http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 27 May 2012 05:54:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-199136 josh Wed, 06 Jun 2007 01:20:15 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/#comment-199136 Fair enough Adam -- saying that 'Harvard' was unable to provide funds was imprecise. We should probably have said, rather, that we were unable to procure funds to cover travel expenses. To be clear: 'Harvard' (or, the President and Fellows of Harvard, to be official about it) were not responsible for deciding how much money to spend on the conference, or what to spend it on. I'm sorry if the announcement was misleading on that point. In turn, the 'you' in your own 'Just say you don't want to!' was ambiguous. I took it to be a response to the announcement, and thus addressed to the announcement's authors, rather than to Harvard (or the Gov Dept). So, I think Chris's perception of your comment as directed to the organisers of the conference, and reply (for which I'm grateful; thanks, Chris) was fair, even if you meant to direct it at Harvard as some monolithic entity. Fair enough Adam—saying that ‘Harvard’ was unable to provide funds was imprecise. We should probably have said, rather, that we were unable to procure funds to cover travel expenses. To be clear: ‘Harvard’ (or, the President and Fellows of Harvard, to be official about it) were not responsible for deciding how much money to spend on the conference, or what to spend it on. I’m sorry if the announcement was misleading on that point.
In turn, the ‘you’ in your own ‘Just say you don’t want to!’ was ambiguous. I took it to be a response to the announcement, and thus addressed to the announcement’s authors, rather than to Harvard (or the Gov Dept). So, I think Chris’s perception of your comment as directed to the organisers of the conference, and reply (for which I’m grateful; thanks, Chris) was fair, even if you meant to direct it at Harvard as some monolithic entity.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-199114 Adam Kotsko Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:42:43 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/#comment-199114 Well, the announcement says "Harvard will be unable," not the department. Well, the announcement says “Harvard will be unable,” not the department.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-198848 Chris Bertram Sun, 03 Jun 2007 19:04:08 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/#comment-198848 Yes, Adam, because _obviously_ , anyone organizing anything within a university has ready access to its endowment funds .... Yes, Adam, because obviously , anyone organizing anything within a university has ready access to its endowment funds ….

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-198847 Adam Kotsko Sun, 03 Jun 2007 18:57:19 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2007/06/02/harvard-grad-student-conference-in-political-theory/#comment-198847 A university with an endowment the size of entire continents' GDPs "will not be able to provide funds for transportation." Right. Just say you don't want to! A university with an endowment the size of entire continents’ GDPs “will not be able to provide funds for transportation.” Right. Just say you don’t want to!

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