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BU students block Comm. Ave., trolleys in support of adjunct professors
By adamg on Thu, 04/14/2016 - 3:07pm
Kanye Wes shows us a Commonwealth Avenue shut down by Boston University students supporting a bid by adjunct professors for higher pay, better working conditions.
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Comments
Would someone please tell these kids
that inconveniencing your fellow human beings is not a good way to win support for your cause?
Thank you.
You can tell them, but they
You can tell them, but they're college students. They're immortal and they own the world. (I thought so too, when I was a college student. I got better.)
You can't win support unless
You can't win support unless people know the issue exists. This is a great way to make sure people know the issue exists. To use the classic aphorism, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.
Making the whole wide world pay for it
by blocking the MBTA tracks, which are public, and not BU-owned, i is not the way to go.
Making the whole wide world pay for it
by blocking the MBTA tracks, which are public, and not BU-owned, i is not the way to go.
Great, now people know there
Great, now people know there is an issue, they still don't like you (or like you less) and don't care.
Everybody knows that the most
Everybody knows that the most efficient protests are those that nobody notices
Yeah, how dare people inconvenience others to make a statement?
Obviously such a thing has never been done in the history of protest, right?
Equate civ. rights of literal former slaves w/PhD labor dispute
I will name this Ian's law, in parallel to Godwin's.
Sheesh. Can't we acknowledge something is a problem without going 0-100 immediately?
Good point, whyaduck!
Your point is well taken, whyaduck. The idea of blocking the MBTA tracks to make a point and really causing tons of grief for tons of other human beings is absolutely asinine, and irresponsible.
Right
So by that logic lunch counter sit ins and bus boycotts and the march to Selma were all dumb ideas.
Except that, in those cases,
the average person had a means to try to effect change. Here, that's not the case.
But let's try to resolve a private institution's internal dispute by involving, and inconveniencing, people who have no influence over those policies and decisions.
Comparing Civil Rights era boycotts and sit-ins with the
protesting BU kids blocking the MBTA tracks to support their professors is a dumb idea, imho! It's not the same thing at all. The heyday of the Civil Rights Movement took place because American citizens (those born and raised here on United Soil) were being denied their most basic rights, and it's something that we, as a society, had to have happen. These protests that're taking place, involving the blocking of the MBTA tracks, are not!
In any event, having said all of the above, I stand by my position that blocking MBTA tracks and freeways as a means of protest, in any event, is going too far.
Person in bottom left of photo
Classic smug face. "deal with it"
Typisional activist...
She probably hates anyone who would dare challenge her on anything.
What's "typisional"?
And where do you get your awesome psionic ability that lets you tell what other people are thinking?
Tell you what, post a non-posed picture of YOUR face here, and I'll tell you all about your attitudes. How's that?
All for better pay for profs but...
You aren't shutting down BU - you're shutting down EVERYONE in that area. Comm Ave does not belong to BU, regardless of how everyone there behaves. I'd be very pissed, and not so open to their cause, if I were trying to get home right now. I live in Allston, I'm not a student, and have nothing to do with BU or how they pay people. Why should we all be punished?
Ah....
This is why the B-line trolley I was on had a noticeable SEIU presence this afternoon, around 1:45. I thought they had maybe just come from another minimum-wage rally at the State House. But they all got off at BU Central, which was apparently the gathering point. I guess I am lucky that I made it in to work on time.
Should've coordinated better
Theres tons of cars blocking Comm Ave. at the BU Bridge each and every day at rush hour.
That's true, but blocking the MBTA tracks, especially at rush
hour, makes already-horrendous situations way worse.
How is the public going to help?
I view this as a dispute between BU and BU's own adjunct professors. How is disrupting average commuters going to help your cause? Is there anything that a regular Joe or Jane standing on the trolley can do to help the adjunct professors? On the surface this feels like spoiled brats to me.
It gets attention and publicity
...the same as with any protest.
According to the article…
According to the article they wanted to get attention from the tenured professors and administration . I'm just guessing but I would think most tenured professors and administrators live somewhere in the suburbs. Wouldn't you get more attention if they blocked the parking garage or parking lot that the targets park in? It is not like they're protesting civil rights which is the average citizens job to make sure public officials are upholding. There will never be a public vote on this topic. The best case scenario is to shame BU and make prospective students and parents less likely to pay to go there which will not lead to pay raises.
Yeh,
Plus, it gets a lot of people really pissed off, to boot!
