OPINION & EDITORIAL
In act of free speech, protesters defy their Americanism
Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.
Also by Matt Modell:
- Taking responsibility for your decisions (April 24, 2003)
- The key word is 'illegal' (December 4, 2003)
- Feingold-McCain 'Incumbent Protection Plan' fails (November 13, 2003)
- A fond farewell to UW (December 11, 2003)
- An honorable and just battle (November 20, 2003)
Related Stories:
- Taking responsibility for your decisions (April 24, 2003)
- Proud of our protesters (February 5, 2002)
- Don't strike -- fly a flag (March 7, 2003)
- Letters to the Editor (October 1, 2001)
by Matt Modell
Thursday, March 6, 2003
Yesterday was the big protest day in Madison and around the country. A day where students were supposed to skip class to protest and stand up for “books not bombs.”
Apparently, students were supposed to ignore that the federal government does not provide money to state universities in the form of general purpose revenue (GPR funding), and so the war and increased tuition are completely unrelated. Students were supposed to ignore how hypocritical it is to protest increased tuition by walking out on the education they are already paying for.
Some students did ignore these basic facts and walked out. The crowd on Bascom Hill was a decent size — but 95 percent of students went on with their life and did not ignore the hypocrisies the far left trumpeted through their bullhorns.
Yet, more disturbing than any protest is what didn’t happen in at least two classes on this campus and what did happen in at least one, likely more. Professor Susan Pastor, who teaches Womens Studies 102 and 103, cancelled lecture Wednesday and discussion this week because of the protest.
While tuition may be cheap for the value of the education we are receiving, it still costs a good deal of money. Many students who support our fight on terrorism and students who believe the most valuable thing they can do while at UW-Madison — regardless of their feelings on a potential war — is learn, were deprived that opportunity because Prof. Pastor and others decided to make a political statement by canceling class.
Professors, just like students, have a right to their own opinion and to share that opinion. But professors do not have the right to ignore their first obligation, which is to teach in the classroom, simply to make political statements.
Freedom of speech applies to everyone, and I support Chancellor Wiley’s sentiment that individuals have a right to express their “personal and political views on the premises of UW-Madison, as long as the manner of that expression does not impede the rights of others to live, work and study.”
The problem is Prof. Pastor’s actions did impede on the rights of those students in her classes. Prof. Pastor should be reprimanded, and the university owes the students in these courses an apology and a refund of their tuition in the amount of two class periods.
Students should also not have to endure the diatribes of professors like Larry Nesper who did not cancel class but instead decided to change yesterday’s lecture from the material that he had been teaching in Anthropology 104 to a rally cry for the antiwar movement.
I do believe Prof. Nesper is incorrect, but I am not criticizing him for his opinion on the war. He has a right to that opinion. But Prof. Nesper is abusing his position and ignoring his obligation to educate students on anthropology when he spends almost an entire class period lecturing on his opinions about a potential war.
The students in that class are not paying tuition to listen to his rantings against war; they are paying for their education — and Nesper is impeding on the rights of the students in his class to receive that education.
The protests brought many incredible sights. You saw the “hackey-sack protesters” as I call them. They were the students at the protest who weren’t listening to what was being said (not that they missed many truthful statements) and were instead enjoying a rousing game of hackey-sack.
But two things stood out in my mind the most about the day. The first was when the war supporters and antiwar protesters were facing off at the Capitol.
As I left the Capitol, I felt good. I have used my column in the past to make it clear that I believe Saddam Hussein has left us no choice but to go to war. I was proud that both sides were able to express their views. No violence broke out.
The most noticeable difference between the two sides was that the war supporters carried American Flags and were proud of their country and America’s actions. The antiwar protesters had flags from Palestine and Libya and blamed the United States for everything wrong with the world. It was disturbing that they would carry these flags, since both of these governments actively support terrorism. But I saw an incredible show of free speech, as everyone had the freedom to express an opinion — something that would never occur in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
The second thing that really stood out in my mind was seeing the antiwar protesters sitting on the lap of Abraham Lincoln, who was president during the bloodiest conflict in American history.
Many of the people against the war justified their position by claiming Iraqi citizens would likely die in a conflict. Innocent civilians dying are a legitimate concern, no question. But I wondered if those protesters would have opposed the Civil War, because it certainly had to be obvious back then that so many innocent people would die. The North outlawed slavery. Yet they were willing to go to war against the South because, among other factors, they knew slavery was wrong, and 360,000 Northerners gave their lives for the belief that all men should be free.
People are dying in Iraq every day due to persecution and state-sponsored violence, and we are willing to go to war even though we know some of our soldiers will die, because removing Saddam Hussein from power will end most of the oppression against the men, women and children in Iraq and it will make the world a safer place in its fight against terrorism.
Such a high calling requires a high price — one those students who left class Wednesday without repercussion came far, far from paying.
Matt Modell (mmodell@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in journalism and political science.
