Harvard of Canada to Harvard of Connecticut: Drop Dead
This past Monday Padraic Scanlan (McGill '08) prophesied for the McGill Daily that, "when the class war comes at long last, it will begin in New Haven, and Yale's undergraduates will be first against the wall." Such sentiment was the outcome of a visit Scanlan paid to Yale the previous weekend, a visit he probably would have enjoyed more were he not tormented by "how obscene the divide is between the rich and the poor in New Haven, Connecticut."
Scanlan has this to say about the social scene at Yale:
The whole atmosphere was one of sexist, predatory relationships between men and women and total contempt for the surrounding community.
I mean, he says says that like it's a bad thing. After going through the motions of white guilt ("In New Haven, white and young means Yale, and Yale means hatred."), seething resentment ("If anyone wants a non-theoretical, non-academic reason for supporting the redistribution of wealth, visit Yale."), and sophisticated sociological observation (Yale is mostly white, and Asian. Inner-city New Haven is mostly black and Hispanic."), Scanlan comes to the crux of his complaint:
"I was walking around the city, just outside of Yale with a bunch of other McGill students, and we were cat-called by bystanders. I can honestly say that that has never happened to me, ever, in Montreal. I have always felt completely safe, and I have never felt a shameful feeling of nervousness around people who have a different ethnic background."
You poor thing. Go back to Canada.
After the jump -- the article in full.
Hand to Mouth: Thoughts on a gated, gleaming institution
By Padraic Scanlan
Last weekend, I went to New Haven, Connecticut. I went to an event at Yale University. Good Lord, when the class war comes at long last, it will begin in New Haven, and Yale's undergraduates will be first against the wall.
My family lived for a while (before my birth, thankfully, but not before my brother's) in scabrous Windsor, Ontario. I have family in the area, and I have been there many times, usually in July, when Windsor goes from being simply unbearable to skin-crawlingly awful. But for all of the desolation and thick, dirty heat of Windsor in the summer, we could always look across the river to Detroit and think, "Well, at least we don't live in Detroit."
New Haven reminded me vividly of Detroit - class and race are lashed together in a widening spiral of systemic oppression in both cities. Both cities are scarred with bombed-out buildings and condemned lots. In both cities, black and Hispanic Americans are crushed by the combined weight of a decimated economy, mounting personal debt, and pervasive, systemic racism. The only difference between Detroit and New Haven is that in New Haven, Yale sits, gleaming and gated.
You have to visit to really appreciate how obscene the divide is between the rich and the poor in New Haven, Connecticut. Yale is vastly wealthy - I can see now (having never actually visited an Ivy League school before) why McGill's administration slavers after the prestige and wealth of that select clique of New England universities. It is enormous, full of granite and sandstone, gleaming new electronics, and huge College Gothic piles.
It is also entirely gated at night, when only Yale students and staff can enter the gates of the University using little electronic key cards. Likewise, the Yale Police, packing heat and driving around in squad cars, are there to protect the undergraduates from the community. And the undergraduates probably need the protection. On Halloween night (or at least the Saturday nearest to Halloween) all of the undergraduates go for "Liquor Treat" (get it?). I can only imagine the number of date rape charges that were filed on Sunday morning. The whole atmosphere was one of sexist, predatory relationships between men and women and total contempt for the surrounding community. It made the McGill Ghetto look like a collective farm.
Yale is mostly white, and Asian. Inner-city New Haven is mostly black and Hispanic. Perversely, New Haven has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country, presumably because of Yale and the various leafy suburban towns that form the broad urban community of New Haven. Still, the U.S. Department of Commerce reports that about 20 per cent of families and just less than 25 per cent of the overall population lives below the poverty line. I would reckon that most of the poorest live downtown, in the shadow of Yale. There is something profoundly wrong with that. If anyone wants a non-theoretical, non-academic reason for supporting the redistribution of wealth, visit Yale.
The hostility of the community to the university is thick in the air; Yale students need an independent police force to protect them (Yale's obscene wealth is the reason why, but that doesn't obviate the threat). I was walking around the city, just outside of Yale with a bunch of other McGill students, and we were cat-called by bystanders. I can honestly say that that has never happened to me, ever, in Montreal. I have always felt completely safe, and I have never felt a shameful feeling of nervousness around people who have a different ethnic background. Furthermore, I don't exactly dress like the Monopoly Man, in tails and a monocle. But in New Haven, white and young means Yale, and Yale means hatred. Racism is sickening and disfiguring, and Yale makes it worse. Because race and class are so stratified, they reinforce one another. Because Yale students are mostly white and rich, and inner-city New Haven is mostly black and poor, race relations collapse into a kind of mounting negative feedback loop.