Take that BU
It's the Union telling BU that if they don't play ball the Union can generate a lot of hate towards BU by disrupting classes and the general public.
I support the adjuncts, not their tactics.
Most people don't know how bad it is for adjuncts
Most folks think that if you earn a PhD and become a professor, you will have an awesome life. Not so much in reality if you are an adjunct. Upwards of 70% of all courses are now taught by adjuncts. 1/3 of adjuncts rely on food stamps and other welfare assistance. It's a crappy gig but if you need money you take it until something better comes along.
I can't wait until their next
I can't wait until their next protest when they want their college loans discharged because tuition goes up next year to pay for the professors.
My Acceptance Letter from BU
I'm going to tear it up right now. It's over 25 years old but I am going to tear it up right now. Because that will have as much bearing on BU changing its mind on pay for the adjutants as blocking the T.
Silly dopes, block access to the Board of Trustees houses and places of business. That will change the minds of the people who call the shots, not blocking some old Russian woman from getting out to Chestnut Hill Ave on a BC trolley.
Their tactics work
Disrupting the trains makes bad news for BU. Makes perspective students think twice about attending, alumni from donating, etc.
That doesn't make them right.
This is not a Civil Rights matter, so why should the whole world be made to pay for these BU students' asinine behavior? They shouldn't, imho.
Take it up with SEIU
They are the ones sponsoring the protesters.
I thought BU workers were UAW
I thought BU workers were UAW? Why is the SEIU involved?
I'll support UAW efforts
if and only if they make the adjuncts construct automobiles on the BU campus.
Oh please
If your moral standard is "why should the whole world [hint: Comm Ave is not 'the whole world'] have to pay", you've got a long, long line of the guilty ahead of these students, yet I don't see you getting your underwear in a knot about other "whole world paying" issues that are much more consequential. So maybe you should just get off your high dudgeon and either walk your talk, or get a sense of proportion.
yes
i too find it mysterious and unfathomable that people are impacted by things that happen close to home, and that any perceived misfortune may be magnified as a result of proximity
Frankly, I think that these kids
Frankly, I think that these kids who insist on blocking the MBTA Boston College Green Line Railroad and making already-hellacious situations here in this area a lot worse need to get a sense of proportion, so getting your undies in a twist when someone expresses a different opinion than yours makes no sense, either.
need to get a sense of proportion
Yes. Indeed.
Speak for yourself, SwirlyGrrl!!
:-)
First off
That women in the yellow looks like a serial protester, not a student.
Second, block the faculty parking lot and leave the rest of us out of it you entitled snots.
I dare anyone...
...to attempt to engage the yellow shirted lady in a discussion about this (non)issue. I guarantee she'd throw a fit and refuse to let you get a word in. Gotta love these modern "progressive" types. They're all for a debate until someone's opinion doesn't jive with their agenda. And yeah, I know that blow hard Trump types do the same thing. Blah-blah-blah.
Do you need more straw? I
Do you need more straw? I think youve exhausted the state supply
Profs are adjuncts, riders...
bring da funk? funkts? Im'm no good at this
Profs are adjuncts, riders...
bring da funk? funkts? Im'm no good at this
let me try
Big blockade of mad adjuncts means the B Line's gone defuncts
Where are the Police!
When inner city high school students walk out and protest police are everywhere and several students are arrested by Boston and Transit police. When out of town white college students block the trains there are no police to be found and no one is arrested.
Sorry, but you're wrong
Just because the photo doesn't show police doesn't mean they're not there. Police always show up at this sort of thing. When Northeastern students held a similar protest last fall, there were tons of Boston and T cops. They let the students shut the street, have their say - and made sure no asshole drivers decided to take out a student or two - then told them it was time to break it up and disperse.
Imagine that: A police department that respects the First Amendment and yet keeps the disruption from getting too out of hand. It's another thing that makes Boston special.
And, no, Boston cops do not arrest local high-school kids on peaceful protests, which you'd know if you went to any.
The city should be billing the
SEIU for all of the OT accrued by the police during their almost monthly demonstrations.
It's getting old.
terrorists, the lot of them
terrorists, the lot of them
Should I take the bait?
No... Feeding the troll is a bad idea.
i wish
you had actually just taken your own advice.
shoo.
messing around with public transit and public safety on the eve of the anniversary of a massive terror attack, in the same city as said terror attack, is not bright, it does not make me support their cause.
im far from the only person that will see this as an ill fated attempt at sympathy. and you know what thats sad, otherwise i might even be inclined to read more into what theyre working towards.
not anymore.
i realize my opinion is ultimately unimportant and i'm just one drop in the bucket, but oh well, i'm expressing my feelings.
