Crimson White
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
SPORTS: Tide falters at LSU, Page 3 ENTERTAINMENT: ‘Polar Express’ captures holiday spirit, Page Monday, November 15, 2004 Serving the University of Alabama since 1894 Volume 111, Issue 46 Speech resolution draws ire ‘KKK’ put By MARLIN CADDELL from any approved UA program or selves for 25 years in the “garment” of moral- Administrative Affairs Editor activity. FIRE co-founder Harvey ity. Silverglate said universities across “[These people] think they are fighting the on cars of The UA Faculty Senate is a free the country are trying to “eliminate good fight,” he said. “They claim that they are speech violator and created a “speech liberty” while stifling speech. fighting for the underdog, equal treatment, code” with its resolution that con- Silverglate said resolutions men- that they are fighting racism, sexism and demns hate speech, officials at the tioning speech are disguised homophobia. When, in fact, they are not Foundation for Individual Rights in “speech codes” used to limit free- fighting those evils at all. 2 students Education say. dom of expression on campuses. “They are fighting for the destruction of a In response to an incident at an “This is a very broad national dis- free society.” By NICK BEADLE Harvey Silverglate He said people can’t be placed into the trap event sponsored by University ease that has crept into the entire Metro/State Editor Programs where a comedian directed higher education community of thinking “free speech codes” are helping homosexual jokes toward a student, the throughout the country,” he said at a confer- disenfranchised groups. He said these Tuscaloosa police are looking for those respon- Faculty Senate passed a resolution condemn- ence at the UA School of Law on Oct. 29. groups would only become full citizens when sible for scratching the abbreviation for the Ku ing “hate speech” and advised that UA “The state has an obligation to treat differ- they live in total liberty of freedom of expres- Klux Klan onto two black UA students’ cars while administration institute policies that UA- ent viewpoints the same. The state cannot sion. the vehicles were parked outside their apartment. sponsored speakers should not be able to weigh in to favor one viewpoint over another UA Faculty Senate President John Mason Tuscaloosa Police Department Capt. David make racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-Islamic, viewpoint. said the resolution is not about banning free Hartin said police believe the incident at Point-O- homophobic or ethnic statements. “The state can control conduct, but it can- speech. Rather, he said the Senate has prob- View Apartments off Jack Warner Parkway hap- Officials at FIRE are concerned that the res- not control viewpoint.” lems with the University subsidizing speech pened between 7 p.m. Nov. 8 and 8:30 a.m. olution will limit freedom of expression on Silverglate said his group battles forces that is racist, sexist or homophobic. Tuesday, when sisters Shonda and Tori Hightower campus. FIRE sent a letter to the Senate within universities that try to destroy liberty, “I don’t care if people go out to the Quad or found that “KKK” had been grated into the hoods claiming that the resolution seeks to elimi- legal equality and due process. of both their cars — a green 1998 Chrysler Sebring nate speech that might be deemed offensive He said these groups have “cloaked” them- See SPEECH, Page 2 and black 2001 Dodge Neon. Neither Shonda nor Tori Hightower could be reached for comment last week or over the week- end. Investigators interviewed Point-O-View resi- Program dents late last week to determine if they had seen or heard anything related to the incident, Hartin edievaledieval adnessadness said. “At this point in time, [investigators] don’t know of anybody who has seen anything,” he aids poor MM MM said. Wilson Moore of Pritchett-Moore Inc., which manages Point-O-View, said the group has post- schools ed a $500 reward for information about the inci- dent. Hartin said information could be called in By MEGAN NICHOLS anonymously to Tuscaloosa County Crime Student Life Editor Stoppers at 752-7867. Moore said the group is treating the incident This week, UA students will be seriously, but also as an aberration. introduced to Teach for America, “I’ve never heard of anybody keying cars for an organization placing recent anything out there,” he said. “We’ve had break- college graduates in under-fund- ins like everybody does, but never anything ed school systems to teach and where race was involved with it.” attempt to give students oppor- Hartin said the incident is being investigated tunities they otherwise would as criminal mischief, a