I choke on my own tongue when I see those t-shirts that read "Harvard: America's McGill." First and foremost, wishful thinking - no one in their right mind can plausibly compare Harvard's vast research resources and coddled undergraduates to McGill's excellent but cash-strapped researchers and downtrodden, grade-grubbing epsilons. Also, you probably didn't get in to Harvard - you have good marks, but you never had the leisure or the interest (or the family wealth and connections) to win the internships, do the activities, contribute the volunteer hours, or play the sports needed to have the "right profile." McGill is not Harvard or Yale, so stop. But it is okay that McGill isn't Harvard or Yale. McGill is more equal-opportunity - Yale is a mansion on a hill, Yale is a lyric in a Phil Ochs song, and Yale is a monstrosity of extreme wealth floating in a sea of poverty. McGill has problems, and inequality, and Montreal has racial and socioeconomic disparities, but at least Montreal isn't a city that physically inspires visitors to join the Communist Party.
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November 9th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
“The hostility of the community to the university is thick in the air; Yale students need an independent police force to protect them (Yale’s obscene wealth is the reason why, but that doesn’t obviate the threat).”
Yes, because NO other US school has an “independent police force”. WHAT AN IDIOT. Go back to Canada is wright, you impoverished fool. This kid has a future dissing Israel while working for the UN.
November 9th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Is that really the McGill newspaper’s MAIN website? Wow, they obviously don’t teach web design well over there.
November 9th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
the date-rape kids were probably qpac-ers at toad’s. which is exactly the problem with trying to make meaningful conclusions from a brief visit to another locale. you can’t possibly know enough to make intelligent conclusions. especially when people go into a setting like the ivy league about which there are so many stereotypes that are already floating around. psychologically, the brain seeks the information that reinforces them rather than a true picture of the reality of the situation. next time i visit mcgill i’ll be sure to write an editorial about how canada is cold, everyone is nice and says “eh?” all the time.
November 9th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
No dig against Yale, it’s an amazing school…
But I kind of dig this kid’s bitterness. Shows someone still cares about this kind of stuff (if not me).
November 9th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Kid’s an idiot. like seriously retarded. first off, when you bash another school, you’re supposed to keep from sounding bitter and resentful that you didn’t get in, not let it ooze out through your whole article. Secondly, yes, Yale is wealthy in a community that is not–STRANGELY ENOUGH, disparities like this occur in the real world, outside the land of “eh” and “aboot”. That’s why lots of Yale undergraduates volunteer in the community. Also, I’m curious where you saw bombed out buildings, cause I didn’t know there was a war going on in the Have. Finally… does no one drink in Canada?
November 9th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
McGill’s online daily may have bad design, but Yale-daily’s website is not any better. Those ads are annoying.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
This column is hilarious. This kid can’t grasp the idea of urban places being a mix of rich and poor, drinking events that involve large groups of college students, and — best of all — “little electronic key cards.” I’m surprised that the newspaper has a website at all!
November 9th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
This article basically implies that white people are racist simply because they are white. This guy would surely fit in at any diversity seminar.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:40 am
This writer is so racist in and of him or herself (sorry, can’t tell from the name). Catcalls make you feel threatened? Sorry to break it to you, hun, but as a young, whiter, Hispanic female that goes to Harvard and lives in a place where you can’t survive on English alone, catcalling is part of the culture. It’s just something you do, just like shaking hands or waving at people you know. Your reaction towards it shows racism in and of itself.
I also like how you throw Harvard in there just because you’re resentful you didn’t get in. Nice.
November 10th, 2007 at 2:38 am
if catcalling is part of a culture he isn’t a part of he just doesnt understand that culture. it doesn’t make him a racist.
unless you’re willing to claim that everyone should understand all cultures. that would be lovely, but it turns out there are a fuckton of them. Catcalling in HIS culture IS rude and threatening, so, couldn’t one argue that YOU’RE racist for suggesting his reaction is wrong?
Or maybe calling people you know nothing about racist because they aren’t as familiar with your own culture as you are is just a bad idea, period.
