Comments on: Schwoeffermann Strikes Back

By: anon

anon — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:51:43 +0000

Sorry, I didn’t want to be an abominable ho-man or anything.

By: Jacque

Jacque — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 03:23:50 +0000

LOL thanks for the correction on the spelling… no spell check on this thing… see I’m getting my edumacation!!!

By: Hmmm

Hmmm — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:04:18 +0000

I understand. (I have to say, though, Snoop, Kobe and TO were my role models growing up, and I got into college. I had shit grades, never attended class and spent most of my time playing basketball and partying. But I decided to move out of my house and live with my aunt and uncle. I got straight A’s and pushed out more than 2,000 other UO applicants that year. ‘It ain’t no fuuuuuuun if a homey can’t haaaaaaaave none.’ Yeah! Please don’t diss Snoop.)

By: anon

anon — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:00:49 +0000

I agree, Jacque: Many of his points aren’t “Ludacris.” And I can say with a fair amount of certainty that many of Ludacris’ points aren’t “ludicrous” — he’s got hos in different area codes, and that’s no lie.

By: Jacque

Jacque — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:21:25 +0000

What I would like you to do is put yourself in the place of a young black boy whose role models only include Snoop Dogg, Terrel Owens, and Kobe Bryant. When you contrast this with the family and community realities in which this young black boy lives what choice does he have but either try to be a hard core gang member or an athletic phenom? My point is that if you argue that these athletes have a choice, I guess, but as I have stated numerous times given the background and socio-economic realities in which many black people live in can you truley tell me that the choice is truley there? Do the coaches really say “focus only on sports” no of course not but when it is something that has been engrained into our culture there comes a point where not only is the choice no longer there but people no longer have to say overtly “focus only on sports” its implied.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 18:04:03 +0000

“Is the Athletic department the problem in and of itself? No, the problem is that we still live in a society where people are mentally enslaved. Does the athletic department perpetuate this, I think yes. yes, because they are in a position to propel student-athletes into the national spotlight and use this for a good purpose rather than just to make millions of dollars for the school.”

“…I feel that that is what is missing when you tell a student athlete that sports is the only thing that they should focus on. ”

So what’s a possible solution? Doesn’t the athletic department provide students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend college the chance? And doesn’t it bring in tons of revenue? I think academics should be the main asset of any “institution of enlightenment,” but you can’t say sports is contributing to the problem. Sports gets people into colleges where they can pursue a career. If athletes focused more on school then they’d have a much more sustaining future, not one that could come crashing down due to a torn ACL, for example. It should be the student athlete’s responsiblity to do well in school. I really don’t think the athletics department encourages stupidity. Do coaches really say “focus only on sports”? Isn’t there a minimum GPA they have to keep or something?

By: Niedermeyer

Niedermeyer — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:53:40 +0000

T: If comments are being deleted, nobody told me about it.

Anon, Jacque: right on!

By: Jacque

Jacque — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:27:01 +0000

Yes, Ty is a racist. I am not saying that he is not. I am not saying that many of his points aren’t ludacris. What I am saying, and what I said to Ted last night is that while the root of the problem begins while people are in diapers does that mean that it is ok to have a system perpetuate the problem rather than actively working to curb it? No. Its kind of one of those things: if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem. Is the Athletic department the problem in and of itself? No, the problem is that we still live in a society where people are mentally enslaved. Does the athletic department perpetuate this, I think yes. yes, because they are in a position to propel student-athletes into the national spotlight and use this for a good purpose rather than just to make millions of dollars for the school.
Being by biracial I can tell you, it makes no difference what race a person is they can still be a racist. Teds comment about someone who is an african-american academic being labled “not black” is spot on. I can’t tell you how many times I have jokingly “had my black card revoked” now I take it as a joke but this concept that there is one thing that is black and one thing that isn’t is ludacris. I hate it. So again we in every aspect of our society should discuss race and its place in our society because I feel like that discussion doesn’t happen. Education is a unique thing because I feel like it is the “great equalizer.” I am also a first generation college student and will be the first in my family to recieve an advanced degree. My struggle to get to where I am has placed me in a position to have met many judges, and prominent community members, in a position to make a difference. This is a gift that I recieved from my education and I feel that that is what is missing when you tell a student athlete that sports is the only thing that they should focus on. The idea that they are not told that, welll… just look at popular culture. Do you see prominent black professionals represented there? Nope. But you do see people like Bill Gates, Donald Trump and the like represented… Anyway now I’m rambling but you get my point… (I hope) :) Lets start a discussion about race issues I think it does need to be both internally within different minority groups as well as transcending racial lines…

By: Timothy

Timothy — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:21:27 +0000

In my mind, all of y’all are on fire.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:26:28 +0000

Hmmmm….Olly….Olly….That’s a tough one to make a ‘hilarious’ joke about, actually, it’s a funny name by itself. ;) J/K. I wasn’t disagreeing with Dumbscheissahkopf. I think he was being quite simple with his idea of a fix to the education system, but I don’t disagree. I just wondered what a “problem teacher” meant in relation to racism and black kids not having enough routes to college (other than sports, according to Schwiff.) The comment after that was just to piss you off.
I do wonder, though, what situation allowed him to get to college. Obviously he doesn’t play sports. But what is his family income? Does he fit into the category with the average student whose parents make $100,000 a year? And of course I’m interested in how he passed a writing class considering his inability to get a verb and a noun to agree.

By: T

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 07:51:50 +0000

As a reader I ask: Why are things being deleted from this comments section?

