On 8th January 2010, the Forum held a meeting entitled 'Everything you wanted to know about Pacifica Forum but were afraid to ask'. The aim was to defend the Forum against the allegation that it is a Nazi front, and stand up against attempts by local Zionists and lefties to evict it from the University of Oregon. It was a lively meeting. Here is an article in the Register-Guard about it:

http://registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/24334073-41/forum-pacifica-campus-talk-group.csp

The following week, January 15, the Forum held another meeting on 'The Symbolism of the Swastika' (the point being that the swastika is a symbol in diverse cultures, not just Nazism).  By this time, Facebook had been employed to spread disinformation about the Forum, and hundreds turned out to protest. As the main speaker, Billy Rojas, persevered, more and more demonstrators realized that they had not been told the truth. The other speaker, Jimmy Marr, left the meeting, and here he explains why:

http://pacificaforum.org/Marr.html

“This is scholarly? This is academic?” said the leader of the protestors (pictured).

Meanwhile, real scholars and academics were holding a conference on the Japanese cartoon figure, Hello Kitty.

http://www.dailyemerald.com/uber-cute-hello-kitty-gets-an-academic-look-1.1007220

This  of course is scholarly and academic - it was organized by University of Oregon Center for the Study of Women in Society and addressed by anthropology professor Kristine Yano:

'"A classic icon of the Japanese cute trend, Yano argued that Hello Kitty is an “evocative object, a companion to emotional lives” that has morphed into a “transborder fetish” by defying traditional categories and boundaries.'