November 10th, 2007 at 4:00 am
brown 08, i tried to read your rambling and repetitive response but not being high I got bored and gave up. go play hackey sack or something dude.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:50 am
If he was disturbed by catcalling, it’s because he’s never experienced it. And if that’s true, it only says something good about where he’s from: namely, that minority groups don’t have to express their resentment of wealthy white people in that manner.
I’m Cuban from Miami, so I know a little about ethnically mixed areas (my school is 70% hispanic). I don’t blame an oppressed group for being pissed, and they can express that however they want. His reaction only indicates an immediately apparent contrast between New Haven and where he’s from.
November 10th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
I’m all for the occasional Marxist rant…but if it wasn’t for Yale the entire city would cease to exist. And secondly, some (40%) of us are on financial aid, any middle class or lower class kid that gets in here basically has nothing to worry about as far as tuition goes.
There is some tension here, but since we aren’t lucky enough to live a nation that is as friendly as Canada, that can be expected.
November 10th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
to y08: Brown students get high and play hackey sack. Fucking brilliant. I can definitely see how you got into Yale…
November 10th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
the yale daily news has a new website, thank you very much, columbiatch.
November 10th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
“Yale is a mansion on a hill, Yale is a lyric in a Phil Ochs song, and Yale is a monstrosity of extreme wealth floating in a sea of poverty”
HOTHOTHOT
November 10th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
What a ridiculous article. 39% of Yale students are minorities and 80% of New Haven’s overall metropolitan population is white. Do the math. If you see a rich person in downtown New Haven, it is because that city now has hundreds of trendy restaurants that draw patrons from 50 miles in every direction, not to mention million-dollar luxury condos everywhere.
The author can’t seem to get over that the U.S.A. has african-american populations in its cities (many of them quite wealthy, thank you very much), while Canada is a boring, homogenous crap-hole.
November 10th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
This kid TOTALLY understands me!
November 10th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Charles quit the BS. There are not hundreds of trendy restaurants in downtown New Haven that draw patrons from 50 miles in every direction and million-dollar luxury condos everywhere. You make the environs around Yale out to be out of this world. Get real. Yes, New Haven has some stylish places to dine–and there is a fair number of places that probably are fantastic places to live. But, New Haven is not the city it was maybe 70 or 80 years ago. Yale is Yale–and there is a certain amount of arrogance that exudes from the place that could be felt by a visitor who has little insight to college-community. For all of the good opportunities Yale has brought to New Haven–it could do more. The question is does each generation of Yale student leave Yale and New Haven a better place when they graduate and move on and out of New Haven?
November 10th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
May I remind all of you who are deriding our ‘naive’ Canadian friend for her unfamiliarity with urban conditions that she lives in Montreal–a city that is more than ten times larger than New Haven.
November 10th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
a reflection of the decay of North American cities, self segregation. Montreal is exceptional – European influence, most socialist provincial government in Canada. downside: one will never “make it big” in Montreal, almost born into your place in society. very old Europe; will not see innovation (blackberries, silicon valley) nor wealth (tax deterrant) other than a couple economic pillars (energy,insurance). fine for a slow moving, status quo economy. Toronto and Vancouver (east side) have similar urban problems – not representative of Canada. too bad?
November 10th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Check out his facebook profile pic….I’m not exactly believing the catcalls. Unless it was for irony’s sake.
November 10th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
@Penn ‘08: He’s not a “SHE”. Already, your argument is dead.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
WAIT ARE YOU SERIOUS NOT EVERYONE WHO GOES TO YALE IS FROM NEW HAVEN? THEY ARE DIFFERENT? WHAAAAATTT?
November 10th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
your name is hal, thus validating your suspected lameness. also, you seem to perfectly understand race relations at Yale. all of the black students are constantly subjected to racism. some of our white peers often ask us to take up their meal trays and shine their shoes, referring to us as “boy.” i love it though because as a black person I am obviously really poor and therefore I can only come to yale due to the generosity of the amazing white people that contribute to Yale’s massive endowment.
get a grip on reality sir. yale brings together the most qualified student body possible, despite economic need. as a black student on campus, i am oblivious to any institutional racism that affects me while here. believe it or not, some wonderful amazing white people are able to talk to the black workers within the Yale community, or even within New Haven itself and subject themselves to their coon babblings!!! Can you believe that Hal? Rich white kids actually taking an interest in poor black New Haven residents? Impossible! Yale is a community defined by contempt and prejudice. eh?
