It seems the cause of campus free speech took another blow this week — and did so locally.

Dan Hubert, a freshman at UW-Waukesha and assistant editor of the campus newspaper The Observer, wrote in his twice-monthly column, with regard to the Charlie Young beating, that society must “stop the welfare payments and you’ll end the madness.”

Hubert’s column ignited a maelstrom of criticism from the commuter campus’ black community and student body as a whole.

Expulsion from the newspaper staff and the academic institution as a whole were called for the Brookfield freshman, reports The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The circulation of The Observer was interrupted shortly after the release of the piece.

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Hubert’s column reads as a charged criticism of the welfare state that attempts to, and does, lay blame for the tragic Young beating squarely on the shoulders of this cycle of dependency.

But in attempting to communicate this message, Hubert crosses the line from intellectual criticism into weak satire and overextended generalization.

He begins with an hyperbolic indictment of likely “liberal” explanations for such barbarism as made national news when as many as a dozen inner-city youth beat Charlie Young to death. Essentially, Hubert sarcastically asserts that the lack of federal funding for the neighborhood as a whole and oppression by whites are the forces behind the violence.

He subsequently refers to the “evil, baby-killing, African American-oppressing male Republicans who believe in something called ‘personal responsibility’ and have some esoteric view of so-called ‘morality'” as those on whom “liberals” would blame the killings.

He then proceeds to draw a connection between the beating and the “baggy pants” style of dress perhaps common among inner-city youth that comes, quite frankly, out of left field.

“Another argument some make is the ‘baggy pants’ defense,” Hubert writes. “You know the type. You may even wear the pants yourself. The children that killed Charlie Young were wearing the same kind of pants that you can fit Andre the Giant and his twin brother in the same leg! … As a style, baggy and loose fitting clothing has always been associated with the derelicts and bohemians of society.”

The piece then makes some broad generalizations regarding African Americans and the condition of Milwaukee’s inner city, then breaks into a reasonably coherent and statistically supported indictment of the welfare state.

Suffice it to say, I didn’t follow the transitions.

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Hubert insists the dubious commentary was made in sarcasm and jest. Considering the dour subject matter he seeks to undertake, any connection drawn between clothing style and murderous behavior is, at the least, awkward. And his attempts to make light of the situation and fashion hyperbolic assertions are, at the least, poorly conceived and unintelligibly articulated.

Hubert explained to me that his attempt at sarcasm was unclear and perhaps misguided. After conversing with him, it seems clear he intended to inflame political debate with his writing, not racial tension. He succeeded only in the latter.

Lucy Czech, editor in chief of The Observer, said she was not sorry that the paper printed the piece, but “[she’s] sorry that [she] didn’t edit it better.” Apparently, Czech claims she didn’t give the piece a truly careful read before laying it on the page.

To its credit, The Observer will not apologize for printing the column.

College newspapers can be a hasty business to begin with — throw in a final exam next week and a part-time job you’re already late for, and your column or your page might not always be carefully molded with the full attention you’d ordinarily choose to give it. While this does not excuse responsibility of either party, writer or editor, their mistakes are understandable.

Nonetheless, campus forums have been called to address the insensitivities presented in the column. The dean of the college, Brad Stewart, told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he plans no disciplinary action against Hubert, but did suggest he enroll in a course regarding multiculturalism. He even offered free tuition.

I’d more aptly suggest a course in basic composition and literary devices.

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After three or four readings of Mr. Hubert’s piece and a brief phone conversation with him, I’m fairly convinced the freshman from Brookfield isn’t a racist. He is a vocal conservative, which in a university environment lends itself to controversy.

But he certainly does not appear to lack compassion and understanding for his fellow man. He does appear to lack a bit of tact or taste or skill in appropriately veiling his attempts at sarcasm.

Mr. Hubert may not be all that smart, but he isn’t evil. He is not in need of education in tolerance or respect any more than the university community must learn respect for freedom of the press and tolerance for extreme examples of idiocy — from both the right and the left.

It is thoroughly commonplace, on this campus and others, for individuals to be bombarded with opinions that are largely considered unpopular and offensive.

I find Mr. Hubert’s simplified assertion that blacks are, as a race, to blame for this terrible tragedy just as offensive and intellectually void as I find various campus groups’ blind accusations of racism when denied SSFC funding.

In my estimation, Mr. Hubert’s column is on a similar level with MEChA’s recent controversial poetry. Neither is terribly constructive nor worthy of public support; nor is sensitivity training for those responsible. Both are simply the price we pay for a free “marketplace of ideas.”

Frankly, Madison is full of people with opinions as far out of the mainstream as Mr. Hubert, who articulate them with equal or greater banality and spur similar angst amongst those who may not agree with them. They simply come from the left and are chalked up to youthful enthusiasm or naivete.

As such, there are no calls for their silence here, nor in Waukesha. Rather, we see cries for their increased support in tuition dollars.

Though in my estimation he spilled his colander, when you get right down to it, was Mr. Hubert simply not sifting and winnowing?

Eric Cullen ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and history.