Hey Kids! Study Hard. Save Your Money. Go to Yale!
Apparently (will we ever really find out?), it's some twisted joke.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D904AFH80&show_article=1
Sorry if this sounds a tad harsh, but seriously folks, who is more screwed up here--this bizarre woman or the prestigious university she attends that lets her go this far before they realize something just isn't right?
Just amazing that our society is capable of any of this, regardless of whether it was completely true to begin with or just a stupid hoax all along.
My 6 yr old is going to be so disappointed by all this. He's definitely got the brains for Yale (from his old man of course...wink), but he sure as hell ain't ever going to Yale now. Not on a scholarship--not ever. Maybe I'll start a don't-go-to-college fund for him.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Yale University art student's claim that she induced repeated abortions on herself and used the blood for her senior project is false, school officials said after her account was published in the student newspaper.
Aliza Shvarts described the project in a story Thursday in the Yale Daily News. She said she artificially inseminated herself "as often as possible" while taking herbal drugs to induce miscarriages, the story said.
The account swept across blogs and media outlets before Yale issued a statement saying it investigated and found it all to be a hoax that was Shvarts' idea of elaborate "performance art."
...
When confronted by three senior Yale officials, including two deans, Shvarts acknowledged that she was never pregnant and did not induce abortions, Klasky said.
"She said if Yale puts out a statement saying she did not do this, she would say Yale was doing that to protect its reputation," Klasky said.
Shvarts told the paper her goal was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body.
Cullen MacBeth, the newspaper's managing editor, declined to comment Thursday. Editor-in-Chief Andrew Mangino could not be reached for comment Friday because his cell phone was not taking messages and he did not immediately reply to an e-mail message from The Associated Press.
Shvarts could not be reached for comment. Her telephone number was disconnected and she did not respond to e-mails or a knock on the door at the address listed for her in the campus directory.
Groups for and against abortion rights expressed outrage over the affair.
Ted Miller, a spokesman for NARAL Pro-Choice America, called the concept offensive and "not a constructive addition to the debate over reproductive rights."
Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, an anti-abortion group, said his anger was not mitigated by the fact that Shvarts may never not have been pregnant. "I'm astounded by this woman's callousness," he said.
Lord have mercy.
Comments
You're unduly hard on the university in this instance. The student publishes her account. Of course it's going to spread like a brushfire through the blogs, etc. before the university makes a statement. Such is the nature of communication in our world. Hardly the university's fault. They confronted her! They could have ignored her. You responded like a true Christian college elitist. You ought to watch that. Christians in non sectarian schools are fighting a tough enough battle as it is. They might need your son one day. This incident is a case in point. Reminds me of some of the art nonsense that came out years ago that I can barely refer to without being offensive. The fine arts, in particular, in these schools really need the gifts of brilliant students who also happen to be brilliant Christian apologists. Keep up the good work with your son...and daughter.
Thanks! I should never post anything on a Friday afternoon following a long work week... the bitterness starts to show!
Your point about what I call "bunkering" or "infiltration" (i.e., transformation of culture from the outside vs. inside) is always a good one. 'Been on my mind a lot lately thinking about church, school, work, the arts, politics, everything. When to plant flags? When to go covert? When to use sniper? When to retreat? It's case by case, I think. Sticking to one strategy makes it too easy on the enemy.
As for this specific story, I've become a bit cynical about organizations that confront a problem after it hits the fan, not before. In my experience, problems like this grow slowly over time, like balloons before popping. The pop is alarming, but nobody is really surprised.
Your point is taken, however, that one renegade student and an overly fast & loose media is something no organization can combat in the end--comparable to the conundrums we face combatting suicide bombers.
The big question here is one of causation. You and I will likely not determine specifically who's to blame and to what degree for this one bizzarre incident--the art professor, the student, the publication, others...? Let's assume they were all involved one way or another. Taken together, it's a screaming red flag indicating that the intellectual health of Yale (and, by extrapolation, society itself) is in trouble.
So how to fix the problem? Send your children there? Tough call. You're right that it's a tougher call than I made it sound like in my post. Should Yale be called to the carpet on this one? Definitely. That they are responding to the negative press is a good thing in the end, I'd say. Would they have confronted the problem without the negative press?
David Turney
Site Editor