Something rotten at my old college

Greg Jordan, the current president of my old college, King University in Bristol, TN, has lost all respect of most of the faculty and a substantial number of students.  He runs King like it's his personal fiefdom and anyone who disagrees with him is automatically suspected of trying to overthrow him and his poisonous vision.  He's selling out the school for 30 pieces of silver, liberal arts be damned Jordan wants King to be nothing more than a high priced vocational school staffed with instructors who are loyal only to him, not to the truth or academia.

I first met him when I was a student there from 1980 to 1985.  He was a slimy character then and he's still that way now.  The last time I saw him he smiled at me while saying something condescending, it was then I decided I'd never set foot on that campus while he was in charge.  He's even worse now that he's got a little power that he lords over others like a bad 1970's CIA installed banana republic dictator.  He hides behind his bible and religion, like all tyrants do.

He's given himself and his top lieutenants substantial raises, he personally has gotten raises totaling nearly $70,000 in the past three years, while he slashes faculty jobs and tries to get rid of those who disagree with him.  He's chased the almighty dollar and shoved many of them in his greasy graft lined pockets.  He's pushed out qualified dedicated instructors while at the same time he's pushed his wheelbarrow full of cash to the bank so he can deposit his ill gotten salary.

He's got to go.  He's poison on two legs.  He's a cancer that needs to be cut out so King can live.

Keep up with the whole sordid affair by clicking here.

Not that sort

The professor from my alma mater who is speaking at the creationist conference that's going to be held in here in Johnson City sent me a message via Facebook. Here it is in it's entirety:

I was sorry to read your posted blog. I wish you had contacted me directly. I do not believe that "creationism" as offered by the ICR is an acceptable view of how our universe and planet came to be. As an astronomer and physicist I am confident of the scientific method as a way of determining truth about such things. I am speaking at the conference to speak against the "young Earth model. I'm not sure how you got the idea that I am a creationist of the sort presented by the Institute for Creation Research. I will present scientific evidence for a 13.7 billion year old universe and a 4.0 billion year old Earth. I hope you will attend.

Sincerely,
Ray Bloomer

He's mad at me for assuming that he's an anti evolution young earth creationist. As for why I assumed that here's my defense:

• He's appearing at a conference that celebrates, nay, champions creationism and that actively seeks to deny and 'debunk' evolution.
• In the mission statement of the conference there is this quote: "Before a person can come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ a basic question has to be answered: “Who made me?” Before one can believe that God is the Redeemer, God must be understood to be the Creator. This is what the Origins Conference is about--exploring the evidence for God as Creator. By attending the conference, you will be equipped to challenge the problems created by the atheistic evolution worldview that is so prevalent. This conference will not only be a personal help to you, but will also give you the tools to share the answers to these tough life questions with friends and family."
  
• The conference in question is being spearheaded by Ken Ham, the man behind the anti science anti evolution group Answers in Genesis. Hamm is also the man behind the creationist museum which not only actively discourages people from asking questions which question the validity of the 'science' on which they base their museum, it also, despite all evidence to the contrary, insists that humans and dinosaurs not only walked the earth at the same time, they were BFFs.
• Also headlining this conference is Dr. Jason Lisle, a man who bills himself as an astrophysicist and refuter of evolutionary theories.

Nowhere in the mountain of publicity for this event does it say that Dr. Ray Bloomer is going to be the lone voice of dissent in this conference, so that's why I assumed he's an anti science, anti evolution, pro intelligent design huckster like the rest of the speakers at this even are. And the thought of a man like that teaching science at my alma mater made me livid.

But now that I think about it, and now that I see 'Dr.' Bloomer's response to my first blog post, the fact is, I'm still livid. He's very patronizing when he assures me that it's okay for him to speak at this event because he's not 'that kind' of creationist. He's the more rational moderate kind which still accepts supernatural explanations for scientific questions. He not the kind that insists that the earth is a little over 6000 years old but he's still the kind that insist that some supreme being who none of us ever saw or can ever be sure exists made everything just for us. He's not your old school 'Of Panda's and People' kind of creationist, he's the more cuddly science accepting creationist because after all, he's got a doctorate from a real live citadel of higher learning, just like Dr. Jason Lisle, the evolutionary theory refuter does.

