Nathaniel Tan was spot-on when he discussed the latest infamy that Universiti Sains Malaysia courted.

Yes, it appears that the leadership of the university, especially the Students' Department head, and in cohort with the notorious Biro Tatanegara (BTN), had displayed to the whole wide world the extent to which it was willing to go - and this is to the level of the gutter.

And for what, you might ask? Well, in order to ensure victory of its favoured 'pro-government' faction of the student community in the forthcoming campus election. That's Malaysian campus democracy for you!

Contrary to its official objective of promoting national unity, seminars of this nature often end up stoking racist sentiments of a particular ethnic group, which really is pathetic. As Tan rightly pointed out, these people are bankrupt of ideas, deprived of clarity of thought as to how to marshal one's argument, in the dark hour of their insecurity.

What is even more despicable is the fact that such a 'seminar' was organised by an institution of higher learning that prides itself of competing on the world stage. Can one really believe that these people could actually face the various facets of globalisation by a hare-brained and simplistic strategy such as Jew-bashing?

Surely leaders of university, we would like to believe, have the capacity to make fine distinctions of things and issues in life? Or have our universities already reached their nadir to even think of, or care for, sophistication in thinking and action?

And I thought the UPM's recent ghastly episode was bad enough. Looks like the local universities are 'competing' on the kampung level to show who is the foolish of them all.