November 10th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
actually I’m the editor who wrote the post, not the author of the article.
-hal parker
November 10th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Since the US as a whole is mostly white (Cia.gov world factbook says that the estimate in 2003 is 81.7% of the entire US population), is it really that unfair for a diverse institution to also be majority white? As far as I know, minorities are more represented at Yale than in the general population.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:10 am
He can’t expect to be taken seriously after making blatantly false statements that also reveal how little he knows about the City of New Haven. New Haven does not have “one of the highest per capita incomes in the country.” Most of the poor locals do not, nay, cannot (afford to) live downtown, regardless of how much he would “reckon” otherwise. The date rape scene was, as someone mentioned before, probably carried out by the notorious Q-Pac Toads crowd. It’s possible that he saw drunk (and desperate) Yalies hooking up with each other, but I still don’t understand how that constitutes a sexist predatory date-rape-inducing relationship. Had he attended Harvard or Yale, I may give him the benefit of the doubt and suspect that he was trying to deceive his naive Canadian friends. But since he goes to McGill, I must conclude that he was too lazy to do even the most basic research. His joke of an editorial was written in a fit of culture shock and compensatory moral superiority complex. Harvard and Yale aren’t great research universities just because they have billions of dollars. If McGill wants to join our ranks, it could start by discouraging self-righteous writers who arrogantly present bullshit as facts. Yes, New Haven is still a dump despite years of gentrification (sorry Yalies – regardless of how much fun I have whenever I visit New Haven, it’s just not a nice place). But New Haven without Yale might as well be Detroit, which is far worse, especially for the locals. After all, Yale provides hundreds of jobs and invests heavily in a city that just doesn’t want to cooperate. Oh, and what’s up with the long tirade about catcalls and feeling nervous around the locals? Is he f***ing serious?! Perhaps he “felt [the] shameful feeling of nervousness” because he’s never been around so many po’ minority folks before. If something as trivial as a catcall can instantly turn him from a minority-loving self-righteous card-carrying communist party member into a self-loathing spaz, it’s very likely that he’s never been to a real impoverished city. They weren’t going to kill you and hang your head on a pike on Old Campus. Not all poor black people are violent and hostile savages that you think they are. Jesus! Get over yourself. Why don’t you take a road trip to Detroit?
November 11th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
im sorry but sometimes people are so ignorant, and this article is proof. not only does Yale provide so many jobs and investment opportunities for the New Haven community, but the students are constantly endeavoring to improve the situation as well. just this past week, Yale launched a huge solidarity program to help unregistered immigrants in the city get ids so that they can receive public healthcare and whatnot. Yale is undeniably a very rich institution, but by no means does it hoard its assets.
November 11th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
H’omgosh, we are all on a moving sidewalk of racism!
I bet when he went to commons all the black kids were sitting together.
November 11th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Please refrain from all future attempts at casting yourselves in any light of equality or position from which you feel the need to offer comments. Want to know something about cultural divides and inequalities? Look at yourself: modern example of inferiority.
November 11th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
**amazing** to see those who disagree with the “closedmindedness” of Yale counter with “go back to Canada”", “you impoverished fool”, and rightly or wrongly denigrating the validity of a McGill student’s opinion because he is not a Harvard or Yalie!
November 11th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Oh, fantastic. I’m glad someone can come to New Haven for a weekend and leave thinking they have even the SLIGHTEST idea of how our community operates. I can tell he didn’t like Yale men, Yale security, and the Yale social scene, but it’s a pretty far jump from that to drawing an entirely inaccurate picture of race-class relations here. Yale is the most open, tolerant place imaginable, and under President Levin, the school has invested incalculably in the city to try and bring it up. Yalies work for the city of New Haven, we had a drive last week, “New Haven Solidarity Week,” during which hundreds of Yalies got the Elm City ID card to assist the city’s initiative to help its poorest residents get access to basic city services. There’s also a group on campus called the UOC, Undergraduate Organizing Committee, the specific mission of which is to help the unions on campus to make sure Yale employees can have better pay and hours, and in turn, help raise the community up even more that way. There are countless other ways in which Yalies and Yale give back, but I’ll stop there.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Yale should buy Canada. I mean, you guys have enough money anyway. Just do it.
November 12th, 2007 at 12:45 am
would you like to buy a flower today, princess?
November 12th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Damn, I thought the Flower Lady only called ME “princess.” I feel cheap now.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:30 am
First of all, “Padraic” is just the Irish spelling of Patrick; the author is certainly male.
