STUDENT LIFE — A glimmer of free speech illuminated UCSD’s
bleakly restrictive scenery on Jan. 31, as student representatives from the
free-speech policy revision committee released an updated policy proposal. And
things were looking pretty promising until word of the University Centers
Advisory Board’s own Price Center-governing speech policy promptly extinguished
that flicker.
The trouble first started last spring, when university
administrators pumped out a draconian policy during finals week. Luckily, once
students looked up from their books, they were able to successfully protest the
changes, and a committee was formed to review the policies. The committee,
which has met extensively with various on-campus groups including the A.S.
Council, has now presented a vaguely overarching solution that reads more like
a wide-eyed mission statement — the document even includes a preamble. But
while the new proposal is a vast improvement, it fails to specifically answer
the original question: What protected speech rights do students have?
In comes the new UCAB policy, which coupled with an
already-existing section in the student conduct code, creates tempting
loopholes for administrators trying to circumvent the new proposal. In order to
truly protect constitutional rights, the committee needs to directly address
and integrate these other documents. While committee members have said their
policy will supercede all others, its vague language isn’t promising.
Carol-Irene Southworth, the A.S. representative to the
committee, said the group purposely chose broad wording in order to protect
students’ rights. But by being intentionally unspecific, the committee is
knowingly opening its policy up for administrative abuse. With something as
important as freedom at stake there is no room for question, and it is the
committee’s duty to present the most airtight document possible.
It’s clear from their shady actions last year regarding free
speech that UCSD administrators are just looking for ways to thwart student
freedom, and this is why the new UCAB policy must be addressed immediately.
Without repealing the Price Center Plaza Limited Forum Policy, students’ rights
are not protected in the place they are most likely to congregate — the very
heart of campus.
Apparently, we can’t even trust our fellow students to come
up with an appropriate policy that will protect our rights. UCAB, comprised
largely of undergraduates, proved to be just as underhanded as university
officials when it ignored student protests against the original administrative
rewrite, and passed its own equally oppressive Price Center policy in the face
of the revision committee.
UCAB members such as Arian Mashhood and Vice Chair Lana
Blank felt their policy was suitable because they didn’t like having to hear
people yell about their ideas during lunch.
“We feel like
anyone,” Blank told the Guardian.
Forget for a moment that the board’s restrictive policy
does, in fact, limit UCSD affiliates — Blank’s assertion still is dead wrong.
UCSD is a public institution and its grounds are public space. Perhaps a look
at the recent court case affecting the nearby Fashion Valley Mall will help
clear up any misunderstandings — in a similar debate where mall officials wanted
to regulate protestors, the California Supreme Court ruled that mall space,
though privately owned, was a space for the public, and thus the court upheld
free speech.
UCAB’s
policy outlaws, among other things, “public speaking activities that generate
excessive noise,” but fails to explain what qualifies as excessive. It puts an
end to student protests, crushes impromptu gatherings — better get that
reservation! — and even has the capacity to ban boisterous students from the
plaza. This infringement upon freedom of speech and assembly was approved
without question by a board featuring many of UCSD’s student leaders.
And all this comes in spite of the progress made by the
revision committee. Though new-proposal advocates like Southworth should be
applauded for their effort to reform the spring 2007 policy and protect
students’ rights, they shouldn’t be content yet. Addressing the UCAB policy
should be the committee’s foremost concern in its attempt streamline speech
policies and support freedom.
The bottom line is that students need to keep a watchful eye
on not only administrators but also other students — if we don’t protect our
rights, no one else will.
