Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder

30 Oct 2001, 17:31 p.m.

I'm never certain how to feel about the Berkeley College…

Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2001 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.

I'm never certain how to feel about the Berkeley College Republicans. Aside from the fact that its webpage is out-of-date and Javascript-laden, the organization puts out The Patriot, a magazine that generally contributes little to political discourse and prefers sophomoric attacks and smug back-patting. Yes, I've read an issue or two.

The most recent email from the Berkeley College Republicans might reveal how smug the leadership feels on the "liberal" Berkeley campus. Regarding the Teddy Bear Drive community service initiative:

This is one of our last two community service projects, so please get involved. This is very easy, so no excuses. You are putting a smile on a child's face - a great chance to show we really care and rub it in some crazy liberal's face.

When SANE says that atheists are a marginalized group in the USA, I believe it. I'm less apt to sympathize with the "victim" status of a campus group whose Director of Community Service Initiatives seems comfortable referring to "some crazy liberal" as though those words go together.