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"Because Enlightenment understandings of rationality reign above all other considerations at Reed, experimentation with drugs is taken out of any context (moral, etc.) other than that of objective scientific enquiry."

I'm not really sure what you mean by this, but I'm a current Reed student and this doesn't sound like an attitude that I've ever heard at Reed. I've heard Reedies discuss drug use in moral terms on plenty of occasions, and I've never heard a Reedie express the view that "objective scientific enquiry" is the only "context" in which life should be viewed. Where do you get this impression from?

"Friends of mine who took their young children to Ren Fayre this year said they were disgusted by the lack of consideration shown by students--young adults, afterall, not children still home and in the care of their parents."

There are places that are just not set up to handle children, and Renn Fayre is one of them. Another example is the workplace: if you brought your kids to work, and they went around asking questions and bothering people (as kids tend to do), your co-workers would be understandably reluctant to drop everything and attend to them. Similarly, although it's the responsibility of Reedies to be considerate of children if they're there, Renn Fayre is planned without children in mind, and it shows in its structure and content. I don't mean any offense to your friends, since I don't know their motivation, but why would a parent bring their children into an environment that cannot, and was not intended to, accommodate their needs?

posted 5 years ago
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