By: Goward

Goward — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 07:45:13 +0000

I do have to agree that this is typical Ty. I worked last year with him in the ASUO, and this is his typical crap. While calling people racist, he was being racist. A double standard… “its not right for anyone other than I to be racist.” Ty’s comments are just about as bad as me saying I hate gay people (you would have to know me to get that) but I guess there are gay guys who are homophobe out there, but they are just as absurd as Ty though.

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 07:31:59 +0000

I’m remaining anonymous also because of conflicting interests, and also because I know Ty personally. Well, I thought I did before the “Jungle Love” article. I’ve known Ty here at the UO for about 3 years now, and never had an inkling of what he was hiding. The thing I find the funniest is that Ty is himself half-black and half-white. He is the product of an interracial relationship, and while I can’t comment on his parents relationship, I see now that his childhood must of had some affect on his opinions in the world. Having many friends in relationships that transcend race, and myself also being biracial, I was appalled and frankly disgusted. If a white person had written that arictle there would of been far more upheaval over that article. The white writer would have been called out as a rasict and the public would have demanded an answer from the ODE, and the writer as well. Ty gave no response to the public- never apologized or defended his opinion. I know he is entitled to it, but all of us who thought we knew him were left with jaws hanging. Ty finally answered his friends, or at least me, by claiming that he was not a racist, simply a separatist. He believes that white and blacks should be seperate, and that our spheres of life shouldn’t ever co-mingle, but merely co-exist. Seperatly. Divided. But equal, Right? Wait a minute, I swear I’ve heard that reasoning from loony racists before. If not wanting to interact with someone based purely on thier skin color isn’t racism, I obviously don’t know what it is.
And anyone who wouldn’t date me because I was ‘too dark’ or because they are thinking about ‘what would others think?’ weren’t racist. Oh, now I get it, they were all just separatists. I thought we were trying to get beyond defining people according to their skin tone, but Ty just goes and reinforces that line of thinking. My skin color may define my reality, but it does not define who I am. As MLK said, I choose my friends based on the content of thier character rather than the color of thier skin. I recommend that Ty simmer down a bit, and think carefully before he opens his mouth. Ty is looking for a controversy, and I, for one, won’t give him anything to argue about.

By: Olly

Olly — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:33:30 +0000

“What you’re saying, Dumbscheissahkopf, is because of a pitying teacher, Schwifferdouche should have been kicked out long ago because he couldn’t pass English?”

C’mon, Nick, nobody’s arguing that. Nobody’s arguing that the University should have academic standards, or anything crazy. But shouldn’t there be some mechanism, somewhere in the education system, that requires America’s high-school students to learn how to write English? (Not necessarily when they’re in high school, or college. Perhaps when they’re forty. I’m willing to compromise on this.)

Feel free to respond by making a clever joke out of my name, by the way. I can’t tell you how much I love it when you guys do that with people. (I mean, “Schwifferdouche”! Who doesn’t find that hilarious?)

By: Doomscheissah

Doomscheissah — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:34:21 +0000

Nick: Not really related to Swifferduster more than just people in general. Swifferduster is just a complete and utter moron who will probably end up in a low-paying job being an advocate for Bob Jones or Bob Jones University.

And Niedermeyer: It’s cool. Without making light of a situation, we brood in darkness.

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:31:02 +0000

Oh, I get it. Silly me. What you’re saying, Dumbscheissahkopf, is because of a pitying teacher, Schwifferdouche should have been kicked out long ago because he couldn’t pass English?

By: Niedermeyer

Niedermeyer — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:11:30 +0000

Hey Doom, if you think that “Someone who is willing to pass a kid in class because they feel sorry for them” is a problem teacher, it just means you aren’t working the system hard enough. Without these “problem teachers” I might have my dignity, but I’d have flunked out long ago. With that, I’ll apologize for making light of an otherwise serious discussion.

By: Niedermeyer

Niedermeyer — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:07:29 +0000

Bingo, Andy. Nobody is saying that institutional racism and a thousand other forms of inequality don’t exist, what’s being said is that in the big picture, collegiate athletics is generally more “problematic solution” than “tool of oppression.” Furthermore, the critique that says athletics are “presented as the only thing that a young black man will ever be good at” is simply incorrect. Yes, athletics are one of the few ways that incredibly talented and motivated people can become fantastically rich, but it is much less available to people of all races than your average middle-class job, and I think most collegiate athletes know that better than anyone. Furthermore, one hears that African-Americans who pursue academics as a principal interest are often characterized by their communities as “less than black,” a great example of which is a certain African-American who is running for President. How is that kind of cultural self-persecution less of the problem than the fact that Universities offer athletic scholarships?

By: Doomscheissah

Doomscheissah — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:49:59 +0000

What constitutes a problem teacher:

Someone who is unwilling to change their position on certain issues involving classroom behavior.

Someone who is willing to pass a kid in class because they feel sorry for them.

Someone who abuses tenure in order to try and control a department.

That’s just the start. Administrators need to have oversight and a clear way to fire a teacher without having major reprocussions.

At the same time, Administrators who encourage said behavior should also be axed.

My point is, specifically, if you want better students, you find better teachers and replace the problem ones.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:12:57 +0000

Jacque,

So what about all the Hispanic kids who can’t make it onto the teams? Or Asians? Or basically anyone who is poor or minority who can’t run a 40m in 4 seconds or can’t bench 300lbs? Ty conveniently forgot all of those minorities, which I imagine aren’t on academic scholarships.

Ty is a racist, and when he acts out, we shouldn’t call that ‘bringing attention to a problem’ but what is actually is - racism.