I have occasionally heard rude (but non-sexual) comments yelled in my direction on the streets of New Haven, apparently just because I am a white guy. I think it may be this behavior that he is referring to (imprecisely) as “cat-calling”. (NB: This was not in Dixwell, The Hill, or some other scary neighborhood where Yalies should never venture, but in downtown New Haven — once right on the Green!)
Also, my understanding is that the Yale police department is unusual among university police forces in that they are “fully sworn” and therefore permitted carry weapons (i.e. they are *real police*, not just campus security guards). That this should be necessary speaks for itself.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:32 am
So if the founders of Yale decided not to put the school in New Haven, but in one of the leafy towns competing for it at the time, how would this article have read? It’s chance the school ended up in the middle of a post-industrial city struggling to come back after several really shitty decades. If anything, the relationship between the school and the city at large have never been better. Remove Yale from New Haven and you’ve got Bridgeport. This is better why? And Mr. McGill, what was it like living in Montreal as an anglophone in the 1990s?
November 12th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
The sad thing about this whole story is that New Haven is a MUCH nicer city to live in than Montreal. The climate is much better and there is more cultural life, just within New Haven itself but also with NYC nearby (technically speaking, NYC and New Haven are part of the same city). Montreal is a boring, homogenous town with horrendous weather.
Also, New Haven is not a poor city by any stretch of the imagination. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the New Haven Metropolitan Area is the 3rd wealthiest city in the United States, after San Francisco and Silicon Valley/San Jose — two cities that are much more expensive places to purchase housing. The “municipal” figures may make the central town (a tiny area of a few square miles, with boundaries set in the 1700s) look poor but that’s only because there are so many college students in the central area – Yale isn’t even the largest university in New Haven, Connecticut State, with 14000 students, is. If you want to compare New Haven with other cities you have to use the standard metropolitan area Census figures. It’s easily one of the richest cities in the United States, which is kind of obvious to everyone with half a brain.
November 12th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Actually, contrary to what Ygradstudent posted, many other universities have fully sworn police forces with officers who carry weapons and have arrest and ticketing powers. The Yale police department is NOT exceptional.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
did anyone else think it’s hilarious that someone, presumably from yale, thought that the author’s name was hal and wrote, “your name is hal, thus validating your suspected lameness.”?
November 12th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Whoever says that Montreal is boring and homogeneous has clearly never been there.
That said, having lived there all my life, I was under the impression that McGill students were too smart for clumsy self-indulgent smear-jobs. Apparently not.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
to begin, whoever said that new haven is a better city to live in must have never once spent a prolonged period of time in montreal. it has far more cultural offerings, as well as a higher standard of living and a less divided population. the difference between poor and rich is not nearly as severe as in new haven; i’m not saying everyone in montreal is middle-class, only that it’s less of a striking divide. secondly, please remember that this is from a student publication. this is one man’s, or, at most, one group of friends’, opinion(s). every paper has opinionated writers; clearly, he disliked yale, and whether he was justified in his critiques, the article was his opinion piece for his school community. let’s leave mcgill kids alone, this blog is not about other schools’ opinions on ivy league institutions.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
hey r4r3, who died and made you president of what ivygate is about? leaving people alone is not in the spirit of ivygate, and that’s why we all love it.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Padraic may be right about the relationship between Yale University and the surrounding community. That said, there are intelligent reasons why he might be mistaken. However, the fact that most people have chosen to respond to this article with personal attacks and ill-founded allegations that his – or anyone’s – critique of Yale could only be motivated by jealousy speaks to a serious problem. There is nothing wrong in going to Yale, and nothing wrong in being privileged. The difficulty arises when people fail to acknowledge the responsibilities that such privilege and opportunity imply. When wealthy, talented and incredibly lucky Yale students drunkenly stumble around New Haven flashing their key cards – and in Canada, needing to live inside a compound out of fear of the surrounding community is a big deal – it looks bad. And when those same privileged few respond to an interesting article with petty, arrogant insults, it looks even worse.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:19 am
So, if Yale happened to be located in a richer city, would that be better? Class stratification would still exist. Simply because the problem is so clear in New Haven doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist in the rest of the country as a whole. I’d argue that it’d be worse if whole towns or cities were populated by people all of essentially the same socio-economic status because then people might not even realize that there was a problem at all.