It's all well and good that 'Dr." Bloomer says he's going to "present scientific evidence for a 13.7 billion year old universe and a 4.0 billion year old Earth," the thing is the people who are attending this conference aren't the type of people who accept science or scientific evidence. Seriously, if they deny the validity of radio carbon dating of fossils and believe that those same fossils were planted by Satan in order to trick us into believing evolution, which by their own admission they think is 'atheistic,' then honestly, who the fuck is this Bloomer guy trying to fool? The rubes and religious zealots who will be in attendance at this conference will hoot and holler him off the stage when he tries to present scientific evidence that refutes their Biblical world view. The fact that he's a believer won't be any consolation to the slack jawed yokels and home schoolers who will be in the audience lapping up this milk of idiocy.

The final indignity in this sordid tale of academic malfeasance is that by agreeing to speak, even if he does so as a counterpoint to the evolution deniers and creationists, at this conference he drags the name and reputation of my alma mater through the mud. He gives my old college a black eye because by speaking at this fiasco he makes it look like King College is a place of higher learning that accepts and endorses the quackery known as creationism. The reason this pisses me off so much is that in the late '70' my alma mater fell on hard economic times and it nearly went under, but it was saved with an infusion of cash from a shitload of conservative, both politically and religiously, Presbyterians. These fundamentalists made the institution over into a more strict Bible based college at the expense of academics, which is to say that they wanted Jesus injected into every subject at the expense of facts. Slowly however things changed after I left in 1985 and while they maintained their religious affiliation they saw the error of their ways and they shifted the focus off salvation and back onto academics. And as a result their reputation began to rebound and until this Bloomer incident my old college was well regarded in academic circles. But thanks to Bloomer's creationism and his embrace of dubious characters like Ham and Lisle, that reputation may once again be in the shitter.

I stand by my original post and the by sentiment expressed therein. And I stand by my opinion that Bloomer is an idiot for appearing at this anti science anti evolution event.

Academia is no place for idiots

A professor of physics and astronomy from my old college is participating in a conference that is to celebrate creationism. He's not doing it to tell these creationists and evangelical zealots they're dead wrong, nope. He's doing it because he's on their side.

In a related development all degrees in physics and astronomy from King College in Bristol TN just became worthless.

Bristol goes on forever

I love this 1960's photo of Bristol, TN/VA. It makes the city look glamorous and like it goes on forever. I got it out of a 1962 King College, which is my alma mater by the way, yearbook.

I ain't missing you at all

There was a 25th yr reunion of sorts at my college alma mater this past weekend.
And while I will admit to loving some of the people I went to college with, I'll also admit to disliking a bunch more. The folks I liked are my friends forever, as are some of the current professors and a few who taught while I was there. But for the most part, I've never missed most of the people who I went to good ol' KC with and I've never missed most of the faculty and staff who were there while I was.

The gal who organized the reunion dinner thingy I liked. And I liked her husband very much. They were, and still are, one of those couples you just can't help but like because they are so nice. They made sure photos were taken of the people who did show up at the reunion event were taken and posted to Facebook so the rest of us who didn't go could see who did show up and what they looked like today. Besides the couple who organized it, there were maybe three people at the event who I liked and would have liked seeing once again. The rest, meh, I can do without. They were either God Squadders, stuck up jock loving chicks, jocks, or social climbing twits. One of the attendees was 'best' friends with a good friend of mine who came out of the closet at the end of his college days at King. As soon as this person heard that my friend had come out, he dropped my gay buddy like a rock and he began to spread pernicious lies about him for the rest the time we went to school. And of course this guy was a paragon of Christianity at King. So was his cheerleader girlfriend. I despised them both and I know if I had went to this reunion thing then I would have gotten into trouble with some of those folks because ever since my heart attack sometimes I don't hold back when it comes to telling people from my past what I think of them now.

