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May 28, 2009

Michael Pollan banned?

michael pollan banned?In our continuing effort to highlight hints of Big Brotherism and mind control, we note this report from Washington State University, which bills itself as "A paradise called the Palouse."

According to stories in the Spokesman-Review and the Olympian, WSU purchased nearly 4,000 copies of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Mealsto be distributed to incoming freshmen for a summer reading program. But WSU scrapped the entire program, saying it was too costly. Critics said the sudden shift on Pollan -- a locavore who has criticized industrial farming -- may have been triggered by political pressures within WSU, which sits in an area that is one of the world’s top producers of wheat, barley and other crops.

The debate abated somewhat yesterday, after alum Bill Marler, a prominent food safety attorney, offered to pay for Pollan to speak at WSU. The university accepted the offer. But I'd imagine that hard feelings linger on campus.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 4:52 PM | | Comments (1)
        

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Pollan is happy to come and a good healthy discussion will be had by all.

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While she always preferred The Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew, Nancy Knight grew up reading nearly everything she could get her hands on, including a probably unhealthy amount of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike, with the obligatory Jane Austen thrown in. She'll still read just about anything you put in front of her, especially the funny or weird. She lives in the city with her books, cat and drum set.

Dave Rosenthal came to The Baltimore Sun as a business reporter in 1987 and now is an assistant managing editor and Sunday editor. He reads a wide range of books (but never as many as he'd like), usually alternating between non-fiction and fiction. Some all-time favorites: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole; Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery; and anything by Calvin Trillin or John McPhee. He belongs to a book club with a Jewish theme.
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