MediaWatch: Stephen Collis, A Good Reason Not To Attend SFU

Hipster Professor Stephen Collis

 

School has now ended, and many new graduates are still working on the choice of which university they will attend this fall. Well, let me help you out with this one- if you are planning to get a degree in English, let me recommend that it may be a good choice to avoid SFU. At least, if Professor Stephen Collis is any indication of their teaching quality…

Collis is one nutty professor- and, not the good kind. He’s a radical left-wing crazy who sees the world through red tinted glasses. If you want to see some evidence of this, read his latest article in the Occupy Vancouver Voice titled- Is That A Kick Me Sign On Your Back?

In his article Stephen’s argument uses logical fallacy saying that because two of the people who the police arrested at last week’s Casseroles march were women, and one was a woman of colour, that the police were specificity being racist and targeting women. Not very impressive for an English professor. As I said, avoid going to SFU if you plan on getting an English degree. (probably avoid an English degree altogether, it won’t help you find a job)

Here’s a really rich quote from his article:

“Two arrests occurred at the VAG: both were of men trying to support the woman (the only woman of colour present) who a police officer had physically accosted”

You see what I mean about not getting an SFU English degree? Do you really want to learn English from a man who can’t recognize the difference between “supporting” someone who was being arrested, and “interfering with an arrest”? Come on, Stephen, you are being so transparent here you are opaque!

And, now, for Professor Collis’ next gap in logic:

“The detachment assigned to the demonstration Wednesday night was apparently led by Sgt. Ken Athans, a crowd control specialist, who recently returned from a trip to Montreal, where, it has been revealed, he was observing “strategies the Montreal Police are using” in dealing with student protests. Sgt. Athans was seen to direct the police tactics first hand on Wednesday night, and it was Sgt. Athans himself who led the officers in their targeted and intentionally provocative arrests of women that night.”

What a load of crap Stephen! Athans went to Montreal to learn about dealing with large-scale protests- something that last week’s Montreal Casseroles march was not. We’re talking about 20 people here Stephen, not 250,000! And, according to the words of one of the arrestees, some people went with the intention of making things difficult for the police. The only people being intentionally provocative were the demonstrators. I saw the videos too…

There are only two things Stephen got write in his article:

1.) Yes, indeed, if you are planning to paralyse the city’s traffic, you will need more than 20 demonstrators. First, it is entirely selfish for a group of 20 people to think it is okay to do that. But, more important, you are guaranteed to lose.

2.) He’s also right that, if you are to have a successful demonstration, you need a message that the people can grasp on to. Posting a copy of the Charter of Rights & Freedoms on your back, and ignoring the word ‘peaceful’ on it just won’t work.

So, to those English students who may still be considering taking-up home at SFU this fall- take my advice, go to UBC. Otherwise, you may end up as dumb as Stephen Collis…

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