Week in Review

After being held in limbo for much of the week, the undead beast that was the Motion on Apartheid was finally laid to rest by UGM Chair Joe Meadway. I wouldn’t bet all my marbles on it being gone forever, though.

We took a stand against the rampant PC problem on campus, and no, we’re not referring to political correctness.

Plus, the LSE waded neck deep into the sump that has surrounded the case of Madeline McCann’s disappearance, and Polis director Charlie Beckett learned a lesson in troll-baiting.

Beckett Tempts Trolls

We reported earlier this week on the Polis lecture ‘The McCanns and the Media’, which had resulted in a rather raucous event with, in Beckett’s words, ‘a few odd people’ that had been active in internet bulletin boards joining the off-line debate. Well, of course, they let him have it in the comments, with 20 posts listed so far.

Charlie himself chimed in after the first salvo, and made some concessions, altering the text of his post somewhat to allow that not all of those debating the subject online are nutters, but he nevertheless has been on the receiving end of heaps of abuse from these posters for days now. He hasn’t ventured back into the forum to respond once more, but the post remains at the top of his blog.

Although for the most part the posters seem rather shrill, some do in fact make valid points (although I probably wouldn’t include the self-important “world famous Psychologist … and member of Mensa” in this grouping). Here’s hoping that Beckett knew to expect this kind of response, and who knows? Maybe some of these folks will find their way to the Observer and abuse us with comments!