Nasty article about Columbia Pacific U. in The Guardian

[dhfr]

An article about John Gray and his CPU doctorate in today's edition of The Guardian: A varying degree (http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,9959,1409755,00.html)

I'm a little mystified about why they published this now. As they point out, CPU (in the form discussed) hasn't existed since 1997. And John Gray himself has been out of the public eye for a few years.

[J]

The Guardian (aka The Grauniad, after one of its many memorable typos) is the most socialist of the quality British newspapers. The world-view it offers might most kindly be described as "distinctive". If political correctness is your thing and you like your world presented in varying shades of grey, it's your perfect read.

Ben Goldacre, who wrote the article, opposes pretty much all forms of education that don't come from a state-controlled, campus-based model. Based on what I have read of his, he is opposed to distance education in its entirety and also opposes alternative medicine. He has also published a series of attacks on British TV personality Dr Gillian McKeith (who has strongly defended her non-traditional qualifications), who trained in naturopathic medicine by DL at the Clayton College of Natural Health.

Myself, I dislike the ad hominem, sneering conservatism that appears to be his stock-in-trade. There is no substance to what he says - only his opinion. The business of DL is serious enough to be dealt with by means of a better class of public debate than that.

[J]

For those interested:

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Manchester%20Guardian

The affectionate name the Grauniad for the paper came about because, in the past, it was noted for frequent text mangling, technical typesetting failures and typographical errors, including once misspelling its own name in the 1970s. Although such errors are now less frequent than they used to be, the 'Corrections and clarifications' column can still often provide some amusement. There were even a number of errors in the first issue, perhaps the most notable being a notification that there would soon be some goods sold at atction, instead of auction.

Until the foundation of the Independent, the Guardian was the only serious national daily newspaper in England that was not clearly conservative in its political affiliation. The term "Guardian reader" is therefore often used pejoratively by right-wingers. The reactionary stereotype of a Guardian reader is a person with leftist or liberal politics rooted in the 1960s, working in the public sector, regularly eating lentils and muesli, wearing sandals and believing in alternative medicine and natural medicine as evidenced by Labour MP Kevin Hughes' largely rhetorical question in the House of Commons on November 19, 2001:

"Does my right hon. Friend find it bizarre — as I do — that the yoghurt- and muesli-eating, Guardian-reading fraternity are only too happy to protect the human rights of people engaged in terrorist acts, but never once do they talk about the human rights of those who are affected by them?" http://www.publications.parliament.uk/cgi-bin/ukparl_hl?DB=ukparl&STEMMER=en&WORDS=guardian+yoghurt+muesli+read+fratern+&COLOUR=Red&STYLE=s&URL=/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo011119/debtext/11119-08.htm#11119-08_spnew3

Like most stereotypes, this one is both inaccurate and outdated (for example, the Guardians science coverage is extensive and is characterised by a contempt for alternative medicine), but it is a persistent feature of English political discourse.

Even Doctors perpetuate the stereotype by using the acronym GROLIES on patient notes. The acronym expands to Guardian Reader Of Low Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3159813.stm