[Vision2020] NSA - A hotbed of diversity?!

[J Ford]

The following exchange is on Dale's "truth doesn't matter here" blog; 
interesting points to remember:

WHEN has NSA been asked to leave town?  They were asked to leave DOWNtown - 
a totally different issue.

What countries, specifically, are represented by NSA students?  How many 
non-white, non-american students attend NSA?  Logos in the past have listed 
their numbers - let's see NSA do the same.

What students buy homes?  Most can't afford to pay rent, buy food, buy cars 
(so many of them ride bikes or hitch rides to get to class - remember them 
saying that at the Council meetings), much less pay a mortgage of $1000 or 
better.

Most of the buying done by NSA students is in CC businesses - even they 
admit that and not in "polite company."


Diversity Claims Ring Hollow

The following letter to the editor appeared in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily 
News:

    These continual attempts to zone or push New Saint Andrews College out 
of town do not serve the community’s business interests, nor do they reflect 
an atmosphere of tolerance.

    The school occupies a downtown building that might otherwise lie vacant. 
Its students and staff serve the local real estate market by renting and 
buying houses and apartments. They open bank accounts here, shop in Moscow’s 
stores, eat in its restaurants and get haircuts at local hair salons. 
They’re good for business.

    The college also brings cultural variety to town, drawing nearly 150 
students from some 30 states and a number of foreign countries. These are 
people who would otherwise never even hear of Moscow, let alone come here.

    I can’t claim to know any of these students, but I’ve known New Saint 
Andrews President Roy Atwood and his wife, Bev, for 20 years. These are fine 
people and, if their beliefs don’t always coincide with mine, that’s fine, 
too.

    Moscow claims to “celebrate diversity.” Those words ring hollow from 
City Hall these days.

    Jim Jacobs, Lewiston

posted on Thursday, 02 February, 2006 4:35 PM by dmcourtn
Comments
# re: Diversity Claims Ring Hollow
Thursday, 02 February, 2006 6:22 PM by Tim Rigsby
There are many errors within Jim Jacobs letter.

First, no one has asked NSA to leave town but rather to vacate downtown. 
People in Moscow like the idea of another educational experience and 
opportunity in Moscow, just not in the core of downtown Moscow.

Second, the staff may serve the real estate market buy purchasing homes in 
Latah County, however, many students do not live in apartments in town but 
rather live with CC members in boarding house situations. I can assume based 
upon previous zoning issues that have surrounded NSA, the downtown one is 
not the first, that the people who own these homes where students are being 
house, do not have the proper occupancy permit or zoning certificate issued 
by the City of Moscow.

Third, a number of foreign countries are not represented by students at NSA. 
If memory serves me there are only students from three or four foreign 
countries. Also, since NSA represents 31 states and a number of foreign 
countries, doesn't UI have students from at least 31 states and numerous 
foreign countries? The same type of people who attend UI, or any college or 
university, may have never heard about Moscow, ID unless they attended UI.

With that in mind, it is also possible that these same students have heard 
of Moscow, ID prior to enrolling at NSA. More than likely, these students 
knew who Doug Wilson was based upon his presence in conservative christian 
circles. More than likely these students have read Credenda Agenda, visited 
Blog and Mablog, or ordered a copy of SSAIW for their possible slavery 
defense. Plus Moscow has been mentioned numerous times on the AP wire over 
the years so I am sure at some point in these students lives, they have or 
will hear about Moscow, ID without actually living here.

# Firing Blanks
Thursday, 02 February, 2006 8:45 PM by Dave
Tim is firing the same blank rhetoric shots that the Intoleristas in town 
do. In fact, Tim is being disingenuous. Since he graduated and moved away 
from the Moscow hot bed of intolerance, he learned that people elsewhere in 
our state don’t even know who Doug Wilson is and they don’t care what he 
does or that he lives in Moscow. Tim even posted that factoid on Venom 2020 
last month.

Yes Tim, NSA was asked to leave town. Don’t you remember all the V2020 posts 
that were fired in anger?

Tim, are your own Intolerista friends living up to the code that they love 
so dearly? If they were, they would be honest in their dealings with Latah 
County and Moscow city officials -- wouldn’t they?.

Moscow will continue to make the AP wire but it will be because of the 
intolerant attitudes that are expressed toward Christians living here not 
because of NSA.

# re: Diversity Claims Ring Hollow
Thursday, 02 February, 2006 11:08 PM by Kate
I don't see any errors in the letter. It is true that the Intolerati want 
NSA gone from Moscow, despite what they say in polite company. Many students 
do rent apartments and buy houses-that's a fact. A number of foreign 
countries are in fact represented in NSA's student body-at least three- and 
there are in deed students from at least 30 states. Those are facts. And it 
is NSA that drew the students here. Obviously, they wouldn't have come 
otherwise.

It would seem that Mr. Rigsby's attempt to rebut the letter was only the 
oxygen deprived gasp of a dying cause.


J  :]

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