For me, it's become official. I have divested myself of all financial donations and support to my alma mater. It's been on the decline for a few years but today I've made it official. I just can't support the stupidity that has become your basic college campus these days. "America’s premier game-design program canceled an all-star industry panel last week for the sole reason that the lineup was all-male. The University of Southern California was able to attract some of the biggest talent in the industry to their April 20 event: head game designer at Blizzard, Jeffrey Kaplan; CEO of Riot Games, Brandon Beck; and head of Infinity Ward, David Stohl — among others. As reported by the Daily Trojan, not only would students have been able to hear from these titans of the game industry, they could have showcased their games to the panelists as well. What a cool, possibly life-changing event for the students at USC. It would be a shame if people’s feelings got in the way…. Well, just four hours prior to the event, the whole thing was cancelled. And the reason given was it had to be shut down because of the all-male panel — asexplained on the Facebook page of the University of Southern California Interactive Media & Games Division: It featured an all-male panel that did not reflect "a diverse and inclusive games industry." Just unreal. A panel comprised of LEGENDS and they cancel it literally at the last minute because there are no women on the panel. I am borderline in hate with USC at the moment. Anyone else consider cutting ties with an alma mater and if so, why?
OK, other than iRacing, I am not a gamer. I have no idea if this is true, but could it be that the reason there were no women on this panel was because there really aren't any women of note in the game developing industry?
I'm sure there are plenty of gals that could write code with the best of them. I'm sure there aren't a whole bunch that actually play that crap though. We had a code writer that used to work for us, he and a few other geeks rented a house in Cleveland that they only used to play dungeons and dragons. Talk about a bunch that are light years away from a labia.
There are women of note......TODAY. This entire industry is still in it's infancy for the most part. This was a panel of LEGENDS. It's like having a panel on Farm Workers Legends and complaining because they are all Mexican. It just is what it is and through no intentional discrimination. I mean why have classes or concerts in classical music. The fat German lady could sing balls out but it wasn't women writing that shit.....it was MEN. Today, the majority of gamers are women. Almost half of the students in this program at USC are female. They pay an outrageous annual tuition and part of the lure of USC in this industry would be a panel exactly like this. Powerful, connected, and willing to look at their work, maybe offer someone a job. But instead, they get career-fucked for political correctness. I won't bother with the stupidity of it all but #Gamergate was really the result of women entering the gaming platform. Sadly IMO, the impact has been the introduction of classes focusing on Gaming Psychology and Gaming in Modern Culture....the usual emotional claptrap that women are famous for but really contribute very little to things like GDP or bottom line financials. "There was no perfect choice here,” Director of USC Games Tracy Fullerton said. “There was only the choice to stand for one set of values or another. So, I chose the path I believe in. You all are free to disagree, but I think it is the right side of history.” In essence, “the right side of history” was prioritized over a valuable academic opportunity to advance the intellectual development for male and female students alike. In an industry which is finally beginning to eliminate a sense of otherness for women in games, USC, which has a role at the vanguard of progressivism, has chosen to take two steps back by reconceptualizing gender as an academic and professional liability." Meet Tracy. Yes, that's a woman. A stupid, moronic, short-sighted dyke feminazi. It is this level of stupidity that has created Trump supporters where there were very few.
A few days ago I was pissed at the upcoming legislative vote that would include women in the selective service system, ie the draft. Now I'm thinking it might better serve the country to have the idiot insular feminists and small-world thinkers be given a rifle, a map, and a plane ticket to Syria.
Back in late 70's I was Combat Information Center officer on an anti air warfare cruiser home ported out in the Western Pacific. We had some pretty sophisticated computers (for the time) and lots of anti-air warfare consoles. I learned pretty earlier after taking over the billet that at night, the Dungeon and Dragon crowd congregated in CIC and played D&D. They could not do any maintenance, they could not track inbound bogeys, they were for the most part total losers, but they could play the hell out of dungeons and dragons. Was one of the first instances, now a long list, but then the first, that I was just too stunned to care. In hindsight, I bet those computers could not touch my current Samsung cell phone's computing power. Oh, one more thing. The master computer room was located just inboard of the two 3" 50 gun mounts. Every time the 3"50 opened up (always with alarming inaccuracy) the computers would be knocked off line by the shock. Any people felt safe. HaHaHa.
I've never understood the DEEP loyalties that people carry, in terms of "giving back". They never "gave" me anything. On the contrary, I had to pay for every fucking thing and don't get me started on the textbook buy/buy-back racket they run. Fuck USC and fuck all colleges/universities. Doesn't surprise me that you can step back and look at this objectively. I've always told you that you were in a small minority because you can see things for what they are, despite your connection to any given thing.
You are spot on about the textbooks being a racket. I have deep loyalties to to football program and I hope the academic side manages to provide an opportunity for Louisiana students to get a quality education. I grew up as an LSU football fan but I went to college at LSU because it was affordable for me living in Baton Rouge. No amount of money that I could ever donate would make a drop in the ocean of difference compared to the fat cat donaters. So I don't donate. Except maybe to buy an LSU T Shirt or hat or something every now and then.
