Hysterically funny ScrappleFace today.

Wal-Mart announced today that it will offer more books and recordings that most people don't want. The move comes in response to an article in The New York Times which said that the nation's biggest retailer sells too many conservative and faith-oriented books and videos effectively homogenizing the culture. (Link via InstaPundit.)

At least they have a choice. Not so here:

To help meet the goal of creating a safe and inclusive campus, St. Cloud State University has developed a workshop entitled, "Respect and Responsibility." All new students are required to attend this workshop to be eligible to register for their second semester of classes. For more information, please contact the University Women's Center at ... .

As was pointed out to me, the Women's Center is not an academic unit but part of Student Life and Development, meaning that this workshop happens outside the curriculum process at SCSU. Anyone want to explain why? Well, let's let the director do so.

From: Lee LaDue
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999

Subject: Prevention program titles

...our program is entitled: Respect and Responsibility: Sex, Race, and Power. Recently, the topic of Diversity and Racism was added,due to hate crimes on campus targeting people of color, so the name attempted to be inclusive of both topics. The students still refer to it as the sex thing...class..., harassment workshop... they have to take.

I don't pretend that this title draws them in however. Our two hour workshop is mandatory. We have about 4000 new first year and transfer students in a year and track their attendance. If they don't attend, their registration is blocked through the touchtone registration system, the following semester. we found that if it wasn't mandatory, the people who most needed to be there, do not attend. So I would keep pushing for a mandatory workshop.

Lee LaDue
St. Cloud State University, Women's Center

So students are required to attend, but faculty? Nah.