On Monday, Sept. 17, police at the University of Florida subdued a student by the name of Andrew Meyer with a taser during a discussion forum with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.
According to an article by Kim Wilmath in The Independent Florida Alligator newspaper, Meyer questioned Senator Kerry about his association with a secret society at Yale University. Meyer's microphone was cut off under the authority of a division of the student government because he "used profanity and his question was too long," according to the article.
Officers tried to remove Meyer from the University auditorium, at which point Meyer began to resist, shouting, "What did I do? What am I being arrested for?" After numerous requests to comply with the requests of officers, Meyer was shot with a taser.
Whether or not Meyer's question was appropriate is debatable, but not the crux of the matter - Meyer had a right to peacefully ask his question. At what point does the right of free speech run out? And how are University of Florida Police responsible for escalating the situation to one of violence?
Meyer certainly had spent the allotted amount of time to ask his question. According to the account of Asia Johnson, a senior advertising student at UF, Senator Kerry was trying to answer Meyer's question when the police started their efforts to remove him.
But was the use of a taser necessary? Photos of Meyer's arrest show that there were half a dozen police officers attempting to control him.
In a later statement, Senator Kerry said that his exchange with Meyer was merely a "good healthy discussion," and that he could have "handled the situation without interruption."
Juxtaposing the right of free speech to the necessity of the police to serve and protect, it seems that one cannot conquer over the other to better society as a whole - both must exist for the sake of freedom and security respectively. However, police on campus should keep in mind that many cell phones and digital cameras now take video footage, which inevitably ends up on YouTube to be scrutinized by the masses.
We can only hope that when Michael Moore speaks on campus, something equally as exciting, yet non-violent, occurs.
By 2009, the University of California, Irvine, hopes to have their Law School up and running. Looking ahead to this, University Chancellor Michael V. Drake sought out a dean for the law school.
Edwin Chemerinsky, a former professor at Duke University, was the final choice for the position, but according to a New York Times article by Adam Liptak, published on Tuesday, Sept. 18, Drake rescinded the already-signed contract from Chemerinsky after the new dean published a "liberal" op-ed in the Los Angeles Times.
The Chancellor thought that Chemerinsky was "too politically controversial" for an administrative position.
Setting political requirements, or lack thereof, for a law professor is questionable at best. Shouldn't it be expected of professors to be active in both the academic and civic community? After all, Chemerinsky's op-ed had to do with law, and that's what he knew best.
It is discriminatory to base the hiring of faculty on their political beliefs. Screening faculty based on their political opinions is creating a false atmosphere for the students to learn in.
Over a decade after being found not guilty of the murder of Nicole Brown, and about a month after his book was published, O.J. Simpson is heading back to criminal court for armed robbery.
It seems, as it has all along, that Simpson is less than humane. He allegedly killed his ex-wife and her friend, he was found legally responsible for the death of Ronald Goldman, and he recently robbed, assaulted and burglarized a hotel room in Las Vegas in order to regain some memorabilia, including his Hall of Fame certificate.
The ex-Bill should have gone to jail long ago, and the fact that he is free is a scar on the face of Buffalo. However, he now faces up to 30 years in prison for each felony count he is prosecuted for, and faces 10 felonies and one gross misdemeanor.
The old adage "time will tell" has proven right yet again - O.J. will have his fair share of time to think behind bars and perhaps write another book: If I Didn't Do It, This is What I'd Be Doing Now.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
