WealthOfInformation

Thomas Lauren Friedman is known for supporting a compromise resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, modernization of the Arab world, environmentalism and globalization. He was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and is known for his book: The World Is Flat.

One of the two audience members who threw pie dishes filled with green whipped cream at New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman last night has been identified as Margaree Little '08.5, she confirmed yesterday.

Little and a male accomplice leapt from their seats seconds into Friedman's Earth Day lecture in Salomon 101, stunning the crowd and Friedman, who was left with green paste on his face and clothing. Friedman blocked one dish with his hand and dodged the other, but was smeared with the contents of each.

One of Friedman pie throwers identified - Campus News

Youtube: YouTube - Greenwash Guerrillas Pie Thomas Friedman on Earth Day

modestmelody

Old news, at least on campus.

But yeah, I was there with my mom and it was pretty awkward and ridiculous. Sometimes a few idiots do something stupid. Thanks for the PSA though ::rolls eyes::.

wolfmanjack

I'm gonna go on the Yale forum and post a news article on the girl who aborted fetuses. They should see that!

hehe

tuco48

Just wondering. Does the Brown administration allow students in classrooms to throw pies at faculty members whose opinions don't conform to their ideology? Or is this just reserved for guest speakers?

franglish

Tuco, this is kind of a silly thing to say. OF COURSE NO SCHOOL ALLOWS THIS BEHAVIOR!! But, unfortunately, things do happen. The school is dealing with this behavior:'NYT' columnist Friedman hit by pie at Brown University' - USATODAY.com

Read the whole piece.

tuco48

I read the whole piece. I guess I'm having difficulty distinguishing between levels of silliness at Brown.

"Little also said she and her co-pie thrower wanted to open up a dialogue about what it really means to have free speech on an elite college campus like Brown."

"She said they considered passing out fliers or preparing questions to ask Friedman during a question-and-answer session, but ultimately decided to take a more significant step."

modestmelody

So what you're saying is, you're going to judge Brown students, administration, and the University as a whole on two idiots?

Bravo Tuco, you're a ****ing moron.

wolfmanjack

What makes you think they were allowed to throw the pies? It's not like they asked...

tuco48

No, you're saying that. I'll be interested in watching how the administration deals with the situation though. I see you're in Providence. You must have expertise on "****ing moron[s]."

franglish

One of Friedman pie throwers identified - Campus News
Above is the address for the response by Brown. The article appears in the Brown Daily Herald of April 24, 2008. Tuco, you are arguing for the sake of arguing!

justbreathe

Nearly every single person I've heard talk about it at Brown has expressed something along the lines of "wow, what idiots."

ilovebagels

It should also be mentioned that they suck at throwing.

mgcsinc

At least they hit him, which is more than can be said for a lot of attempted pie-ers. When Ralph Nader was pied once, he actually caught the pie after it hit him and threw it back.

In any case, it goes without saying that those two idiots are an unrepresentative sample, and that most of the student body does not support them. This is not like the incident at Columbia a couple years back where half the audience joined it - the audience applauded Friedman afterwards.

If you find tuco48's arguments (which sound like they are from a low-ranked middle school debate team) compelling, then I encourage you to look at other schools, because I'd rather not have you here.

tuco48

If you knew anything about arguments or even debate, you'd know I didn't make an argument. Arguments have form. I simply asked a couple of questions about which the Brown students on this board seem to be quite thin-skinned.

"At least they hit him. . " - profound observation in light of the circumstances. Were you on the debate team?

soozievt

Tuco,
Your questions seem to be inciting arguments. You asked if Brown allows students to throw pies at faculty. It is very obvious that Brown doesn't allow this behavior and in fact, if you read the article posted, the student who did this act is now going through disciplinary hearings. Brown doesn't condone this behavior. When bad behavior happens, the school is not at fault. Things happen in any community of people and what needs to be examined is the school's reaction to it and in this case, the school is intervening with the student in a disciplinary fashion. So, your question has been answsered. No, Brown does not allow pie throwing at faculty or guest speakers.

You asked about the levels of silliness at Brown. This is ONE student who clearly does not represent the Brown community as a whole. To make sweeping generalizations about an entire campus community based on the actions of one student is hard to take seriously. That would be like judging all of Yale based on the student who has the abortion art project. As someone else pointed out, it is not like the Columbia incident in that the Brown students were not cheering on the actions of this one student. Your argument about silliness at Brown would be as if you heard of one student at Brown who was a heroin addict and then generalizing that everyone at Brown does drugs.

I think you'd do better to criticize this student's behavior rather than come onto a Brown forum and attempt to incite and to be speaking ill of Brown due to the behavior of one student.