• @[email protected]
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          136 months ago

          To “affect” a change would be to alter the change itself, for example if the university had already been reviewing its portfolio then the protesters might be affecting the change by making it happen more quickly.

          To “effect” a change would be to cause the change in the first place.

        • prole
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          36 months ago

          This is one of the few oddities of the English language that I struggle with constantly. It seems like, as a native speaker, most of the other ones just “feel” or “sound” right, but I haven’t been able to nail that down with effect/affect for some reason

          • Jojo, Lady of the West
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            26 months ago

            The trouble is that both words have a verb sense and a noun sense.

            The noun sense of affect is something like “mood” or “emotion” and isn’t used often, while the noun sense of effect is “thing that happened (because of some cause)” and is a rather common word.

            The verb sense of affect is “to cause something to happen (to something)” and is a pretty common word, while the verb sense of effect is more like “to make something be true” as in “effecting change” above.

            The mnemonic I use is from dungeons and dragons, some spells are “mind-affecting effects” meaning they change minds and they’re caused by the spell being cast.

            • @[email protected]
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              46 months ago

              If I use my Persuasion skill to help someone think their way through a problem, is that a “mind-effecting affect”?

              • Jojo, Lady of the West
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                16 months ago

                I don’t know that I’d say persuasion skills are an affect, but if your mood gives people ideas, that’d work.

    • Flying Squid
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      146 months ago

      In this case, no change happened because the university didn’t invest in Israel in the first place.

      • @[email protected]
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        226 months ago

        The students being allowed to peacefully protest at all is a nice change, and hearing about it could encourage other peaceful protesters, who could enact more direct change

      • @[email protected]
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        606 months ago

        They are only “supporting terrorist groups” in the eyes of those who are so incredibly racist that they think that all Palestinians, including children, are Hamas and hence all deserve to die.

        The only way to bridge the logic chasm between “being against the mass killing of Palestinian children” and “supporting Hamas” is the extreme racist idea that “Palestinian children are Hamas”.

      • @[email protected]
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        446 months ago

        Brah… the protest calls for 2 things.

        1. BDS
        2. End of genocide

        Neither one is in support of terrorist groups and last I check the ones inciting violence, which is on video for all to witness, was pro-Zionist protestors who came with weapons and attacked the opposition.

      • @[email protected]
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        366 months ago

        Nope. They’re not supporting Hamas, even indirectly because hamas is in control of Palestine. They’re raising awareness to the needless killing of children and other innocents

  • @[email protected]M
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    646 months ago

    Sacramento State’s updated policy states that it “does not have any direct investments in these areas” right now but, in accordance with students’ demands, its investment portfolios will “remain free of such direct investments.”

    Students: We’re protesting until our school stops investing in stuff that’s bad!

    University: Uh, we already don’t.

    Students: We did it! We freed Palestine!

    • deaf_fish
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      546 months ago

      I don’t think the students though that divesting would save all the Palestinians. I mean, I am sure one person did, but that is what happens when you have a large group of people. I think they just wanted to apply pressure against Israel where they could.

      I think it is based and probably the most effective thing they could do to stop the genocide.

      • @[email protected]
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        16 months ago

        Divesting is a step, but it just allows them to remove personal responsibility for the death/suffering. (Which matches the latent cultural narcissism)

        It does not actually stop anything, it may delay the scheduled future.

        Meanwhile bombs and bullets already in production will go down range.

        • @[email protected]
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          96 months ago

          Divesting is a step, but it just allows them to remove personal responsibility for the death/suffering.

          Uh, no. Divesting from South Africa had a big effect on the end of Apartheid. It’s just not enough to do much by itself. But it is enough to push it over the top.

    • @[email protected]
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      6 months ago

      I mean, you jest, but a lot of the time, all you can do in this world is limit your own contribution to the problem

      • @[email protected]
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        76 months ago

        That and vote to regulate wrongdoings. It sounds so obvious and yet somehow we’re losing that battle.

    • @[email protected]
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      126 months ago

      You attempt a lazy joke here because it seems you need attention, but policy like this matters, especially when things get “quiet” again after the spotlight fades. Also, in addition to divestment, the university also met their demand to appoint “a faculty member from Faculty for Justice in Palestine to sit on the finance committee, ensuring that investments remain ethical every year.”

      • @[email protected]M
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        16 months ago

        Attention seeking? It seems like this could have been a single student government vote.

