<p>Again, it comes down to choices. I don’t see it any other way. Rules are set for people to follow because we all have different scales of what is acceptable and what is not.</p>
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<p>That’s just a little condescending and presumptuous, no? All my life, I’ve lived in a small Canadian town adjacent to an Aboriginal reserve where cannabis is a big part of the culture – many teachers, parents, and youth use it openly, even some police officers. Many of my friends, several of whom have gone on to the best universities in Canada, deal small amounts, probably akin to what Campbell was doing. I’ve personally experienced the costs associated with the use and marketing of marijuana, and I’ve done ethnographic research on Aboriginal reserves to boot. My opinion on the matter is an informed one. So don’t presume that I’m just an immature kid out to have a good time.</p>
<p>a murder happened; other innocent students could have been murdered while walking by; Graduation could be dangerous as well if a person connected to a drug deal/murder is in a ceremonial public gathering is there. Harvard needs to put the safety of its students first and I imagine that is what they are doing by keeping Campbell away (just a hunch) .</p>
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<p>Ding-ding-ditch? Seriously? I’m glad I don’t live in such a pathetically outrageously self-righteous family.</p>
<p>Mustaf- You may have to adjust your cultural norms once at Harvard. While marijuana use and sales may be the norm in your small Canadian village, I predict by the time you arrive at Harvard, possession, use, and purchase or sale of pot will bring swift punishment. </p>
<p>You might want to keep abreast of Dean Evelynn Hammond (African-American) and her statements regarding a “review” of policy towards illegal drugs.</p>
<p>Just because you’ve lived a life around marijuana does not entitle you to make unchallenged presumptions about the situation at Kirkland House, Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. As you can see from the events of the past weeks, Harvard will do everything to protect the college community. When an individual acts to blatantly threaten that safety, s/he can expect serious consequences.</p>
<p>Students so often become complaisant in their bubbles, assuming that because they have not gotten caught in their illegal activities that they will never be caught.</p>
<p>fauve, nicely said :)</p>
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[Harvard</a> to deny 2d student her diploma - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/03/harvard_to_deny_2d_student_her_diploma/]Harvard”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/03/harvard_to_deny_2d_student_her_diploma/)</p>
<p>"Harvard University spokesman Kevin Galvin declined to comment about the status of Smith or Campbell yesterday. “The university has taken appropriate steps based on information we have learned about two female students identified by the Middlesex County district attorney’s office after the fatal shooting at Kirkland House,” Galvin said in a statement.</p>
<p>“But federal law and Harvard policy prevent us from commenting on the identities of those students or the steps that have been taken.”</p>
<p>Neither Smith nor Campbell has been charged…"</p>
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<p>Unchallenged presumptions? No, I was enumerating overlooked possibilities and dispelling myths. And don’t worry, I had no plans to bring my Canadian village with me to Harvard.</p>
<p>Nicely said JHS.</p>
<p>I was referring to this post:</p>
<p>"I think part of what’s going on here, with him and probably with many of the kids at Harvard, is a lot of willful self-deception. Kids like drugs, and don’t really want to associate them with their costs. A kid who recycles and composts religiously, and has abandoned meat and disposable plastic containers, does not want to deal with the fact that his herbs and powders of choice are financed, processed, imported, and distributed by business enterprises that are oppressive, exploitative, and violent. "</p>
<p>this was the point I was trying to make earlier in this thread.</p>
<p>This is all so sad–like Theodore Dreiser-“An American Tragedy.” So many young lives ruined by all this— I am hoping that there is some possibility for redemption for these young people…</p>
<p>I am awed that two young women, offered such an opportunity that so many others would die for, will in the end have judgment poor enough that they throw it all away. </p>
<p>Here is my politically incorrect question: is it possible that in its zeal to diversify, Harvard has reached too far into the nooks and crannies of American society?</p>
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<p>No. Until recently, these young women have had remarkable accomplishments. Smith (the girlfriend) was honored last year with Harvard’s community service award – hardly a student from the dregs. This could have been a story about two rich white kids just as easily as one about two black women. I think they made some stupid choices, probably based on greed. It doesn’t take a disadvantaged background for greed to be a motivation. Look at Enron.</p>
<p>Momwaiting, your point is excellent. Certainly no socioeconomic or racial group has a monopoly on wrongdoing. However, this crime was particularly violent: it was murder. These two young women, however committed to remarkable accomplishments and community service, are associated with people who are capable of murder.</p>
<p>Yeah I see your point #122. If I was stuck in Canada with no apparent way out, I’d smoke my brains out too.</p>
<p>I hope you are not trying to imply that african americans are more “capable” of murder than any other racial group.</p>
<p>^ kafka how can you say blacks are more likely to commit murder than whites?</p>
<p>“However, this crime was particularly violent: it was murder. These two young women, however committed to remarkable accomplishments and community service, are associated with people who are capable of murder.”</p>
<p>Are you saying that all black inner city residents are capable of murder?</p>
<p>I am not suggesting that there exists any relationship between race or ethnicity and the “capacity” to engage in violent crime. I am merely observing that these two young women squandered a great opportunity that many others, including my own son, will never ever have, and that there is a relationship between socioeconomic status (not racial, socioeconomic) and propensity to engage in violence. It is an unfortunate fact of modern life that with poverty, be it white or black, comes violence. As Harvard reaches into those deep nooks and crannies, be they in white or black communities, it risks bringing all the pathos of modern day America into its quadrangles.</p>