Roger's View of the World, Love and Seafood Gumbo!
Seize the Day! Put no trust in the morrow! — Horace
Here are a few other relevant Blogs I have written related to FREE SPEECH:
terrorist or terrorists?… what one symbol does to a meaning
in America, everyone deserves the right to speak
without the ability to speak freely, we have nothing!
is it really okay to hate, or is it?
it all starts with speaking freely
…oh, there is more.
My daughter Kristin earned a masters degree in engineering at the University of Virginia and will be teaching at West Point in the fall … and our daughter Karen earned her Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee Knoxville … and will be teaching at the University of Louisville also in the fall. Congratulations, Ladies!
All this hard work makes me tired.
Dad
Unless you have had your work or your existence censored or found yourself defending your free speech in a court of law, you probably take it for granted that you can have ‘an opinion.’ You might even think that having a popular opinion might protect you; however, this hasn’t worked in Syria, Iran or other places where the exercise of an opinion, no matter how innocent, is immune from persecution or death. I may seem a bit corny to remind others that many of those who signed the Declaration of Independence paid a great price for their exercise of free will. Free Speech is what democracies do…. it is what we are and without it we are like every other despotic system.
In the competitive market place of ideas, speaking freely allows us all to test our values and beliefs and redefine or reshape them, but this is heresy in many parts of the world. ‘Speech’ via ‘speech codes’ is also a central concept under attack in our academic environments. For those who would like to turn the direction of a new generation of our youth, they must manipulate our language to restrict the use of words, meanings and general expression. If you forbid some topics from being studied or discussed ( in some circles , these are referred to as ‘the undiscussables’) then the censors win and we lose and human progress is halted and frozen in time. Let me just add, that this is not a good thing.
Not every university is backward, the University of Virginia has earned the coveted ‘GREEN’ light designation from FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education). Only a few universities have been so honored. I recommend that you take the time to see what FIRE does to support free expression on college campuses…. and do what you can to support them. They deserve all our support no matter your political orientation.
I have been named in a suit back in December for blogs related to an issue of great ‘public interest.’ CHECK CalCoastNews.Com and their archive for more.
Stay tuned for more.
Roger Freberg
It all starts with the ability to speak freely and openly on the issues of the day. To much progress and ultimately happiness has been lost throughout history by those who crush the ability of others to speak in order to protect their views. Convert to my way of thinking or die is not a new concept but an ancient one.
Last night, FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) President Greg Lukianoff discussed what free speech was and what it wasn’t. He regaled the audience with unfortunate stories of students that suffered serious abuse at the hands of administrators and it was unpleasant to hear. The most pointed reminder he gave was to remind us that these were all people expressing their right to speak and their lives could have been ruined without outside intervention.
Greg Lukianoff reminded us that although there are NOW more than a dozen GREEN light free speech schools when once there were none, there are still a couple thousand public colleges and universities that are failing to live up to the rights set forth in our Constitution.
Cal Poly has come a long way from the RED light school it once was and it was often commented that they were given their own attorney for a reason, but that is slowly changing. Today, they are a Yellow Light school and with just a slight more movement they could be GREEN.
It should be ‘easy been Green.’
Cal Poly has had a long history with FIRE. Some even say if Cal Poly hadn’t decided to dig in their heals on a case of a student posting a flier for an approved speaker… FIRE may have not developed such early traction on the protection of free speech in American colleges and universities. There is no doubt they are on a roll!
FIRE continues to evaluate every university on the basis of first amendment, including issues of how protected free speech is handled on campus. FIRE designates a simple Red-Yellow and Green light to each university to signify the university’s support of the first amendment. There is a simple scale: Green is good and Red represents a very unfavorable climate for students in the area of speech. There are many great stories of authoritarian administrations and their virtual chamber of horrors. Nonetheless, Universities are not without humor, some going so far as banning the consumption and/or flagellation of a banana publicly in a sexual way. Unfortunately, other Universities have been far more draconian, some forcing students out of their dorms … with at least one living in their car during a cold and snowy winter … all over issues that were constitutionally protected. It goes without saying that the universities involved didn’t win these issues and paid off with the hard earned money of the taxpayer.
On college campuses, it is never the administration or the majority that needs protection, it is always the minority voice. Cal Poly has come a long way from it’s RED light days and currently sits at a YELLOW light. There is hope on campus that with a new president and a new administration tone, that maybe, Cal Poly will be a GREEN light university.
Greg Lukianoff coming to Cal Poly February 7th is a very good sign.
Roger