Stop it...
Seriously, stop it. You sound like the standard issue Trump supporter with the crap you're spewing. Also, please do some quick reading on capitalization and punctuation. It'll do wonders for making your posts legible.
Lol, k.
"people i disagree with and get upset by on the internet are obvious supporters of a fascist despot" - a person with the mind of a literal child.
that i choose to employ the vernacular on the internet wrt punctuation and capitalization hasn't made my thoughts any less fit for YOUR perusal.
but yes, attempting to debase somebody on the merits of their grammar, bravo. are they still giving out stars in second grade? we don't have stars here, so i'll give your post the obvious thumbs up that you're so desperately seeking here.
heres your sad sack participation trophy. now you can finally say you won something!
PS. the word you were likely looking for was "intelligible" not "legible"
I'll stick with "legible"...
Anyway, you're still wrong for calling these protesters, no matter how idiotic they might seem, "terrorists". Perhaps your not a Trump supporter, but you're definitely swept up in the culture of fear that the government has created with regards to terrorism. I'm done. Have the last word if you wish.
i'll gladly take the last word, thank you.
you've already said that the protesters aren't using peaceable means to demonstrate. if somebody isn't using peaceable means to force political/economic/religious change, they're frequently considered terrorists.
especially when they, as you say, infringe upon people's freedom of movement.
perhaps you should consider stepping back and analyzing your own commentary before deciding what you feel is trolling. you just elected to take issue with the way i phrased it. perhaps they shouldn't do things that are reminiscent of a portion of the effects of a terrorist attack, on the eve of the anniversary of said terrorist attack.
i don't elect to take cues from the government regarding what i fear. the ~200 casualties on 04/15/2014, in the same city as the mob of people halting public transit today, was enough for me to draw a comparison.
this is to say nothing of the fact that resources were being devoted to these shenanigans at a time when we're preparing to host hundreds of thousands of spectators and other people here.
since you've accused (and, admittedly, backed off of) me of being a trump supporter, i will actually say that they could have used a page out of his book here: pandering to their audience. he excels at that and somebody with his penchant for knowing the crowd would have done these protesters a world of good.
that your ire was directed at the way i chose to express my dissatisfaction rather than defending the protest, further cements the fact that they didn't accomplish much, in my mind.
Entitled wealthy college
Entitled wealthy college students fuck up working class folks' schedules to make a point to no one... um, okay. Mission accomplished.
When you infringe upon the free movement...
...of your fellow citizens, your protest ceases to be "peaceable".
Why the trolley
Couldn't they have just blocked car traffic and left the trolley alone? It would be killing two birds with one stone in the sense that it would encourage public transit use and get their message across.
50% chance of this comment being sarcastic
It's just awful when people do things you don't agree with, isn't it? Driving their cars, paying market rate for their employees, thinking thoughts that you didn't put in their heads.
If only I were the absolute dictator of everything, life would just be better for everyone.
Why don't they inconvenience the top administrators
Their families, their children, at their homes and places of work? What do 99% of the people riding the B line have to do with any of this? They are not responsible for what BU adjunct professors get paid.
Adjunct Profs - smart pepole
I believe professors are smart people. They are smart enough to know what they are getting into. They are "paying their dues". In the long run, their tireless efforts should be rewarded with a sweet tenured position.
Do they really need students protesting / demonstrating to increase their pay?
That's not how the system works
Adjuncts rarely make the transition into tenure-track positions. Pay is one issue, job security would be better. Every 4 months you find out what, if any, courses you will teach. Last semester I taught 5 courses, this semester 4, this summer 1, and in the Fall back up to 3. My annual salary is ?????? and don't get me started on changing health insurance every 4 months to keep up. Also 30% of adjuncts life on food stamps and welfare. Adjuncting is a nice gig if you don't need it to survive.
I was hoping that they were protesting crappy public transit.
oh, well.
Protesting crappy public transit:
Now...that's what more people should be doing!
Although I wouldn't advocate blocking the MBTA tracks in order to do that, writing letters, online and offline petitions, and protesting around MBTA stations without physically preventing, or attempting to physically prevent people from getting through to the station and the trains.
Or...better still, they should be protesting outside the State House.