Now begins the back-fighting and recriminations

Progressive forces are in shock at the stunning turnaround in today's faculty meeting. By overwhelming votes, the faculty rejected both the Committee for Truth and Light's and the APPC's motions regarding the "informed citizenship" goal. As a result: the status quo prevails, the Science, Technology and Society requirement remains in place.

Pollsters are attributing the vote to a general sense of disatisfaction and alienation among the faculty as a result of pay freezes and a general decline in the quality of the hors-d'ouevres at FASH. As a result, voters lashed out at all symbols of authority, including the APPC and yours truly.

Progressive forces are now in disarray. One faction claims that the group provoked the backlash by going too far, too fast. One insider noted that "We need to remember that at the end of the day, this is a right-of-center faculty. It is not surprising that it would be so resistant to progressive change." Others argued that the CTL failed to articulate a clear vision of change. As a result voters were confused and easily misled by an effective propaganda blitz by the APPC and its allies. "It was patently untrue that the CTL proposed establishing death panels for students who failed to meet the diversity requirements," one source argued, "but the lack of a strong message from the CTL allowed this myth to fester." Still others argued that this episode signalled a need for change at the top: a movement is afoot to replace Char Weise with Ralph Sorensen as official spokesman for the group.

Weise responded to requests for a reaction through a spokesman. "One thing is clear," the spokesman said, "someone is to blame. And it sure as hell isn't me."