The Value of Foreign Students, &c.
On education, North Korea, four-letter words, Loretta Swit, and more
About Trump vs. Harvard, much has been written, and all points have been made. Have they? I think so. But I would like to make, or stress, a point of my own. It has to do with “international students.”
Really, we mean “foreign students.” “Foreign” and “international” are not synonyms, and they are not interchangeable. But I have been on this linguistic crusade for a long time, without success.
For generation upon generation, foreign students have come to American colleges and universities. It is good for those students. It is also good for American students.
In both college and graduate school, I knew many foreign students. They were part of my education. They enriched my education. Without trying to—just by being there.
I learned about foreign names (first names and last names). Foreign tongues. Foreign cultures. Foreign politics, foreign concerns.
The world had come to me, so to speak. I was just sitting there, in my hometown (in the case of college). And there was the world, or much of it, in the form of various students, plus professors.
I think of the phrase “win-win.” Good for them—the foreigners—and good for us. How broadening it is, to be in an international environment!
(Now that’s a use of “international,” in my book.)
***
The thought occurred to me, a couple of days ago: If you had told some of us, back in the ’80s, that one day we would be siding with the Harvard administration over a Republican president, we would have . . .
Well, it would have been hard to believe. Very.
***
Do you remember a book called “Harvard Hates America”? It came out in 1978, and was a big seller. The author was John LeBoutillier, who went on to serve in Congress.
Current events have a way of dredging up memories . . .
***
Let me recommend a piece by Steven Pinker, the famous professor of psychology, who works at Harvard. He has long been critical of his institution—which gives his latest extra power. The piece is called “Harvard Derangement Syndrome.”
***
When I saw the following headline, a shudder went down my spine: “North Korea’s second naval destroyer is damaged in a failed launch attended by Kim.” (Article here.) I knew that there would be hell to pay. Not demotion or dismissal or even imprisonment. Execution. That’s the way it works in a totalitarian state.
A subsequent article is headed “North Korean leader furious over failed destroyer launch, vows to arrest those responsible.” Arrests will be the least of it.
What a glorious day it will be when this regime, at long last, falls into dust.
***
When it comes to immigration, deportation, etc., it’s good to know about individual cases—for they illustrate the larger issues at hand. This article, I found interesting:
Barbara, a Cuban emigre 30 weeks into a high-risk pregnancy, is dealing with the additional stress of not knowing for sure that her baby girl will be an American citizen.
Said Barbara, “It scares me a lot that my baby will be born without citizenship because she would not be a citizen of this country. Claiming Cuban citizenship is not an option because we are fleeing from that country.”
The article continues,
The 35-year-old woman lives in Kentucky, which is not among the 22 states that sued to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order that would deny citizenship to children who are born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.
***
In his marvelous newsletter, Wanderland, Kevin D. Williamson spent a little time on four-letter words—which include some really nasty vocabulary but also “hell” and “damn.” (For the particular Wanderland I am speaking of, go here.)
I had a memory.
When I was in graduate school, Stephen Ambrose came to talk to some of us students. He was in the midst of researching and writing his biography of Nixon (three volumes). The Nixon transcripts were dotted with the famous “[expletive deleted].” People assumed that Nixon was incredibly foul-mouthed, said Ambrose.
But you know what he had learned (Ambrose)? The expletives were a lot of hells and damns.
Ambrose had a theory: Nixon had said to his secretary, “Take out the rough stuff, Rose,” and Rose Mary Woods—a woman of rectitude—complied, according to her own standards.
(Do you remember what George Wallace said, when rilin’ up the folks, at his rallies? Something like this: “Them hippies sure know a lot of four-letter words. I’ll give you one they don’t know: w-o-r-k. Here’s another: s-o-a-p.”)
***
Mr. Faizan Zaki, age 13, has won the National Spelling Bee. He is from Allen, Texas. His winning word was éclaircissement. To read an account of the action, go here.
I think of the 2002 documentary Spellbound. Enchanting, superb film. Not long after it came out, I had an interview with Donald Rumsfeld, who was then the secretary of defense. He said that if some outsider asked, “What is America all about?,” he would present that outsider with Spellbound.
***
Did you see this story? Headline: “New Zealand court discharges Australian diplomat’s husband after drunken spitting assault.” Dame Edna, thou should’st be alive at this hour.
***
Loretta Swit, the actress—best known for her role on the TV show M*A*S*H—has died at 87. I can’t say I knew her. But I did have some pleasant exchanges with her on Twitter. That was a kick for a kid who grew up when I did.
Born and raised in New Jersey, she wanted to be an actress from an early age. I loved something from her obit in the New York Times:
She took voice lessons and dance lessons, but her parents were horrified by her choice of entertainment as an actual career. As Ms. Swit told The Toronto Star in 2010, after they saw her in a play at a small Greenwich Village theater, “My mother said to my father, ‘If you don’t stop her now, she may wind up doing this for the rest of her life.’”
***
Here at the end, maybe I could throw a couple of links at you. I had the pleasure of appearing on The Mona Charen Show. Mona and I discussed some fundamental things: What do we believe, politically, and how did we come to believe it?
“The fundamental things apply,” goes an old song (“as time goes by”).
In Part II of my “Oslo Journal,” published in recent days, I noted that I took part in a discussion hosted by Civita, the Norwegian think tank. My interlocutor was a real sharpie, Henrik Syse, and our moderator was another sharpie, Eirik Løkke. By gum, they videotaped the thing: here.
If that’s the kind of thing that floats your boat . . .
However your boat is floated, thank you for joining me today, my friends. See you soon.
For much of my childhood, my Dad was first a graduate student and then a professor at Texas A&M University. Many of his colleagues were from foreign lands. We invited them over for BBQs, and they reciprocated by inviting us to their homes for dishes from their native lands. The various student associations at the university held cultural nights with food, films, and music, which we attended. It was a very enriching and broadening experience. I can't imagine a real university without foreign students and faculty.
I would LOVE to see Mona and Jay back together. Loved Need to Know. A guest going in front of Mona and Jay reminded me of David Brinkley back in the 80's. To go in front of George Will, Sam Donaldson, and Cokie Roberts meant you had better show up with your big boy pants on!