misdemeanor. However, not have. he said any perpetrator(s) involved in the crime Mary Chastain, Teach for could face stiffer penalties if it can be proved in America recruiter and a UA grad- court that race played a role in the crime as per uate who is visiting the Capstone Alabama criminal code. today, described the program as According to the Code of Alabama, if perceived an effort to eliminate education- or actual race, handicap, religious affiliation, al inequity in the United States. country of origin or ethnicity is proved to be a “I can tell you in a simple sta- factor in a misdemeanor and the offender(s) are tistic why we do what we do,” convicted, they will be sentenced to a minimum Chastain said. “By the time chil- three months of jail time. They will also face the dren in low-income areas are 9 penalties of a Class A misdemeanor, which years old, they are already three makes them subject to a maximum fine of $2,000 grade levels behind their more and a maximum one-year jail sentence. wealthy peers, and they are In January, “I hate niggers” was scribbled on a seven times less likely to go to list of office hours on the door of the UA chapter college than the more fortunate of the NAACP’s Ferguson Center office. A UA children.” Police Department questioning turned up little Therefore, Teach for America information. recruits highly driven recent col- In a speech at an early February NAACP event, lege graduates to commit two NAACP President Anisa Jones tearfully reported years to needy U.S. schools. and denied rumors among UA administrators Teachers do not have to major in CW/ Elliot Knight that she had written the message herself. One education and can have any Heath Robinson teaches Brandon Kane the art of medieval combat Sunday on the Quad. The UA students are members of The Society for Creative week after the speech, Jones said she found a sign degree, Chastain said. Anachronism. The SCA is an international organization dedicated to researching and recreating the arts and skills of 17th-century Europe. The and emblem on the office’s door torn down. group researches their geneologies and the culture of the Renaissance and makes clothing and jewelery. UA police could not be reached for comment See TEACH, Page 2 on the case last week. Forum: Rural Alabama in economic stagnation By MARLIN CADDELL things that I had Administrative Affairs Editor heard [about rural Alabama] The ‘quagmire of stagnation’ were true,” plaguing some rural Alabama areas Reppucci said. was the focus Friday of a group of Greene students determined to change that County has a bleak outlook. median house- Students from area high schools hold income of and UA students in the Blackburn $19,819, and Institute held the Youth Citizens only 65 percent Forum, sponsored by the Office of of the county’s Community Affairs and Blackburn, residents have to discuss ways to change the way a high school people look at rural Alabama. diploma. The CW/ Joey Dodson In an attempt to give forum partic- unemploy- “If you are choosing ipants a glimpse into the lives of peo- ment rate is County is a “quagmire of stagnation” metropolitan areas to make more CW/ Joey Dodson between working at ple who grew up in poorer rural com- 11.5 percent, McDonalds, which I would with only one paper mill where peo- money. munities, second-year law student 5.6 percent definitely choose if it were me, and ple can work. Choctaw County has an Larry Lee, former executive direc- James Gibson, first-year law student higher than the choosing crime, a lot of people would 11.4 percent unemployment rate and tor of the Southeast Alabama Robert Turner, senior education state average of choose crime,” he said. only 10 percent of its residents hold a Regional Planning and Development major Sarah Reppucci and senior 5.9 percent. Macon County, where Tuskegee is college degree. Twenty-five percent of Commission, said students and all civil engineering major Courtney Turner, who grew up in Tuskegee, located, has a 6 percent unemploy- Choctaw County residents live in Alabama residents must raise the McGowan shared experiences of said many people in his community ment rate, and only 19 percent of its poverty and 23 percent of jobs in the level of discussion about rural areas growing up in or traveling to such live in poverty and those with jobs do residents hold college degrees. county were lost from 1990 to 2002. in the state. He said he wants to cre- areas. not make enough money to support Macon County also has a 33 percent “There is nothing in the county to ate an outline to help the 1.3 million “When I came to Greene County [to their families. He said some of his poverty rate, the sixth highest out of keep people like me here,” he said.