Opinion

Disobedience without consequence is useless

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Related stories:

• Choosing the better of 2 bad options (December 12, 2002)
• Proud of our protesters (February 5, 2002)
• ASM not perfect, but still working (October 31, 2007)
• Undergraduates should cross lines (April 27, 2004)
• No Stipend Needed (December 12, 2007)

Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:

• The Invisible Man Award: Wyndham Manning (May 7, 2009)
• The People's Choice Award: Jacqueline Hitchon et. al (May 7, 2009)
• The Lifetime Achievement Award: ASM (May 7, 2009)
• Honest representation (May 5, 2009)
• Junger for ASM Chair (May 5, 2009)

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Presumably, if the snow cover lifts somewhat, thousands of Wisconsin students will take to the hill today to demonstrate their educated judgment about international issues by … skipping out on their education.

Student strikes are a clever way for students to grab attention to their cause with absence in numbers. Ditching class really sticks it to university administration and instructor collaborators, who are expected to learn a valuable lesson in how to take kids seriously. Although it is unlikely the affected professors and Bascom bigwigs will be able to influence the president and U.S. Congress to change its stance toward attacking Iraq — which is the expressed point of this strike, not wrenching tuition or governance issues — the collective statement that thousands of students are willing to pass up participation points to protest may strike a chord somewhere.

But if this is so, why are so many students trying to get away with getting out of class?

And why are professors across campus so willingly giving away excused absences?

Civil disobedience that fails to disobey anything comes closer to useless compliance. You might as well get your free absence and go home to play video games for all the significance of your antics on Bascom Hill, without any subversion involved.

Instructors interested in encouraging activism ought not delegitimize those striking students by postponing classes or granting their permission to ditch. The spirit of protest involves transgressing the rules in defense of a more transcendent idea. Eliminating that component tomorrow will only result in a laughable student skip day, rather than anything meaningful.

Students who feel strongly enough against war and unilateralism should demonstrate their sincerity by skipping class and taking what comes to them — because nobody appreciates someone who gets off easy.