A New York Times reporter went to the University of Chicago to talk with students and faculty about the “encampment” anti-Israel protestors had created. One, a young lady who is a senior, said, “I came here to hear views that are different than mine.” Let’s hope there are some writing courses with a sprinkling of grammar somewhere I the curriculum. She meant views “different from” hers. “Than” is used in comparisons — “Jane is taller than Youssef.” Jeremy W. Peters, “Encampment Is Testing College’s Commitment to Ideals of Free Speech,” New York Times, March 7, 2024, p. A18.
And then there is this sentence, “The university continuously batters this point about free speech.” He sees Chicago’s speech principles as “a fig leaf.” Mixed metaphors aside, how does one batter a point? Perhaps use a battering ram to dismantle an argument???One pictures Chicago faculty and administrators walking through encampments with their fig leafs on, although it is not quite clear what or how the fig leaf shields the university.
Nothing like the musings of a pseudo intellectual. If he means Northwestern’s free-speech policies are all hat and no cattle, then he should say so. He can use the Barometer’s metaphor. Put away the battering ram and small-plant covering.
The protests and encampments have been dangerous, disruptive, and juvenile. Reading these Ivy League students’ quotes one understands that their educations have been woefully inadequate. Community college students are better spoken than (notice the correct usage) the hoity-toity students. Those students are busy working and going to classes — protests do not fit into their schedules. Also, they avoid battering, whatever that means and however it is done.
