After listening to the entire audio clip, I conclude this was a typical bit of yellow journalism by the New York Post which took a relatively small iinterruption and blew it out of proportion. That FOX News tried to run with it is also par for the course.
Here is a link to the audio portion as provided by the Columbia Spectator.
www.columbia.edu/cu/senate/militaryengagement/20110215clip.mp3
If you listen to the clip you'll find that (1) there was very little interruption and (2) the audience was in general respectful of the veteran's presentation, applauding him generously at the conclusion.
It is true there were guffaws and catcalls a couple of times, but this was clearly a minority of the audience.
I would not be surprised if Columbia opts to restore ROTC.
EDelahanty,
You are correct, this is very much a case of yellow journalism.
Mostly because the NY Post decided to focus on the wrong issue here. Yes, it is upsetting that these students at Columbia (however few) could heckle and jeer an injured war veteran, and their actions are justifiably met with scorn and derision by those who see this as disrespectful and cowardly.
But the real issue here, and one a rag like the NY Post is too low-brow to analyze and assess, is the fact that this debate clearly shows the Student elite at Columbia have been using the DADT policy of the US military as a sham, a poor excuse for their justifications to ban ROTC from their campus and the military from their lives. No, they don't want to be anywhere near the military simply because they despise the military and all it represents, and despise those who would join. With the removal of DADT, their excuse is no longer valid, but they fight the introduction of ROTC on their campus anyway, because to them the military is the boogie-man, an evil organization with no humanely purpose or need in the "perfect" world they wish to live in. Their naivete and ignorance is on full display for all to see here, and that is the shame.
When did they heckle this veteran? When he tried to explain to them that, no matter how much they want to project their own naivete and hope for peace onto the rest of the world, there are many who simply choose not be be as "civil" as these ignorant fools. And for that (his pointing out of their naivete), a man intimately familiar with how some in this world view Americans (even those attending elite institutions of higher learning in NY) was ridiculed for stating the facts of this world.
A shame. On NY Post for once again dumbing down the discussion, on the students of Columbia for not understanding that the person who least wants to go to war is the one who will fight it, and on their professors who support their efforts rather than telling them the truth: that the US military has NO BEARING on when and where America fights; they simply carry out those orders of American policy.
I do agree with you that eventually a ROTC detachment will be present on the campus of Columbia. and that is a good thing. The profession of arms has been viewed by the majority attending the elite institutions of the East Coast Ivies as an evil organization, mostly due to ignorance and the fact it was "cool" to do so. Too few of our military leaders are emerging with backgrounds from these institutions, and it is time for that trend to stop. Outside of the Service Academies, it has been viewed that the East Coast Ivies are the schools of choice for America's best and brightest, and their prejudices against military service has diminished a vital source of outstanding individuals from joining the profession of arms. It is time for "the next generation of America's elite" to see the military for the nobleness that it espouses, and to be proud to serve their country by joining its ranks.
The students attending these institutions ARE passionate. That passion would be a tremendous contribution to our Armed Forces, if only they weren't so afraid of "the boogie-man".
