July 18, 2020 Issue, Page 4 of 8

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Saturday, July 18, 2020 “ElkCituNews ‘Cancel culture’ has Opinion Page gone off the rails Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 Words, tour of the social networking site museum leave By Robin Abcarian, Los . by describing opposing to Boeing, by an employee Angeles Times beliefs as a safety threat.” T BlackPlanet. Wasow has who used it as the basis of an I used to argue with my first encountered the concept spent 15 years studying civil internal anonymous ethics impression very progressive mother during free-speech debates about whether women be- on college campuses, where, rights protests of the 1960s, and has, as he tweeted, “paid complaint against Golightly. Apparently, Boeing of- longed in combat. for instance, students were particular attention to how ficials, already reeling from Women create life, she virulently opposed to invit- nonviolent and violent ac- a series of devastating set- told me. They should not be ing, say, a right-wing provo- ions by activists & police backs, did not want to face in the business of snuffing it cateur like Milo Yiannopou- influence media, elites, pub- another controversy at a out. los onto campus, because he lic opinion & voters.” moment when the company T think her rationale prob- made them feel unsafe. Seems pretty innocuous, says it has made an “unre- ably sprang from her pacifist So, for example, when but the very act of study- lenting commitment to di- tendencies, but hers was not Republican U.S. Sen. Tom ing violent protests is per- versity and inclusion.” an unusual point of view. Cotton wrote an overheated ceived in some quarters as Apologies and. renunci Indeed, American women essay urging the president to inappropriate, or “not help- tion were not enough. A were not officially allowed call out the military to quell ful,” as one history profes- In a statement released by Don Munsch, left, editor of The Elk City to serve in all combat roles violent protests, he was ac- sor told the Chronicle of Boeing, Golightly explained News, and Basil Weatherly of Elk City stand until 2016, cused of endangering the Higher Education. Even that the article was “a in front of The Survivor Tree on the grounds WhenI read last week that safety of Black reporters at raising the question, Uni- 29-year-old Cold War Navy of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Mu- Boeing’s new communica- the New York Times, where versity of Michigan Profes- pilot’s misguided contribu- seum. Photo by Jerry Garvert. tions chief is out of a job for his essay appeared. The sor Heather Ann Thompson tion to a debate that was live By Don Munsch, Editor opinion editor was forced penning an essay almost 33 told the Chronicle, puts an at the time.” Around 20 years ago, I interviewed one ofthe parents of years ago opposing women out for his poor judgment, undeserved onus on people He said that his argument the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. in combat, which he had both because the piece was protesting injustice. “was embarrassingly wrong Bud Welch’s daughter, Julie, died in the bombing. She long since renounced,I have shoddily edited and also be- In 1987, Niel Golightly and offensive,” and that was 23. At the time I spoke with Bud, he was giving inter- to admit, I was surprised. I cause he hadn’t read it be- was a young Navy pilot the criticism that followed views to the media across the country about bomber Tim- probably should not have fore publication. when he wrote a long piece “quickly opened my eyes, othy’s McVeigh’s impending execution. Welch opposed been. Around the same time, a called “No Right to Fight” indelibly changed my mind, the execution and was against the death penalty. After all, we are in the young political data analyst in Proceedings, the maga- and shaped the principles Something Welch said to me has stuck with me over the midst of this decade’s great who worked on the reelec- zine of the U.S. Naval Insti- of fairness, inclusion, re- years. reckoning, which was un- tion campaign of President tute, Although he was trying spect and diversity that have “They could have been friends,” he said, describing leashed by women who were Barack Obama tweeted out a to make a serious argument, guided my professional life how his daughter, with her compassion and open heart, sick and tired of being sexu- Princeton study that found - the piece reads like parody since.” could have befriended McVeigh. ally harassed and violated by to greatly simplify the work straight out of the He-Man This is a fraught moment It’s an extraordinary way to think about how your child powerful men. The #MeToo - that violent protests after Woman's Haters Club. for discussions about race could have affected everyone she met in a positive man- movement, among other the assassination of Martin “Women do not natural- and gender. Emotions are ner, even someone like McVeigh, who was executed in things, caused a great culling Luther King Jr. reduced the ly band together for ritual raw and, as we see in the 2001 for his terrible crimes. of abusive male bosses that Democratic vote, and peace- comradeship,” he wrote, in current discussion about Julie Welch and 167 other people died in the bombing of continues to this day. ful protests increased it. The a passage characteristic of “cancel culture,” free speech the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The current iteration of analyst, David Shor, was the entire ridiculous piece. and responsibility, there is Hundreds of others were injured but survived. the reckoning is more com- attacked for, among other “Their enormous personal little room for error. Last month, I toured the Oklahoma City National Me- plicated. At its roots are a things, “anti-Blackness” and courage usually reflects their I just don’t see how firing morial Museum for the first time. Social distancing and rage against racism and sex- soon lost his job. loyalties to family and home someone for something they masks were required, in case you were curious. ism and longstanding social As Chait put it, “Since crit- rather than to each other and wrote - and disavowed - de- Lasting impression? Well done, I must say. Really well inequities that have mani- icism of violent protests is ‘the group.’ But while femi- cades ago helps advance the done. It’s a compliment that one can pay to a museum that fested themselves in every racist, and racism obviously nine loyalties are arguably cause of justice. And yes, to you didn’t get to see or experience everything on a first aspect of American life. endangers Black people, an more civilized, productive, my surprise as well as yours, trip and that you simply want to go back and visit again, There is, in addition, some- act as seemingly innocuous and intellectually defensible I am defending a middle- especially because of the interactive displays. Visitors thing relatively new afoot. It as sharing credible research than the male compulsion aged white man I’ve never have long said that one needs more than a day to get the has to do with the nebulous poses a threat to safety.” to be part of a group, it nev- met. best experience out of visiting the Smithsonian Institution concept of safety. Of course, Shor was not ertheless remains that the I guess we could all use a in Washington, D.C., and the Memorial Museum in OKC This idea, as Jonathan criticizing anything. bonding imperative is cru- little compassion and empa- has that quality as well. Chait recently wrote in New He was highlighting a re- cial to the collective mettle thy right about now. Thave just one quibble about the museum. It’s the ve- York magazine, “frequently search paper produced by of men in combat.” Robin Abcarian is an hicle, a 1977 Mercury Grand Marquis, on display that collapses the distinction Omar Wasow, a Black polit The essay was recently opinion columnist at the Los McVeigh used to drive away from OKC after he detonated between words and action cal scientist who co-founded brought forward, according Angeles Times. the bomb. McVeigh was pulled over in the vehicle and ar- rested for charges unrelated to the bombing and later was discovered to be involved in the terror in OKC. Sure, the car has historic value and some part of A little-known law gave birth to Google - and McVeigh’s background and his movements on April 19, 1995, need to be included in the museum, but I guess I have mixed feelings about the car being there. How much in-depth attention should be paid to people who commit countless other inventions such heinous crimes? Is the getaway car needed to help tell the story? Just a couple questions I pondered. Ultimately, the museum is about people, not artifacts. Visitors can learn a lot about victims and others affected By Katharine Ku Infact, over the past 40 years, ing many universities, to innovation, and that pri- by the bombing, and their stories are inspiring. When Google founders Bayh-Dole has given rise to maintain ownership of their vate companies reap the re- Julie Welch’s story was inspiring. An Oklahoma City Larry Page and Sergey Brin some of our nation’s most patented inventions and wards while taking minimal native and a graduate of Bishop McGuinness High spoke to my colleagues at revolutionary innovations. commercially license them. risks. But that’s not true. School, she graduated from Marquette University with a Stanford’s technology _li- Universities are the birth- That enabled institutions Tech transfer is still enor- degree in Spanish and worked as a Spanish interpreter for censing office in the late place of this innovation. But to create a system for aca- mously risky. Even with the Social Security Administration in the Murrah build- 1990s, other search en- prior to Bayh-Dole, just a demics to license their dis- Bayh-Dole, it’s still quite ing, her bio from the Memorial Museum website stated. gines already existed. small fraction of govern- coveries. And it enabled difficult to commercialize She spoke several languages and eventually wanted to be But Page and Brin, who ment-funded university re- businesses to raise the many academic innovations. a Spanish teacher so she could “help improve global un- were graduate students at search initiatives ever saw capital for follow-on re- ‘As the law approaches its derstanding.” the time, believed the page- the light of day. That’s be- search that turned discover- 40th anniversary, it’s time She never got a chance to do that, but her life and oth- rank algorithm they had cause the federal government ies into real-life products. for consumers and policy- ers who died from or survived the bombing — as well as developed at Stanford was retained patents that resulted Bayh-Dole has yielded makers alike to recognize those who assisted in numerous ways at the scene — are superior, even though no from this research - and significant benefits for the Bayh-Dole as the driving examples for us all. other entrepreneurs saw its did a poor job of licensing broader U.S. economy. force behind so many of potential. So they decided to the patents to private firms From 1996 to 2017, aca- our most ingenious inven- launch a start-up. The Stan- that could turn academic demic technology transfers tions. We need to protect ford licensing office saw discoveries into real-world generated up to $1.7 trillion Bayh-Dole now more than merit in their idea and li- products. In fact, fewer in USS. gross industrial out- ever to foster even greater censed the algorithm - which than 5 percent of all feder- put, according to AUTM, a innovations in the future was owned by the Univer- ally-funded research patents Katharine Ku, the chief li- non-profit that supports aca- sity - back to the entrepre- were licensed commercially. censing advisor in the Palo demic research. The law has neurs, The rest is history. That was bad for everyday supported nearly 6 million Alto office of Wilson Sonsini It’s unlikely Google would Americans, who weren't jobs and helped launch more Goodrich & Rosati, served have become the world’s seeing many tangible prod- than 13,000 start-ups. And it as the executive director of most popular search engine ucts result from the research has spurred the development Stanford University’s Office is a memorial, on the fence on the without the sorts of pat- programs funded by their tax of over 200 new medicines. of Technology Licensing for memorial property, for Julie Welch, one of ent protections provided by dollars. In December 1980, Critics of Bayh-Dole 27 years. This piece origi- the 168 people killed in the bombing. Staff the Bayh-Dole Act, a little- the Bayh-Dole Act broke claim that federal funding nally ran at The Mercury photo by Don Munsch. known law passed in 1980. this logjam by empower- drives much of America’s News.