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From: kurtzman@uscvax.UUCP (Stephen Kurtzman)
Newsgroups: net.college
Subject: Re: Trash Student Government?
Message-ID: <298@uscvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 21-Jan-86 15:29:38 EST
Article-I.D.: uscvax.298
Posted: Tue Jan 21 15:29:38 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 23-Jan-86 21:34:30 EST
References: <389@umich.UUCP> <373@ihnp1.UUCP> <11477@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: kurtzman@usc-cse.UUCP (Stephen Kurtzman)
Distribution: net
Organization: CS&CE Depts, U.S.C., Los Angeles, CA
Lines: 31

In article <11477@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> cuccia@ucbvax.UUCP (Nick "Coosh" Cuccia) writes:
>In article <373@ihnp1.UUCP> frear@ihnp1.UUCP (L. Frear) writes:
>>In honor of George Bush's appearance, the student government at U of MI
>>decided to shout through Mr. Bush's entire speech, so that no one could 
>>hear him. [...] It's sad to say that
>>many student governments are an embarrassment not only to the faculty/
>>staff/regents/alums but also to their fellow students.
>>

>
>Agreed.  The same thing happened here at Cal in 83, when Jeane
>Kirkpatrick was heckled off stage by members of CISPES/SAICA (one of
>the local anti-US Central American policy groups..).  This not
>only gave Berkeley a very bad reputation with regards to being
>a place to speak, but has clouded over the possibility in the
>forseeable future of any moderate/conservative speakers speaking
>on campus.
>
>I hate the idea of freedom of speech belonging only to those with
>'politically correct' ideas, whether the PC ideas are left or right
>of center.  Heckling of speakers generally stinks, whether the speaker
>is Mondale at U$C, Kirkpatrick at Cal-Berkeley, or Bush at UMich.

Lets not blame student governments for everything. The student governments
usually reflect the society at large.

At USC, Mondale was heckled by an off-campus republican organization with
the assistance of a fraternity. It was shocking to see students at USC
laughing about the disturbance (until the next day when the press informed
them that it reflects bad on USC). It was even more shocking to see
non-students (at work) laughing about it.