A whole new year is underway, which means the UCSD experience is beginning for thousands of freshmen and transfer students. Butterflies are fluttering in stomachs as students are apprehensive about what the days to come will bear. Learning the “”campus ropes”” is actually quite straightforward and the atmosphere remains relatively peaceful all year; after all, this is UCSD, known for its competitive and serious nature.
But similar to any other campus, UCSD has had its points of contention and has seen inner-campus tension amongst students. The inherent right to freedom of speech, that we blindly enjoy under the United States Constitution, is one that has borne conflict on campus, the most recent before the school session ended last spring.
Au lieu to the GUARDIAN, the school’s official newspaper, there is the KOALA, a quasi-monthly irreverent satirical newspaper, whose sole purpose is to ridicule everything and everyone that it can possibly think of. The contents tend to be vulgar and the ideas and comments about ethnicity, sexual orientation and/or religious background, are rude and rather hard to digest, at least to a large number of students.
Nonetheless, the KOALA generates a few laughs for its humor, for lack of a better term. Readers tend to consider it amusing as they walk between classes or while grabbing a bite to eat. Generally, it is not taken seriously and is tossed aside after a quick review of its articles. However, the KOALA has caused many communities on campus to feel uncomfortable as a result of its defamatory remarks. An escalation of discontent with the publication’s existence and its A.S. source of funding has become a concern for some organizations on campus.
The most recent occurrence was this past June. The KOALA anonymously published and administered an issue ridiculing Islam, especially Muslim women, and also people of other faiths. Muslim students were quoted to have felt extremely uncomfortable, insulted and unsafe on campus. Former chancellor Dynes issued a statement that its contents and views were not representative of the campus and A.S. also condemned the issue. An investigation proceeded, but of course, the paper’s rights were constitutionally protected.
While the KOALA has offended many communities on campus, the reality is that they have the right to circulate what they please, as an inherent right under the Constitution. By no means is this an approval of their so-called “”wit”” or a shrugging off of the offended students sentiments. Yes, they have crossed the line many times through the vulgarity of their jokes, but they are only exercising their right to free speech.
It’s preferable to see a group venting their opinions and even animosity in words than by other actions. Ironically, that is what is superb about free speech ó the right to say what one pleases. In a melting-pot society, it is inevitable to have dissimilarities and lack of understanding between peoples. In the end, the KOALA may actually be doing a service because it empowers the victimized communities to reach out and educate others about their respective culture. A heated response and perhaps offensive dialogue are sometimes the only ways to establish one’s position and subsequently come to an understanding.
UCSD is not a hostile environment. No KOALA attacks have been so severe or persistent where students were physically unable to attend classes. Yet, the spring issue did come very close to such a predicament, and therefore this year the KOALA will be tiptoeing on egg shells, trying to exercise the First Amendment while still keeping in line with UCSD’s Student Conduct Code.
The KOALA will continue to sail through some choppy waters as the year commences. For one, there is a possibility that the A.S. Council will revoke the KOALA’s funding for having broken media rules last June by not including a disclaimer noting that the views were not representative of UCSD. The school supports the KOALA, as it does all its organizations and it would not be justified to cut off
