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| Wounded Iraq Veteran, Military, ROTC Cursed, Jeered At Columbia |
| 2011-02-20 |
| Columbia University students heckled a war hero during a town-hall meeting on whether ROTC should be allowed back on campus. "Racist!" some students yelled at Anthony Maschek, a Columbia freshman and former Army staff sergeant awarded the Purple Heart after being shot 11 times in a firefight in northern Iraq in February 2008. Others hissed and booed the veteran. Maschek, 28, had bravely stepped up to the mike Tuesday at the meeting to issue an impassioned challenge to fellow students on their perceptions of the military. "It doesn't matter how you feel about the war. It doesn't matter how you feel about fighting," said Maschek. "There are bad men out there plotting to kill you." Several students laughed and jeered the Idaho native, a 10th Mountain Division infantryman who spent two years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington recovering from grievous wounds. Maschek, who is studying economics, miraculously survived the insurgent attack in Kirkuk. In the hail of gunfire, he broke both legs and suffered wounds to his abdomen, arm and chest. He enrolled last August at the Ivy League school, where an increasingly ugly battle is unfolding over the 42-year military ban there. More than half of the students who spoke at the meeting -- the second of three hearings on the subject -- expressed opposition to ROTC's return. Many of the 200 students in the audience held anti-military placards with slogans such as, "1 in 3 female soldiers experiences sexual assault in the military." I wonder what percentage of female students experience sexual assault at Columbia? Just asking... The university has created a task force polling 10,000 students on the issue, but would not release the vote tally of the 1,300 who have already responded. In 2005, when the university last voted to reject ROTC's return, it cited the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. That policy was overturned in December, but resistance remains. Which tells me their DADT excuse was...bullshit. "Transpeople are part of the Columbia community," said senior Sean Udell at the meeting, referring to the military's current ban on transgender soldiers. Really? How many? Gimme some numbers... Faculty members are divided. "Universities should not be involved in military activities," Sociology Professor Emeritus Herbert Gans told The Post. "Columbia should come out against spending $300 billion a year on unnecessary wars." A group of 34 faculty colleagues, including historian Kenneth Jackson and former Bloomberg adviser Esther Fuchs, plan to announce their support of ROTC tomorrow. José Robledo, 30, a Columbia student who commutes to Fordham University for ROTC coursework, said he found the treatment of Maschek abhorrent."The anti-ROTC side has been disrespectful and loud. They hiss and they jeer," he said. "It's been to the detriment of the argument." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #13 These people ususally end up in some cases MSM journalists who see no danger in going into or as MSM executives, sending journalists into an Egyption square, coming out bloodied, beaten and even in one case raped. This guy is smart enough to be on the correct side of an M16 trigger. The others will never learn, until it is too late. So be it. |
| Posted by: Bugs Ulaiter7311 2011-02-20 21:48 |
| #12 Forget it, Jake. It's...Columbia. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-02-20 21:26 |
| #11 Sneer at America, sophisticated citizen of the world; love America, unsophisticated rube. A parochial view, but someone has to do it -- who better than the temporary denizens of one of the most charmingly parochial cities in the country? ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-02-20 21:14 |
| #10 I wonder how much Federal money Columbia gets each year. Just asking y'know. It would be sad if that money went away all of a sudden. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2011-02-20 20:58 |
| #9 Hate America good, love America bad! |
| Posted by: Grunter in Sydney 2011-02-20 20:26 |
| #8 Stupid is as stupid does. Sounds like a learning curve is in order. Detached from reality. It's like they are in the womb of Columbia safe and secure. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-02-20 18:25 |
| #7 But, by looking at the pictures - The guy's in a wheel chair or crutches. So I guess it's - no legs - RACIST! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-02-20 15:44 |
| #6 Steve: Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs bad! |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2011-02-20 15:36 |
| #5 As a faculty person at a peer institution, I can never quite figure out why people here behave as CF notes. I work with people who are gay or TS (fine, who cares, I don't), and most are rabidly anti-American military. But they support Dinner Jacket in Iran, Hamas in Palestine, and various other assorted 'causes' that all have, under their skin, significant association with Islamicists. I point out to them: you realize, of course, that these Islamicists want you dead. Their response is to get angry and change the subject. I just can't figure it out. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-02-20 14:56 |
| #4 When the only federal funding for universities comes from students exercising their GI Bill entitlements, you'll see an entirely new attitude. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2011-02-20 14:26 |
| #3 Columbia? Ok let me get this stright.... Columbia welcomes - with open arms - Dinnerjacket from Iran. You know where they hang homosexuals solely based on their preference. And where they execute women who are raped for 'adultery'. But Columbia rejects - based on a policy which is no longer the case, people who protect them - and their transpeople from people like Dinnerjacket. I wonder what percentage of female students experience sexual assault at Columbia? Just asking... I think its called 'Enhanced Alternate Sexual Experience' at Columbia. Besides they love people who protect those who rape 'uncovered meat' - like Iran... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-02-20 14:11 |
| #2 only skinny Transpeople are allowed at Columbia. Nanny Bloomberg blocked Transfats. Sounds like discrimination to me |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-02-20 13:59 |
| #1 Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs bad! |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2011-02-20 13:46 |