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Friday, March 03, 2006

FIRE Update: March 3, 2006

Table of Contents
 
1.
FIRE Disappointed with Supreme Court’s Refusal to Take Hosty v. Carter
2.
Free Summer Seminar for College Students!
3.
Recent Media Coverage
4.
Recent Posts to The Torch
5.
Upcoming Events
FIRE DISAPPOINTED WITH SUPREME COURT’S REFUSAL TO TAKE HOSTY V. CARTER

FIRE has issued a statement regarding its disappointment over the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear an appeal of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s opinion in Hosty v. Carter, leaving student newspapers at public universities in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin vulnerable to administrative censorship. FIRE Interim President Greg Lukianoff stated that “Hosty v. Carter is simply the most harmful Court of Appeals decision regarding student freedom of speech in higher education to come down in a generation.”

FREE SUMMER SEMINAR FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS!

FIRE encourages students interested in the broad study of civil liberties to attend the following seminar sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies. If you are not a student, but know students who would be interested in exploring these ideas, please encourage them to apply!

Freedom, Tolerance & Civil Society: A seminar for college students interested in issues related to civil liberties and personal freedom.

Sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies
July 15–21, 2006
Loyola University, Chicago, Ill.

Many democracies claim a long tradition of individual and civil rights and responsibilities. At the “Freedom, Tolerance & Civil Society” seminar, top students and scholars from around the world spend a week exploring the role that such rights and responsibilities play in creating a peaceful and prosperous society, as well as the challenges and threats to this tradition.

Students will consider how society balances individual liberty with public health and safety, how personal freedoms benefit society (rather than just the individual), and how civil liberties relate to both political and economic freedom.

Current issues covered will include free speech, the war on drugs, smoking bans, gun control, freedom of religion, gambling, “fat taxes,” alternative medicine, gender/sex issues, education, and more. Participation in the seminar is free, and so is the application.

Apply now at i-liberty.org. Apply now and receive a free book! The deadline for applications is April 10.

RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE

Missoula Independent, March 2, "Speaking ethically," by John S. Adams

Harris says there’s nothing wrong with the UM administration aspiring to the principles laid out in the ethics code, but to Harris, its codification would cross the line from simple aspirational statement to interference with freedom of speech. She cites the landmark case of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, in which the U.S. Supreme court ruled: “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.”

·    ·    ·

Associated Press, March 2, "UW president recommends policy for resident assistants' meetings

University of Wisconsin System resident assistants could participate in or lead any meeting they want -- including Bible studies in their rooms -- so long as they did not coerce anyone into attending under a policy the school president proposed Wednesday.

·    ·    ·

The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 1, "Washington State U. Revises Evaluation Form for Would-Be Teachers That Led to Bias Complaints," by Paula Wasley

"It is not an educator's job to police students' beliefs," said Greg Lukianoff, the interim president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. "The danger of 'dispositions' is that they mandate subjective and politicized evaluations of students." Washington State, he said, has "finally done the right thing" by changing its dispositions requirements.

·    ·    ·

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.), March 1, "Courageous, rational leadership at university," by Paul Saunders

I donate money to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) which files lawsuits against universities that violate the free speech and other individual rights of their students and faculty. I am happy that none of my funds will be needed for Kutztown University because of President Cevallos' courageous, rational leadership.

·    ·    ·

The Futurist, March 1, "Speech Codes and the Future of Education," by Patrick Tucker

The danger of speech codes, according to Lukianoff, is that they not only prohibit students from practicing their constitutionally protected rights, but also undermine the very mission of higher education.

·    ·    ·

Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), February 28, "Free speech: Can't have cake and eat it, too," by Ralph De La Cruz

"You don't need a separate amendment to protect polite speech," Lukianoff said, adding, "The funny thing is, when [colleges] don't try to shut them down, they get a lot less publicity and just die off. It's an old, common message: If you don't want a particular message to get out, don't censor it."

·    ·    ·

Baltimore Sun, February 26, "'Affirmative Action Bake Sale' leaves sour taste," by Genevieve Marshall and Spencer Soper

"Our position is that these bake sales are protected as a matter of free speech," Lukianoff said. "We're pleased that Kutztown decided to let it happen and is not going to punish the students involved.

·    ·    ·

Chicago Maroon, February 24, "Specifics on Max P. cartoon incident still cloudy," by Hassan S. Ali

In drawing the line between free speech and hate speech, Mitchell echoed Ali’s sentiments based on his own experiences with FIRE. “Nobody’s ever said free speech is neat,” Mitchell said. “The best way to fight hateful speech is by more speech.”

·    ·    ·

Cybercast News Service, February 24, "Update: DePaul Censures Anti-Affirmative Action Group," by Nathan Burchfiel

A conservative student group has been acquitted of a charge that it violated DePaul University's anti-harassment policy when it conducted a protest against affirmative action, the school announced Monday. However, the DePaul Conservative Alliance (DCA) was found guilty of violating the Code of Student Responsibility and censured.

·    ·    ·

USA Today, February 23, "Harvard mea culpa by rich, white males," by Al Neuharth

Feedback: "Summers' ouster is a victory for intellectual intolerance, not diversity. Are some arguments now forbidden on campus? And if Harvard's president can't be provocative, who can?"—Greg Lukianoff, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a free speech advocacy group.

More media coverage at thefire.org »
RECENT POSTS TO THE TORCH

March 3, "Student Press in Jeopardy with ‘Hosty’," Tara Sweeney

March 3, "Is Kutztown Slipping?," Chris Perez

March 3, "A Few Good Interns," Charles Mitchell

March 2, "Free Speech Has a Friend in Canada," Robert Shibley

March 1, "Know Your Rights," Samantha Harris

Read The Torch at thefire.org »

UPCOMING EVENTS

April 22, 2006: Conference at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications, Los Angeles. Hosted by the California Association of Scholars, the conference is cosponsored by FIRE, NAS, CAS, Pacific Legal Foundation, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Pacific Research Institute, and American Council of Trustees and Alumni. FIRE Chairman Alan Charles Kors will deliver the keynote address. Panels will discuss the nature and causes of the decline in intellectual quality and openness to ideas caused by politicization of the campuses and educational faddism; the effects of this problem on teaching and learning; and proposed remedies to this problem. For more information on the program and registration, please contact CAS Executive Director Rick White. (Kors)

More upcoming events at thefire.org »
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