Don't get me wrong, my college experience was great even though the college I attended was one of the most conservative both in religion and politics. I learned a lot, a lot about myself, a lot about life, and a lot about the stuff I studied. And I wouldn't trade my time in college for anything. But by the same token, I wouldn't give some of the folks I went to college with the time of day now. Especially the ones who are still two faced intolerant Christians.

I love you Facebook-UPDATED

I'm glad my friend Pam who used to write the blog Memoirs of a Working Mom got me to get into Facebook.

Using Facebook over the past few months has given me a deeper appreciation for all of my blog buds. I've also caught up with some old friends from Knoxville, my old improv comedy group, and it's brought back into my life some old friends from college. I'm loving it that I am catching up with folks I knew over 20 years ago. We all may never get together anywhere else besides Facebook but hey, that's good enough for me.

If you're on Facebook and on my blogroll and you haven't 'friended' me yet then what the hell are you waiting for? Get on the stick people, chop chop. I'll go ahead an apologize in advance if you send me a drink or a gift or do one of those Facebook apps that I'm not into, otherwise I rock at being a Facebook friend.

Viva Facebook!

UPDATE: If you're on Facebook and you can't find me it's because I'm onthere under my real name. If you want to friend me please send me an email to monkeymuckATgmailDOTcom with the words 'Friend me Monkey' in the subject line and I'll shoot you back an email with my real name.

I'd be quite the catch but they won't chase me

Since I jumped into this whole Facebook thingy a bit more I've come back into contact with some old college friends. And just like in college they fall into two distinct groups, one group of them I partied and hung out with, the other I didn't. I've been exchanging emails and all sorts of memories with my old party pals but the folks I didn't party with I have hardly exchanged much with except for the cursory greeting and 'friend adding.'

The thing I find funny about all this that a couple of my old college friends have become ministers and as soon as they found out I was a card carrying atheist, and the card I carry is my library card, they stopped communicating with me. No more messages on my Facebook wall, no emails, nothing. I'm grateful they don't, but you'd think they try to save my soul or something. You'd think they at least be cordial on the off chance that I might turn to them to find out about the good news about Jeebus H Christ. But just like in college it turns out that the religious people only want to be be around others who think like them or who they think they can brainwash into thinking like them.

I'm glad I've reconnected with my old party buddies even though we live hundreds of miles apart. And as far as the god squadders who I've reconnected with, the way I feel about them is just about the same way I felt about them in college, which is to say, I can take them or leave them and mostly I leave them.

Oh, and I'm glad that I connected with some of my blog pals on Facebook because it helps me get to know you a little better and we share a different side of our selves on there. But if I don't return good karma, or throw more "snowballs," or pass you "drinks," then I apologize. I'm still a Facebook rookie and I don't spend enough time there to be all hip to the latest advances in Facebookism.

Take a left on Memory Lane

I've been a busy monkey lately and my scanner has been working overtime. I scanned most of the pages from two of my college yearbooks and I've posted the scans, along with commentary that is sure to piss off my old classmates, on Flicker. You can see them here.

The college I went to was really small and so the yearbooks, which cover my freshman year and my junior year (I must have been too stoned to pick up my sophomore year yearbook because I don't have one today or I'd have scanned it too.), did not have that great an amount of pages. I didn't include the sports pages from the yearbooks because the jocks who went to my college were, for the most part, asswipes.

As a public service I culled some photos of me from the Tornado's in question, yes we were the King College Tornadoes, and I've put them below for those of you who don't want to troll though all those photos on Flickr.

That's me in the top photo in the center in the front row. I had forgotten how skinny I was when I was a college freshman in 1981.


This is from my junior year, 1983. I know what you're asking. You're asking, "How did the chicks stay off a group of hot guys who were into political science and history?" I'm not sure how they did it but they damn sure did stay off of us, especially me.

