TRIPLESPEAK

INTELLECTUAL SNOBBERY (not to mention dishonesty)
This is supposedly a *factual* critique from a student who believes that triplespeak takes the place of common sense. There are many words, but as the old Shakespearean quote rightly supposes, "It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."
This critique is written by a liberal UCLA senior who *misconstrued* the FIRST hit piece on Shapiro, then *reconstrued* it to be even more nonsensical than what the meaning of "is," is.
If this is an example of the journalistic talent UCLA is foisting onto an unsuspecting American public, someone had better teach them how to *construct* whole sentences before they turn a one sentence non-sentence into an entire paragraph.
Being deliberately redundant, I repeat for emphasis, this *journalist* is a senior.
Dear Lord.
One more thing.
More gibberish and spin isn't necessarily better gibberish OR spin. It's just silly.

THE DAILY BRUIN ONLINE 5/11/2004
Book misconstrues facts
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JENNIFER DRADER/daily bruin
Ben Shapiro, a fourth-year political science student, said he has drawn from his upbringing as an Orthodox Jew for many of the views he expresses in his book.
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By Charlotte Hsu
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
Correction appended
A book a UCLA undergraduate wrote that alleges students are "brainwashed" by a liberal bias at U.S. universities contains numerous factual errors, misquotations and misrepresentations of people's views.
Titled "Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth," Ben Shapiro's book appeared on store shelves Thursday.
With "Brainwashed," Shapiro said he hopes to drive home the assertion he's frequently made: that the United States' universities are dominated by liberal professors whose ideologies overshadow those of their underrepresented conservative counterparts. While Shapiro's inflammatory statements have drawn criticism from many, different concerns arise when he doesn't get his facts straight. At least twice, Shapiro states that Student Media receives funding from mandatory tuition or fees, which is false.
He also misquotes prominent UCLA figures, including the chancellor and UCLA Hillel Director Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, and mischaracterizes the terms of his dismissal from the Daily Bruin.
Shapiro rescheduled Monday an in-person meeting that was supposed to take place that morning and asked to be interviewed by phone instead. Shapiro canceled the phone interview after being presented with the errors through e-mail and would only comment in a statement by e-mail.
"I stand behind the facts in my book, and behind the major point of my book: The overwhelming majority of professors are leftists, and their leftism enters the classroom," he wrote.
After canceling his interview, he did not return calls and messages left to his home and cell phone but responded in a later e-mail that he would not be able to talk for "the next several weeks."
He wrote that he is busy with the publicity campaign for his book, which in an interview last week he saidwould launch today.
When asked about factual errors, a spokeswoman familiar with Shapiro's book declined to comment before speaking with a legal team.
The Borders Books & Music on Westwood Boulevard had four copies of "Brainwashed" in stock this weekend, though Ackerman Union is not carrying it.
Some preordered it online, and it has already garnered over 15 comments on Amazon.com.
Factual distortion
In at least two instances in "Brainwashed," Shapiro, a former Bruin Viewpoint columnist, states that Student Media at UCLA – which encompasses The Bruin, UCLAtv, KLA radio and several newsmagazines – receives funding from student fees.
Student Media receives no money from the university or student tuition and fees and is completely self-funded.
In chapter 11, Shapiro writes that "part of tuition at UCLA includes a required payment to the student media. For example, my tuition money pays for Nommo, the black magazine on campus, despite the fact that I disagree with their viewpoint."
He adds at the start of chapter 12 that "groups like the African Student Association, Gay and Lesbian Association, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), the Muslim Student Association and their media outlets, like Nommo, TenPercent, La Gente de Aztlán and Al-Talib all receive tuition money to spout their radical agendas."
Student groups receive funding through fees, but Nommo, TenPercent, La Gente de Aztlán and Al- Talib fall under Student Media and do not.
They are also independent publications that do not serve as media outlets for student groups.
In addition to factual mistakes, Shapiro makes multiple errors when quoting. He misquotes Seidler -Feller in more than one instance.
In a segment about a memorial for Holocaust victims, Shapiro writes: "Seidler-Feller spoke to the crowd of students, comparing Israeli treatment of Palestinians to Nazi treatment of Jews."
But Seidler-Feller says this wasn't what he said at all.
"I have never compared Israeli behavior to Nazi behavior. It's an outrageous assertion – it's both outrageous to say that and outrageous to say I said it," he said.
Shapiro continues in the same paragraph, quoting Seidler-Feller as saying that Jews being victimized in the Holocaust does not mean they are "immunized from victimizing others."
The Bruin story Shapiro cited read: "Seidler-Feller urged people to realize that just because Jews were victims does not mean they are 'immunized' from being victimizers."