        The university’s communications office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Jezebel on whether it is referring explicitly to Israel, or whether it regards Israel’s actions in Gaza as falling under the umbrella of “genocide, ethnic cleansing, and activities that violate fundamental human rights.”

        And more effective, too.

        • @[email protected]
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          56 months ago

          And more effective? Which university had a student government vote that change the university policy?

          • @[email protected]M
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            6 months ago

            Edit: Actually, just posting a list of the hundred + of schools that have changed official investment policy is not a fair response. The point is that it happens all the time, but it doesn’t grab headlines. SGAs work with university leaders to cooperatively effect change not only on a regular basis, but as an essential part of their functioning.

            I’m happy to repost the list if you would like.

        • @[email protected]
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          16 months ago

          Yes, attention seeking - your undereducated pussyfooting is transparent, exhausting and embarrassing, friend.

      • @[email protected]
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        76 months ago

        You know what, honestly, I can’t blame the above commenter. Have you seen some of the trash headlines are made of these days?

          • @[email protected]
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            106 months ago

            It’s Jezebel, which tells us nothing except that I’m surprised they’re still in business.

          • @[email protected]
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            36 months ago

            Definitely in that case, but short of something wackily eye-catching like “infoturkbot” or w/e tf that garbage is, I usually dont notice the name until im already on the page. I’m just sayin, I could easily imagine a few circumstances that would lead to someone not getting the obvious sarcasm in the headline.

  • @loopedcandle
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    66 months ago

    Ok listen, I’m all in favor of Israel knocking it the f*ck off and students protesting, but this article is written with a very specific skew.

    Last week, Columbia University summoned an army of heavily armed, riot gear-clad police officers to attack its own students for peacefully protesting Israel’s war on Gaza and the university’s financial ties to Israel.

    Couple of notes here.

    • It has evolved to a non peaceful protest. Some neo-nazi assholes were physically engaging with Jewish students. That’s not cool.
    • A good number of nom-students showed up and we’re the ones causing the problems.
    • Columbia called the local police to disperse a situation that was getting unsafe fast, because a university isn’t really qualified to do that. Which is the right call IMO. It’s the NYPD that choose riot gear.

    Should it have been handled differently? Yes. Was the school dumb? Yes. We really don’t need this slanted BS news to see that.

    This is some of the quotes from a Newsweek article:

    One video posted on X, formerly Twitter, showed a masked protester outside the university’s gates appearing to chant: “Go back to Poland!”

    Another video showed a man telling Jewish students outside the campus gates that “the 7th of October is going to be every day for you.”

      • @loopedcandle
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        46 months ago

        I live nearby, I walked by.

        I think (I don’t know for sure) that the students were peaceful, it looks like it got co-opted by a few loud neo-nazis who were being assholes.

        My thing is the original article was pretty off.

        • catsarebadpeople
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          86 months ago

          Then maybe arrest the Nazis instead of beating the actual protesters and shutting down the protest? Interesting that the absolute thinnest veil of an excuse is enough for you to be ok with police brutalizing innocent people who just happen to be exercising their right to protest.

          • @loopedcandle
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            6 months ago

            Ok I. The interest of an honest conversation these are my thoughts:

            • I haven’t seen any reports of beatings during the arrests. Can you send me something if you saw that? Were there brutalizations taking place? If so, you’re absolutely right.
            • I have no problem with the protest, but I do think there is a line between protest and vandalism/rioting. I went to the NYC MeToo marches and a protest in DC against the US in Iraq when I was younger, causing material damage is just not what you do. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/campus-protests-live-updates-students-occupy-columbia-university-rcna149926
            • Looking at the pictures of the baracades and furniture, doesn’t Columbia have an obligation to disperse a situation that is becoming dangerous? Isn’t that one of the police’s jobs?
            • I haven’t been in a situation like that, but I’m pretty sure the police officer in that situation can’t tell the difference between a Nazi and not a Nazi. And they might not self identify. I’m guessing things are getting heated. I read somewhere (sorry I don’t have a source on this either) that the students were let off with a misdemeanor of trespassing, and the identified external agitators were charged with more. Then the students freely went back to protesting. I’m going to reiterate, b.c. this is the internet, I would be protesting Israel too if I were a bit younger. My issue is with the way the story was reported.
    • @[email protected]
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      6 months ago

      Columbia called the local police to disperse a situation that was getting unsafe fast

      Got it, so they called in backup for the neo-nazi assholes.