CAMPUS

May 9th, 2009

Rep. Sanchez Responds to Criticism

Representative Linda Sanchez has an article over at the Huffington Post responding to criticism of her proposed bill, the Megan Meiers Cyberbullying Prevention Act. She starts off with this nice piece of obfuscation:

“If you were walking down the street and saw someone harassing a child, would you just walk by and look the other way? If that person was telling the child the world would be better off if they just killed themselves, would you ignore it?”

Well … no, but my response probably wouldn’t be to craft an overbroad, facially unconstitutional bill that targets far more than just “cyberbullying.” But then again, I’m not Rep. Sanchez. (For you critical thinkers out there, Sanchez’s rhetorical question is called a false dichotomy.)

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella

May 3rd, 2009

Unconstitutional “Cyberbullying” Bill Proposed in House

A bill sponsored by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-California) has been proposed in the House of Representatives that would make “cyberbullying,” as it’s been coined, illegal.

The Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, named after a 13 year-old girl who committed suicide after falling victim to a cruel Myspace prank, would make it a felony to transmit “in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.”

As is wont to happen when lawmakers grandstand on a current issue, the proposed bill is a legal train wreck – a half-baked piece of legislation that, if it weren’t almost guaranteed to be stricken down as unconstitutional, would be seriously dangerous to free speech.

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella

April 29th, 2009

Update on UMass Amherst

The UMass Amherst administration has wisely rejected the student government’s decision to censor the conservative paper on campus, The Minuteman.

“As the enactment does not reflect an appreciation of the Silent Majority’s [the student organization that publishes the paper] constitutional right to the exercise of free speech, I reject it altogether and recommend that it be rescinded in its entirety,” wrote Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life Esther Terry.

The administration might also punish one of the people who flagrantly stole copies of the paper.

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella

April 17th, 2009

More Newspaper Dumping Across the Country

Last week the Chronicle of Higher Education dug up a few more cases of newspaper dumping on college campuses. For example, at Ohio Wesleyan University, an admissions official trashed hundreds of copies of the The Transcript, which contained a front-page article on the university’s drinking traditions, because he felt it cast the campus in a negative light. Sorry, but that’s not how freedom of the press works.

All of these incidents I’ve been blogging about are all the more shameful, considering that universities are supposed to be vanguards of free thought and expression.

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella

April 2nd, 2009

Video of Newspaper Theft at UMass Amherst

A YouTube video has been posted of the newspaper theft at UMass Amherst that I wrote about yesterday. Check it out after the jump:

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella

March 18th, 2009

Tolerance and Respect on Display at Spokane Falls Community College

Yes, it’s my spring break. But campus controversies wait for no blogger.

Beth Sheeran, a student at Spokane Falls Community College and a member of their Christian Club, has filed suit against her school after they barred her organization from posting pro-life literature in a campus display case. Apparently, Sheeran’s message was discriminatory because it did not include a pro-choice viewpoint.

Posted in Blog
By Christina Miller

March 11th, 2009

Pomona Apologizes For Trampling Student Rights

Pomona college has apologized for and reversed its embarrassing decision to ban two students from campus for allegedly “disrupting” a public discussion on abortion. In truth, the students merely videotaped the meeting and asked questions, but two Pomona deans summarily decided that their actions constituted intimidation and harassment. In addition to being banned from campus, the students were also warned that they might be charged with invasion of privacy and were ordered to hand over their videotape.

Of course, this is all absurd, and it didn’t take long for Pomona to realize it was facing a PR disaster. As FIRE notes (see link above), this victory is in large part due to the writing of Charles Johnson, a member of the Collegiate Network:

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella

March 8th, 2009

And the Winner Is…

Last week the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE as it’s known in the biz,
awarded the University of Tulsa its Speech Code of the Month citation.

Apparently University of Tulsa, which is a private school, promises its students all the free speech rights of a public university. Those of you who go to public universities know what a ringing endorsement that is. And Tulsa follows through on this promise, with a speech code that looks innocuous at first but is really so broadly construed that just about anything can—and does—become abuse.

Good work FIRE for once again pointing out how academia, which is supposed to be about exchanging ideas, is really more about exchanging ideas approved by The Establishment than anything else.

Posted in Blog
By Christina Miller

February 25th, 2009

Reason On Offensive Speech

Today over at Reason, writer David Harsanyi has an article defending “offensive” speech titled “The Right Not to be Offended?” It’s a good read that touches on, among other things, the controversial New York Post editorial cartoon, the FCC, Al Sharpton and the fairness doctrine.

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella

February 21st, 2009

Professor Censors Student for Religious Speech

Over the past week, I’ve been following with interest the awful case of Jonathan Lopez, a student who is suing officials from the Los Angeles Community College District after his speech professor interrupted him, called him a “fascist bastard” and refused to grade his speech.

Lopez’s presentation was on Christianity and included a section about his belief in traditional marriage. In response, his professor told him to “ask God” what his grade was. Furthermore, when Lopez appealed to the dean, he was threatened with expulsion, along with vague mentions of “hate speech.” Classy.

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella