Reading a Banned Book: Sherman's Alexie's 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'

In celebration of Banned Books Week 2015, here's a brief reading from the first chapter of Sherman Alexie's young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Alexie is a funny writer, but not everyone likes his brand of humor. Judge for yourself.

Update: Banned Books Week 2015

It's almost that time of year again. September is more than back to school and football, it's also a time when readers, librarians, journalists, and other interested thinkers and book lovers celebrate banned books.

Information and useful links to Banned Book Week 2015 can be found here: Banned.

Flashback: A Reading from a Banned Books, 2011

Flashback: A Reading from Lolita, Banned Books Week 2011

University Violates Student's Constitutional Rights of Free Speech

On October 14^th, 2014, a case against Free Speech arose at Southern Oregon University. The students on Southern Oregon’s campus were collecting signatures against the restrictive speech policies against restrictive speech on campus. The students were passing out copies of the constitution and informing the students about their rights. The students were approached my campus administrators and campus security asking them cease their protests and threatening them with disciplinary action and calls to the police. Campus officials also made allegations that the event was posing eminent danger to students because it was related to the SCC. His was clearly a peaceful protest that did not deserve these allegations.

The question raised here is do public Universities, like Southern Oregon University, have the right to restrict the First Amendment right of their students? This incident seems to be a blatant violation of these student First Amendment rights, and this case is unacceptable.

Read more about the incidents see video footage here: http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=5970

College Students Freedom of Speech violated-Amber Fleet

College students claim they were threatened after handing out Constitutions

The Freedom of Speech is a basic right that the citizens of this country have. The right to express our opinions, ideas, or thoughts with anyone that we so please. So why is it that there are continuous problems with the government or institution officials that want to limit us in doing that?

As society continues to develop and there are different mediums for how people can express those ideas, than we as citizens have a problem. In college, where students or young adults come to an institution to evolve, learn, and express themselves as people, officials of that institution want to limit them. The officials want the students to conduct themselves accordingly. This conduct gives the idea that they want them to walk in straight lines, wear respectable clothing, talk at a normal level, and think the way that the professors instruct them to.

However, this becomes apparent when student at Southern Oregon University came together to have a peaceful protest. These students that were a part of a student organization on campus were passing out Constitutions to students and getting them to sign a petition that could possibly allow people on campus to be licensed to carry handguns on campus. Despite the fact that they were doing this in a peaceful manor, officials made them move to their “Free Speech Zone”, an area that covers less than one percent of their campus.

These students feel that their rights to protest and Freedom of Speech were violated because officials threatened them with calling the police. This issue of being peaceful and still having school officials limit you in what you want to do shows there is a real problem. Students and Americans should feel safe that when they want to express their ideas peacefully they should do that without the fear of being harmed or persecuted.

From class, we have learned that Freedom of Speech is threatened and we should try to promote and gather together in order to achieve a solution. The solution should be a way for the people to speak our minds.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/10/16/college-students-claim-were-threatened-after-handing-out-constitutions/

http://www.thefire.org/?s=12+ways

Student Schools College

All Chris Morbitzer wanted to do was exercise his constitutional right - and the University of Cincinnati denied him of that. 

Morbitzer and his student group,  Young Americans for Liberty, asked permission from UC to gather signatures around campus for a statewide right-to-work ballot initiative. Morbitzer and his group did not even need to ask for permission in the first place, since UC is a public school. Morbitzer was surprised when he heard back that UC was denying their request. 

UC told Morbitzer the only place that they could ask for signatures on campus was the "free speech zone." If they were seen anywhere else, campus security would possibly arrest them. The "free speech zone" comprised just 0.1% of the school’s 137-acre campus. Obviously being so small, Morbitzer and his group were unable to interact with any of the students to get signatures. 

Morbitzer came back with a lawsuit against the University of Cincinnati and won. It's important to realize that your constitutional rights are yours no matter what any other person or official says. The things Morbitzer was asking for was not even controversial by any means. Just simply asking for signatures. By UC saying he could be arrested if he does not stay in the "free speech zone" obviously they are not respecting his right to free speech.  

View the story here.

Paige Patterson