A second time, Shapiro writes: Seidler-Feller strode to a microphone and challenged (Dennis) Prager's honesty and his arguments, stating to Prager that he was "exaggerating the case" for Israel.
The quotation Shapiro used never appeared in the DailyBruin story he cites in his footnotes.
Instead, the story said Seidler-Feller supported most of Prager's argument but "did challenge him on a few points he said Prager exaggerated. ... Seidler-Feller asked if it was necessary for Israel supporters to exaggerate to get their point across."
Shapiro also puts quotation marks around statements that he should have paraphrased, giving the impression people said things they did not.
In a segment about partisan politics, "Brainwashed" reads: "Albert Carnesale, the chancellor of UCLA, says that 'a missile defense shield is not the answer to the threat of weapons of mass destruction.'"
The excerpt was drawn from a Daily Bruin story in which the part Shapiro puts in quotation marks was not reported as a direct quote.
Misrepresentation
Shapiro also misrepresented the views of many people he quotes in "Brainwashed."
In chapter two, Shapiro cites English Professor Robert Watson's submission to The Bruin's Viewpoint section, in which Watson writes: "If you decide to characterize as radical-leftist the determination to ask hard questions about the things a society has been most comfortable assuming, then, yes, a large proportion of those who have devoted their lives to intellectual inquiry will appear to you to be radical-leftist."
In "Brainwashed," Shapiro drops Watson's statement "if you decide" and writes that the professor "describes radical leftism as 'the determination to ask hard questions about the things a society has been most comfortable assuming.'"
"That wasn't really what I said, and I assume he must know that," Watson said.
He said his intention was to state his belief that a person who interprets challenges to society's assumptions as radical leftism would naturally define many involved in academia as radical leftists.
"(Shapiro) contrives to misunderstand what I said in a way that would make it false when he presumably should be able to comprehend what I think are pretty clearly made assertions," he added.
Also, some of the over 750 footnotes in the back of Shapiro's book are incorrectly cited.
He twice attributes parts of one of Watson's quotes, in chapter three and then again in chapter 13, to a submission Watson wrote titled "Conservatives quick to excuse war crimes," instead of to "Link between leftists, intellectuals no accident," the piece in which the quote appeared.
He attributes another chapter three quote found in the same piece to a different submission titled "Johnson fails to accept need for dissent in life."
In quoting University of Massachusetts Professor Bill Israel saying the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were "the predictable result of American foreign policy,"
"Brainwashed" footnotes in chapter eight an opinion piece written by Shapiro.
The quote does not appear in that piece.
Daily Bruin dismissal
Shapiro, a Viewpoint columnist for nearly two years, was dismissed in 2002 for appearing on a radio show without first telling his editors, said Cuauhtemoc Ortega, the Viewpoint editor at the time.
In the book's introduction, Shapiro writes that he was fired from The Bruin "for revealing the newspaper's systematic bias in favor of the Islamic community."
The book's jacket says Shapiro was fired for his conservative views.
He said The Bruin refused to publish two of his stories about Muslims and spoke about the issue on Larry Elder's radio show shortly before being dismissed.
Ortega said Shapiro was let go not for speaking on the Larry Elder program, but for going on the program without telling an editor first.
After a different columnist was misidentified as a reporter on "The O'Reilly Factor," the Viewpoint editors drafted a "zero tolerance" policy that stated columnists could not appear on other media without first informing editors.
"It was mandatory. ... It was very clear," Ortega said.
But in his book, Shapiro writes that "columnists were not required to sign the policy, and were not legally bound by it."
Ortega said the two Shapiro pieces were not run in the paper because they were "intolerant and really insensitive to Muslim people."
Ortega said that "you can only go up to a certain point" before breaking communications board guidelines that advise against publishing or broadcasting "articles to perpetuate derogatory cultural or ethnic stereotypes."
The Bruin is not obligated to follow the guidelines, but editors choose to do so at their own discretion.
A vocal path
The cover art of the book consists of four plastic- like graduates dressed in green – "cookie cutter dolls," Shapiro said in an interview the day his book came out – with blank looks on their faces.
He laughs as he says they're reminiscent of the Stepford Wives and says he chose the design because it symbolizes his belief that universities churn out students with liberal views.
Shapiro, a political science student and Burbank native, entered UCLA when he was 16. He speaks with a fast pace, his words flying out of his mouth in short staccato steps. He still lives off- campus in the Los Angeles area and drives to school where he's finishing up his college language requirement by taking Hebrew.
In person, he's well-spoken and passionate about his beliefs.
He has short brown hair and expressive eyebrows that complement hand gestures as he speaks.
Shapiro insists that students aren't exposed to a variety of viewpoints at universities and that those who don't have strong opinions will be overwhelmed by an atmosphere dominated by liberal instructors – even if discussion is encouraged in classrooms.
