb you don’t know how legacy admits work. It is NOT just ‘oh legacy, he’s in’ you moron." Much of the discussion dealt with athletic preferences which are not a subject of the complaint. Nevertheless, a considerable number of the posts are arguing who is favored by such preferences. All of these discussions related to admissions preferences have been inundated by racist posts. I removed a few from this thread this morning, but it would require more time and effort than I have available to clean up the entire thread. Based on many of the posts in threads such as this one, if a significant number of Black students are still admitted to top schools next year, there is going to be a mass explosion of heads. While Asians are often the target of racist posts, a considerable number of posters who either identify themselves as Asian or appear to be Asian post very racist things about Black people. Of course, non-Asians also post similar messages. Between the racism, name-calling, and the general lack of substance in the posts in this thread, I really found it unbearable to read.

The next most active thread was posted in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" forum. Titled, "Suddenly Single at 30", the original poster explains that her boyfriend of one year unexpectedly broke up with her just four days before her 30th birthday. She is understandably unhappy about the relationship ending, but she is also sad about reaching this milestone and being single. For the most part, those responding are sympathetic and offer helpful, if fairly conventional, advice. She is told that thirty is still young, that when she is ready she should pursue new relationships, and that she probably dodged a bullet with this guy. But, DCUM always has a few posters who can't resist kicking someone when they are down. One such poster demands that the original poster disclose what she did wrong in the relationship and warns about her ticking biological clock. For her part, the original poster handles such posts pretty well and suggests that she is being harder on herself than any of those responding are being.

Next was a thread titled, "St. Ann’s (NYC) - Private School Horror Show" and posted in the "Private & Independent Schools" forum. The original poster describes an article in the New York Times about a dyslexic student at the private St. Ann's School in New York City who committed suicide after being counseled out of the school. The poster expresses considerable anger towards the school and hopes that the student's parents sue the school into bankruptcy. The original poster did not link to the article or provide a summary and not many details of this story are provided. Other posters provide additional information, adding for instance that the school had been encouraging the parents for five years to find more appropriate arrangements for the child and that he had been counseled out three months before his suicide. As such, these posters blamed the parents rather than the school. Reading this thread, I was struck by the different attitudes displayed than what would be expected in a public school forum. Public schools are required to serve everyone and parents of children with special needs often devote considerable effort to obtaining accommodations for their children. Schools will go to great lengths to meet the students' needs. A discusion of this sort would focus heavily on how the school failed the child. The private school mentality is different, especially for the elite schools. The make-up of the student cohort is often one of the primary factors for which parents are paying. They are explicitly avoiding the "serve everyone" mentality of public schools and choosing a "serve a selected group" philosophy instead. Schools such as St. Ann's are not expected to meet the needs of every student and the idea that students who can't hack it should be directed elsewhere has widespread support among those responding. This is not to say that private school parents are heartless proponents of the survival of the fittest. To the contrary, a great many of the posters in this thread express considerable sympathy for the parents of the child. But, there is almost no suggestion (other than by the original poster) that the school failed the child. Rather, the general attitude is that the school handled the situation correctly by counseling the child out. Where the school does get criticized is for mishandling the public relations aspects of this story.

The final thread at which I'll look today was posted in the "Off-Topic" forum. Titled, "Tell me about the weirdest person/family in your neighborhood", I saw this thread for the first time just now and was undecided about whether to delete it or write about it. I really don't like threads whose primary purpose is to denigrate others. We need less negative energy in this world rather than more and DCUM adds enough negative energy as it is. But, I was charmed by the first few posters who all claimed to be the weirdest ones in their neighborhood. Other posters did discuss other families. One poster mentioned someone called the "Aspen Hill walking guy" about whom several other posters were aware. It turns out that there is even a Facebook group tracking this guy. I'm fairly certain that the same man is known to walk around DC and several posters reported seeing him in several Maryland towns. There was some discussion about every community having a walking guy or two and it occurred to me that I might even be our neighborhood's walking guy. Walking doesn't really strike me as weird though.