This photo was from a rehearsal for Robber Bridegroom. It was my first musical ever and since my character was the village idiot I didn't have to sing well, so I didn't. That gal beside me played my sister in the play. She was such a nice pretty girl and I was shocked that the director cast her to play my sister, but looking at the photo now I do see a resemblance.

Here I am at a pizza pig out party. I'm working that trucker style hat like a pro.

And finally here I am with my friend Gene. That shot was taken on Sacrifice Night which was held on the first night of Sadie Hawkins weekend. Sacrifice Night was an annual tradition where the freshmen males were "sacrificed" to the ghost of Sadie Hawkins. We'd round up all the freshmen males we could find and we'd march them off to the girls dorm where the ladies would dump all sorts of vile stuff on them. Then afterwards the gals were allowed to ask any guys out to the Sadie Hawkins Dance and if you got asked you had to attend. I know, I know it sounds stupid but at the time it was kind of fun. In retrospect it was a good way for us students to blow off a shit load of steam before the end of the school year finals. My friend Gene went on to marry his college sweetheart, have five kids with her, and become a doctor. While I, on the other hand, ended up writing this blog. Life is crazy huh.

Blast from the past

As I was doing the music meme sent to me by the lovely Miss Becca the other night I remembered some stories from my college days. Here is one of the true stories from my college days:

I went to a small liberal arts college in east TN by the name of King College. It was then, as it is now, a conservative school with a decidedly Christian bent. In fact if you bend over, they shove their religion up there too. All students had to take four Bible and religion classes in order to graduate. We had to take one class called 'Old Testament Survey' and another called 'New Testament Survey.' One then got to choose the others from a pool of classes that included such scintillating choices as 'General Epistles,' 'Psalms,' and 'Comparative Religion or Yes, Everybody Who is not a Christian is Going to Hell, Even the Chosen People.'

My story took place one day in Old Testament Survey class.

I was sitting there half asleep listening to the professor drone on about animal sacrifices and Goliath or some nonsense like that when he called on this girl in my class to summarize the paper she had written for class about David slaying some Philistines.

The girl he called name was Ruth G. (I'll protect her some but people who went to King College in the early 1980's will know who I am talking about) and she was a pretty innocent God Squadder. For those of you who do not know, a God Squadder is a person who has their evangelical religion shoved so far up their ass it comes out of their mouth.

She got all bubbly and perky and she twiddled with her blonde hair as she spoke about her paper. She told everyone breathlessly what she had written about. She went on and on about how neat God was for giving David the strength to slay those Philistines. She worked herself up into a God Squad lather when she described what David did after slaying said Philistines. She said, "After he followed God's orders to kill all of them, he made a mound out of their foreskins."

She then ran her right index finger back and forth across her forehead as she said, "And I think this is the area of skin that is known as 'foreskin.' "

It took every ounce of self control not to say something smart assed to her. We all snapped our heads around to look at Ruth, most of us incredulous that a college age woman did not know what the hell a foreskin was. The professor, sensing that the polite chuckles were about to turn into loud guffaws, said, "Uhh, no Ruth, the foreskin is the excess skin around the end of a man's penis." As soon as the word 'penis' had left his mouth Ruth looked like someone had socked her in the stomach and she turned bright crimson. I looked away and bit my lip.

After class I ran out the door and rushed to tell this story to all my friends. And of course for the next few years when we saw Ruth mincing about on campus or holding forth on her love for Jesus we'd smile at her and tap our foreheads.

She went on to marry another KC God Squadder who she dated all through college. he became a minister and they went into the missionary field. The last thing I heard about them was that they were serving as missionaries in, I shit you not, France of all places. They had reproduced a couple of times and they lamented the fact that while they were so near the winter games in Albertville in 1992, they could not attend due to low funds.

I shudder to think of the damage she did to Franco American relations and sometimes I wonder if she and Pete had any male children. And if they did, were those boys running around without turtle necks?