Officials at the University of New Hampshire at Durham may have found the only place on the campus where students don’t want to be able to surf the Web: the dining hall. Over spring break, the university installed Internet-connected computers in each of its three dining rooms, hoping the machines would allow busy students to fire off e-mail messages while they grabbed a bite.
But response to the new computers has been cool, to say the least. Many students say they don’t want to multitask while they’re eating, and on several occasions, pranksters have put pornographic images onscreen.
3 Responses to Web Surf and Turf
Guest - September 7, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Thanks so much for this fascinating post! I too have been alarmed by all the chimpanzees-are-like-us research, particularly the latest study the CHE covered about chimpanzee penises and brain sizes (this brought back bad memories of the Simon LeVay brain study and the earlier research about black men’s penis sizes and intelligence). I think it is probably simply hubris. Anthropologists and other scholars no longer have the power to project their own frustrations and dreams about human behavior onto men of color and/or subgroups like homosexuals and “hysterics,” so they are now using primatology to transfer their condescension and academic imperialism elsewhere. Maybe if we simply dealt with other humans earnestly and in good faith we wouldn’t need this.
I thank you for guest-writing for Claire Potter’s column and hope to see more of your work; your writing style is fantastic. But then again I wouldn’t expect any less of Professor Potter, on whom I’ve developed an academic crush. This is the CHE’s best blog by far.
butteredtoastcat - September 8, 2011 at 3:44 am
“If we could somehow have a chimp that was more like us, it would satisfy
this deep science-fiction desire for communication with others, and
make us feel less lonely.”
People who really know animals understand that they already communicate and help a lot of humans feel less lonely.
I think this obsession with apes speaking or becoming human-like is about control and playing God. Making the chimp speak is one-upping God–and evolution, for that matter–and exalts the egoist who can manage to make it work. If the biblical Adam demonstrated supremacy over the animals by naming them, how much more supremacy would there be if a scientist could grant animals powers they never had.
At some point, this will happen, like cloned sheep and meat grown in a petri dish. It’s not a matter of “if” anymore. And other than Congress, I can’t really think of a niche for these monkey-humans.
roots_and_shoots - September 27, 2011 at 3:36 pm
Hello Claire,
I am intrigued by your primate post. I too am interested in
the study of chimpanzees. Although I do not know much about the detailed
studies, I do know that Dr. Jane Goodall has done extensive research on the
lives of chimpanzees and realized the similarities to human beings. Jane
Goodall has contributed a lot to the natural world.
Readers may be interested in attending the second annual Jane
Goodall’s Roots & Shoots North America Training Summit 2011in New Orleans,
LA. The event will take place October 21-22.
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Summit provides participants with opportunities to:
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- Interact with experts in science and sustainable
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Networking with other leaders from across North America
including Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and the United States, participants
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To learn more about this upcoming summit, please visit the website at: http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=947561