November 13th, 2007 at 10:24 am
I like it, y11. Nice to see that Admissions hasn’t gone completely to shit. Keep up the good work.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:31 am
“your name is hal, thus validating your suspected lameness.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the future leaders of the “free world”…..
yikes.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
‘Also, you probably didn’t get in to Harvard – you have good marks, but you never had the leisure or the interest (or the family wealth and connections) to win the internships, do the activities, contribute the volunteer hours, or play the sports needed to have the “right profile.” ‘
Without even addressing anything else in this article, that sentence annoys the hell out of me. I’m a lower-middle class student on heavy financial aid. I never had any extra “leisure time” or family wealth or connections. I worked, and I applied, and I got in. You can hear the author’s resentment saturating this article. New Haven isn’t perfect- we get it. We know, and we’re working to change that. It’s ignorance like Scanlan’s that makes the job harder.
November 13th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
all major univirsities/colleges use key cards. It’s called technology, maybe Canada should look into it.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
my goodness, you yalies are quite defensive
November 14th, 2007 at 2:21 am
I love how it’s implied that no black people go to yale and assumed that black new haven residents only heckle white students. As black yalie with a family income below the poverty line, I’d like to let the world (and the idiot that wrote this article) know that I’m heckled by new haven’s poor rather frequently.
November 14th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
yeah we have a pretty bad rap on the college who can blame them, our police force consists of 80% minorities, the highest in the union and the campus is cracker central queitly mouthing nigger death while hiding behind their cracker parents money and their prestigous college
November 15th, 2007 at 1:06 am
“It’s called technology, maybe Canada should look into it.”
We did. It’s called the Canadarm. It lets you grab shit in space.
November 15th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
It has been a long time since I spent some time at Yale. The guy is definitely wrong on a lot of points, but as I was reading a lot did ring true. I was at Yale the first year they set up those blue phone boxes all over campus. At our security class (they had one during orientation) we were told that the average time between hitting the red button and an armed yale police car arriving was around 50 seconds. They put those boxes up because (at least at that time) Yale students were getting picked off. They also said that if you brought a car to campus it had almost a 100% chance of being vandalized.
I recall, back then, that the argument about the townies vs. the yalies was economic. That yale owned 90% of the land in New Haven but was tax exempt. That meant that 10% of the landholders had to pay 100% of the taxes and services, and that this created animosity. While Yale has taken voluntary steps, as of late, to pay taxes and to use New Haven services, this is still a factually true (if regrettable) circumstance.
I can’t say that I ever really let anything in New Haven keep me from walking from Orange & Pearl street all the way to Toads on a late night, but I was cognizant of the danger. Yale did beat it into our heads. They even set up walkers, runners, and busses to walk, run, or drive you from point A to point B, again, because they were somewhat tired of having all their students murdered.
I think the author went too far in some of his assumptions, but they are, by no means, entirely false.
November 24th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Just to clarify the context in which the above article was published at McGill:
The McGill Daily has a tendency to be very left wing. Their focus is mainly on social justice. And, remembering that centre-right in Québec means centre-left in the US (give or take), Scanlan’s article seems hardly out of place. Especially in a student-run newspaper.
But that doesn’t take away from the author’s oversimplification of race relations in New Haven. To say that only rich white kids go to Yale seems incorrect, from the above posts. In Padraic’s defense, though: from my own experience, race relations are much less of an issue in Québec than language issues are. McGill is an anglophone university in a mainly french-speaking city, and the way New Haven residents apparently dislike Yale approaches the way Montréal resents the presence of McGill. What I’m trying to say is that when Canadians visit the US, we have a tendency to be very surprised by the magnitude of racial tensions, just like many Americans who come to McGill never would have thought french-english tensions were so important. That Padraic is so shocked about the racial divide in New Haven isn’t surprising to me since there isn’t really one in Montréal. For example, I have been shouted at by passerby for speaking English with friends. So believe it or not, in Montreal tensions are between (mostly) white people who speak different languages. Maybe this is why Montreal might seem so homogenous to outsiders: there isn’t that much diversity in the color of peoples’ skins per se. And Canadians do drink (legal age is 18 in Québec vs. 21 in the US), to counter one poster’s doubts!
Finally, McGill doesn’t need key-cards since Montreal is generally a very safe city. We don’t have metal detectors outside of high schools, because there’s no need for any. The same goes for campus security. It’s not a question of ‘lacking technology’, it’s just that campus isn’t ’shut off’ from the rest of the city.
