Gavin W. Burris wrote:
There is no nerve to strike
As I ride by the parklet on my bike
Please, no latte for me
I prefer black coffee or some tea
Academia may be my industry of choice
I can think of few others that give the mind such voice
for what it's worth, ucd is not academia.
yes, ucd is founded and funded by penn, but its mission and
role are not academic (compared, say, to other penn
intrusions into the community, like the LIFE program al
mentions or other 'community partnerships' that involve penn
students ['civic scholars'] working with neighborhood
entities for class credit or graduate work).
ucd's rather pedestrian role is to transform our
neighborhood into a whitewashed ghetto of 'clean and safe'
people in their proper places, where, among other fun,
never-ending creative ideas, ucd-defined desirable
businesses are promoted and supported, while undesirable
businesses are marginalized and relocated. ucd works in
tandem with campus apartments (another non-academic arm of
the university with enlightened self-interest) to accomplish
this, and the neighorhood community associations and voodoo
polling are the rubber stamps -- an arrangement that neatly
gets around city hall while appearing to be inclusive and
representative.
along with perverting our citizenship, ucd perverts
free-market consumerism as well: as ucd does its work, it
removes the premise that any local business should succeed
or fail depending on local demand by creating and funding an
artificial penn-positioned business landscape -- one which
they are working to be funded and sustained, ultimately, by
taxpaying (eg. parklets, bid). many consumers living here
buy into this, which is likely why many at their laptops are
reduced to tapping out doggerel.
academic voices? ha.
..................
UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN
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