Michael Thomas

Feigning Free Speech on Campus

In this article, Greg Lukianoff reports on the poor state that our first amendment right is represented in Universities. While in classrooms, students are taught the purity of the right to speak our minds and the struggles that had to have been endured to obtain this right. But the moment we leave the classrooms, our rights are stunted in such a way that, in the more private universities, we are less likely to say something or even, in the case of the Yale T-shirts, poke fun at the other universities without offending people of a certain demographic. Even though it was F. Scott Fitzgerald, who originally said, “I think of all Harvard men as sissies,” the students of Yale University were restricted from putting this quote on a Tshirt to wear to the annual Yale vs. Harvard football game. Freedom of expression is a double edges sword in that, if we are to promote it within a classroom, then we shouldn’t stop at the door.

Feigning Free Speech on Campus

Andrus Rodriguez

     This article should remind us of what Cato was trying to explain in his writings, that we should "bear some particular Inconveniences arising from general Blessings," when we enjoy the rights to free expression. Creations are observed and inspire others in different manners but the responsibility of our actions is ultimately up to us to control. With that said it is difficult to just take those actions whether positive or negative, we as the curious creatures that we are, we always want to trace the motivations to one's actions. And that is where it might get out of hand and end up placing limitations on further creations, writings, or forms of expressions. We need to be held accountable for our own actions. Just as Locke said that we "also [need] to secure men from the attempts of a criminal who, having renounced reason" and it is their own reason that failed, not the influence of outside materials. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-01-11/news/bs-ed-goldberg-20110111_1_tea-parties-exploits-rhetoric

Maggie Tracy

The article I read discussed the First Amendment, attacks against Muslims, and free expression. A video was published that was anti-Muslim and the video was defended under free expression and the First Amendment. The article points out that was viewers and readers often forget is that the Muslim community doesn't have the First Amendment and that, "...the rest of the world - and not just Muslims - see no point in the First Amendment." The article continues to explain the affect the First Amendment had on free speech and that just because a "totem" is accepted in one religion or culture does not mean that all others need to recognize and obey it. 


http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/09/the_vile_anti_muslim_video_and_the_first_amendment_does_the_u_s_overvalue_free_speech_.html   

Zak Patterson


The article I looked at discussed how while most think that colleges are harbingers of free speech, in many cases they instead limit it. Colleges have enacted codes that push students to be politically correct and civil so as to avoid controversies that can arise when free expression is allowed, such as protests and open demonstrations. The writer of the piece, Greg Lukianoff, works for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and studies by this foundation have found that 65 percent of colleges use methods that in their views went against the Constitution's right to free speech. The speech codes are intended to avoid controversy, but as the authors suggests, the codes "often backfire, suppressing free expression instead of allowing for open debate of controversial issues."       

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/opinion/feigning-free-speech-on-campus.html?ref=freedomofspeechandexpression&_r=0

Practicing Journalism vs. Staying in Business: Who Do Journalists Work For?

In Chapter 3 of The Elements of Journalism, Kovach and Rosenstiel make this statement:

By the end of the twentieth century, in deed if not in name, America's journalistic leaders had been transformed into businesspeople. Half of them report that they spend at least a third of their time on business matters rather than on journalism.

As citizens, we should be alarmed.

Based on your reading of Chapter 3, write a response to this assertion. In other words, should we be alarmed that journalism is a business? Why is this a problem? What difference does it make? Or is it a problem at all? If not, why not?

Refer to the examples in the chapter (or other recent examples you discover) and write a short essay of about 150 words (about 10 sentences) in response to the Kovach and Rosenstiel statement. Post your response by midnight Sunday. We will discuss these responses in class on Monday. See you then.

Free Expression in Early America: The Role of the Printed Word

The final two chapters of David Copeland's book, The Idea of a Free Press, review the development and growth of printing and newspapers in colonial America. In chapter seven Copeland writes about the many uses of the printed word in the colonies, one of which was public debate. Based on your reading of this chapter, identify and discuss a significant, specific role that the press played in the development of free expression. In other words, what role did the printed word play in establishing the American system of free expression?

For this assignment, write about 200 words (about 13 or 14 sentences). Remember, specifics are better than generalities, so cite specific details from chapters seven and eight as you make your argument.

This assignment is due by midnight Sunday, October 7. Also, remember to sign your name to the post. 

Banned Books Week: A Reading from Lolita

In recognition of this year's Banned Books Week, I am posting this short reading from Vladimir's Nabokov's 1955 novel, Lolita.

Defending Free Expression: A Short Video