Hope this helps understand where Padraic Scanlan was coming from when he wrote his article.
November 24th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Just to clarify the context in which the above article was published at McGill:
The McGill Daily has a tendency to be very left wing. Their focus is mainly on social justice. And, remembering that centre-right in Québec means centre-left in the US (give or take), Scanlan’s article seems hardly out of place. Especially in a student-run newspaper.
But that doesn’t take away from the author’s oversimplification of race relations in New Haven. To say that only rich white kids go to Yale seems incorrect, from the above posts. In Padraic’s defense, though: from my own experience, race relations are much less of an issue in Québec than language issues are. McGill is an anglophone university in a mainly french-speaking city, and the way New Haven residents apparently dislike Yale approaches the way Montréal resents the presence of McGill. What I’m trying to say is that when Canadians visit the US, we have a tendency to be very surprised by the magnitude of racial tensions, just like many Americans who come to McGill never would have thought french-english tensions were so important. That Padraic is so shocked about the racial divide in New Haven isn’t surprising to me since there isn’t really one in Montréal. For example, I have been shouted at by passerby for speaking English with friends. So believe it or not, in Montreal tensions are between (mostly) white people who speak different languages. Maybe this is why Montreal might seem so homogenous to outsiders: there isn’t that much diversity in the color of peoples’ skins per se. And Canadians do drink (legal age is 18 in Québec vs. 21 in the US), to counter one poster’s doubts!
Finally, McGill doesn’t need key-cards since Montreal is generally a very safe city. We don’t have metal detectors outside of high schools, because there’s no need for any. The same goes for campus security. It’s not a question of ‘lacking technology’, it’s just that campus isn’t ’shut off’ from the rest of the city.
Hope this helps understand where Padraic Scanlan was coming from when he wrote his article.
November 26th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Well, the original article was not all that fair-minded, but if Yale does indeed function as a sort of gated community, complete with its own police force, then it would inevitably seem bizarre to Canadian visitors. Many big Canadian schools have much more relaxed security – even those like York University which are near some poor neighbourhoods – and they’ll often simply leave most major buildings (apart from residences) unlocked all night. That’s the case here in Waterloo.
And regarding this:
“one will never “make it big” in Montreal, almost born into your place in society. very old Europe; will not see innovation (blackberries, silicon valley) nor wealth (tax deterrant) other than a couple economic pillars (energy,insurance).”
I don’t quite follow your bizarre notion that Quebec or anywhere in Canada is lacking in social mobility. Oh, and concerning the Blackberry, it’s most certainly a Canadian invention and product – in fact, as I sit in my office at UW, I’m about a block from the headquarters of Research in Motion.
November 27th, 2007 at 8:15 am
You guys mind leaving my hometown of Detroit out of your discussion of whether the pampered intellectual elite are bigger assholes in Montreal or in New Haven?
In Yale’s defense, it’s not like they invented downtrodden, perpetually poor folk who dabble in catcalls and crime. Those folks exist all over the globe, even in places where they don’t have their polar opposite nearby nestled in comfy Gothic dorms.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Thought you might like to know- the author of this piece happens to have been offered more than a full scholarship to Princeton. Stop hatin’ just because he writes with panache.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Thought you might like to know- the author of this piece happens to have been offered more than a full scholarship to Princeton. Stop hatin’ just because he writes with panache.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:39 am
I liked the man and applaud his courage for coming- for his candor and his thanks. It gives one hope, hope that good people might yet win out in a world of hatred. I told him our son’s sacrifice was in his hands and I didn’t want the Iraqis to screw up their chance at freedom. I asked him why Iraqi diplomats and politicians weren’t on the news, getting their words out. Why didn’t they let the American people know they appreciated our help despite our bungling? After all if he could win someone as jaded as me over I was certain others would like to hear him…
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johnsmith
Connecticut Treatment Centers
July 31st, 2008 at 5:02 am
It is a university in Connecticut. English philanthropist made contributions to this university.
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Angel
Connecticut Treatment Centers
July 31st, 2008 at 5:10 am
We don’t rather follow your bizarre notion that Quebec or anyplace in Canada is deficient in social quality. Oh, and occupying the Blackberry, it’s most sure a Canadian innovation and product – in fact, as I sit in my office at UW, I’m about a block from the central office of Research in Motion.
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Mac
Connecticut Treatment Centers