"Most professors are very open to discussion. They're not sitting down and going, 'How can we brainwash the students today?'" he said.
Described as a "staunch conservative" on his Web site, benshapiroonline.com, Shapiro doesn't bow to critics. He chooses words carefully, and they're often confrontational. Close to home for many students, Shapiro refers in one opinion piece to his peers as "those crying the loudest for money from the pockets of others... the gimme generation."
Though he's loud about what he thinks, Shapiro says his intentions aren't to portray himself as a cut above the rest.
"I'm not like a lot of radicals – on both sides – who only want to hear themselves talk," he said. "I'm certainly not above anyone else."
Even so, he concedes that his readership consists largely of people who share his perspectives and that few people his own age read up on what he has to say.
To reach out to fellow collegians, Shapiro recently took a speaking tour on the East Coast, covering ground that included Boston College, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania.
Doug Bush, director of political affairs for College Republicans of Boston College, said he met Shapiro and chatted with him for a while when he spoke at the school. Bush said he found Shapiro "a bit of a radical," but intelligent and well-read for his age. "I don't know if I believe in everything he says, but he has a lot of information to share," Bush said.
"We had some people that really opposed his positions asking him some really difficult questions. He was really good at thinking on his feet," he said.
Bush said Saturday he ordered Shapiro's book online but hadn't yet read it, so he couldn't comment on it or any errors it contained.
Shapiro began working on "Brainwashed" the summer of 2002, and said he finished writing in nine weeks. He updated it in 2003, and it was accepted for publication shortly after.
The dedication is to his parents, "who taught me the difference between right and wrong and gave me the strength to confront falsehood."
Shapiro says while his social conservatism stems from his upbringing as an Orthodox Jew, his financial conservatism comes more from researching – "You read up and figure out whether this is what I believe," he said.
He says he hasn't chosen a set style of writing yet but added, "I can do an Ann Coulter – one liners, very caustic ... Or less caustic, more factually oriented."
And while Shapiro says he's leaning toward the latter – work that's based more on straight argument – his book contains a lot of jokes and sarcasm.
"The book is more abrasive. ... People need to laugh a little bit," he said.
In addition to his book, Shapiro is a nationally syndicated columnist, with his columns running regular on such forums as Townhall.com and World NetDaily.com.
Ortega, who worked with Shapiro during the columnist's entire tenure at The Bruin, said Shapiro's writing has, in the past, had a pattern of overexaggerating. He added he was not surprised to hear of inaccuracies in Shapiro's work.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say he tries to construe facts in the wrong way. I just think he's overzealous and because of that, he's not careful," Ortega said.
"It's your opinion, and it's your job to describe (the) opposition. But you have a responsibility to not distort what your opposition is saying, and he does that without any kind of remorse," he said.
Shapiro's book was released by Christian publisher WND books, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. Online, the publisher advertises a book alleging the Oklahoma City bombings had connections to Islamic terrorists.
The forward in "Brainwashed" is written by David Limbaugh, author of "Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity" and other books.
Shapiro appeared more conservative than many of his peers at Yeshiva University High School, where students are generally right-leaning because of their backgrounds, said Paul Soifer, his high school U.S. government teacher.
That Shapiro "would take a conservative position on how he would perceive a university like UCLA, that wouldn't be terribly surprising," Soifer added.
And though Shapiro has made a name for himself among conservative voices, Soifer remembers him as just another student– inquisitive and a good researcher, but still just one in a whole class of "seniors with early senioritis."
"Nothing specific sticks out," Soifer said.
After 20 years on the West Coast, Shapiro's heading to Harvard Law School for the fall. Of his move to Massachusetts, Shapiro said he's looking forward to taking up residence in a bastion some consider more liberal than California.
"It's going from the frying pan to the fire – next I'll have to go to Cuba," he said laughingly.
Correction: May 12, 2004, Wednesday
In "Book misconstrues facts" (News, May 11), the story should have said the Daily Bruin drafted a "zero tolerance" policy on staffers' appearing on other media not because a columnist was misidentified as a reporter, but because of editors' concerns that a staffer would be seen as speaking on behalf of the newspaper's staff.
Due to a production error, the last sentence of the same story was cut short and should have read: "'It's going from the frying pan to the fire – next I'll have to go to Cuba,' he said laughingly."

Grammar and punctuation of article solely that of the *senior* from UCLA.
Update: March 31, 2005.
My bad. Edited most punctuation. Had to. html really screwed since switching template.
Dare I say it's a tad biased?
Good Heavens!!!
A CHRISTIAN publisher.
DANG!
The sky is falling on your head, or was that bird poop?
Gag me with a spoon!