The Daily OrangeFreedom of speech should be valued by students, administration
By Krystie Yandoli
Posted: 10/8/09, 1:01 AM EST Section: Opinion
It's safe to say that SU students can consider themselves pretty lucky. We attend a private university that offers an array of unique courses that require us all to think outside the box: to challenge, question and critique.
While small things, like an editor fixing the structure of a sentence or a professor giving you a poor grade on a paper, limit some of these freedoms, we are all guaranteed the same basic right: freedom of speech. This is a natural expectation that all students have, however it is an important part of U.S. culture that should not be taken for granted.
As scary as it is to think about, there are still places in this world and in the U.S. that reject the notion of free speech. I am obviously biased, but writing can be the most powerful tool at one's disposal. It allows readers to comprehend and interpret your words that derive from your thoughts, opinions and ideas. Imagine if we lived in a place where that was not possible.
For the past couple of weeks, the SU bookstore has displayed a collection of literature that has fallen under the category of "Banned Books" throughout history. Among them are some of America's great classics that are often taught in high school English classes, as well as some of my personal favorites such as Fahrenheit 451, The Catcher in the Rye and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
It is important to be aware of the fact that book banning did happen, does occur and should no longer be a part of modern culture.
While banned books are a great threat to freedom of speech, there are also many other ways to stifle the expression of words and thought. There are always loopholes in the system to censor free speech without having to publicly declare anything, which is the exact issue The Daily Orange printed in their Opinion's section yesterday.
Los Angeles City College is currently facing issues of censorship regarding their student-run newspaper and, just like in the real world, funding is the root of ultimate power. A list of 17 colleges and universities have printed this editorial within the past week in the spirit of a very important fact stated in this same article, "An attack on free speech anywhere is an attack on free speech everywhere."
While small things, like an editor fixing the structure of a sentence or a professor giving you a poor grade on a paper, limit some of these freedoms, we are all guaranteed the same basic right: freedom of speech. This is a natural expectation that all students have, however it is an important part of U.S. culture that should not be taken for granted.
As scary as it is to think about, there are still places in this world and in the U.S. that reject the notion of free speech. I am obviously biased, but writing can be the most powerful tool at one's disposal. It allows readers to comprehend and interpret your words that derive from your thoughts, opinions and ideas. Imagine if we lived in a place where that was not possible.
For the past couple of weeks, the SU bookstore has displayed a collection of literature that has fallen under the category of "Banned Books" throughout history. Among them are some of America's great classics that are often taught in high school English classes, as well as some of my personal favorites such as Fahrenheit 451, The Catcher in the Rye and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
It is important to be aware of the fact that book banning did happen, does occur and should no longer be a part of modern culture.
While banned books are a great threat to freedom of speech, there are also many other ways to stifle the expression of words and thought. There are always loopholes in the system to censor free speech without having to publicly declare anything, which is the exact issue The Daily Orange printed in their Opinion's section yesterday.
Los Angeles City College is currently facing issues of censorship regarding their student-run newspaper and, just like in the real world, funding is the root of ultimate power. A list of 17 colleges and universities have printed this editorial within the past week in the spirit of a very important fact stated in this same article, "An attack on free speech anywhere is an attack on free speech everywhere."
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Chip
posted 10/11/09 @ 1:20 PM EST
This article is so ironic. SU does encourage students to think out of the box...but ONLY in a liberal biased way! There is no way the vast majority of professors at SU present and encourage balanced political thought and discussion. (Continued…)
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