USC protestors sent to "free speech zone"

Started by TehBorken, Feb 02 07 09:20

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TehBorken

  [h3 style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Verdana;"]via Cory at BB.[/h3][hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"][h3]USC protestors sent to "free speech zone"         [/h3] The University of Southern California has a ridiculous "free speech zone" -- the only place you're allowed to stand on campus and speak your mind without prior approval. Yesterday, a student group held a "knit-in" in front of the campus bookstore to protest the sale of sweatshop-produced clothing inside, and the administration ordered the students to relocate to the Free Speech Zone.
[/p]I can't imagine how this is consistent with our values. Universities should [em]dream[/em] of students who organize themselves to take action on social issues -- this is exactly the kind of thing we should be encouraging. Universities are meant to be marketplaces for ideas, not planned economies where the commissars tell you when and where you're allowed to speak your mind. What an embarrassment. [/p][blockquote] The USC Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation (SCALE) held a knit-in in front of the Pertusati University Bookstore to protest the university's contracts with manufacturers it claims use sweatshop labor to produce Trojan merchandise, but the knit-in was broken up minutes after the participants began knitting. Lori White, associate vice president for Student Affairs, told SCALE it would have to relocate its protest to Hahn Plaza, an area near Tommy Trojan and the Student Union that allows for large group gatherings without informing the university beforehand. [br clear="all"] [/p][/blockquote]  [a href="vny!://media.www.dailytrojan.com/media/storage/paper679/news/2007/02/01/News/Administrator.Forces.Protest.To.Relocate-2690870.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dailytrojan.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com"]Link[/a]      
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