Thursday, April 12, 2007
Angry letters!
A letter from Ben Narodick:
Dean Poullard & Director Permaul:
To be blunt, the treatment that you, as officers of this university, gave members of my organization this afternoon was simply unacceptable. These members deserve an immediate written apology for the utter contempt with which you showed them in your actions.
At approximately three o'clock this afternoon, the two of you forcibly interrupted a group water balloon activity by members of the SQUELCH! Party on Upper Sproul Plaza. To be clear, these individuals were acting peacefully, without amplified noise, and in a matter that was not just recreational for them but also a political demonstration in the ongoing ASUC Elections. This demonstration, which followed the rules and regulations of this campus, is protected free speech under the US Constitution, California State Law, the University Code of Conduct, and the ASUC Constitution. The only actions which were in error were those taken by you when you disrespected these hard-working students, abused the power dynamic in the situation by singling out certain individuals, and violated our right to campaign for ASUC office.
This is third consecutive year that this event has occurred, and the only time where we have had any sort of problems with the university administration. On a day where students were using unlawful amplified noise, loudly marching campus, and potentially disrupting classes in the surrounding areas, you chose to target a small group of students using public space on this campus for their own enjoyment. This hypocrisy is not only laughable, but it is extremely telling of a poor establishment of priorities by the Office of Student Life and the ASUC Auxiliary
We will continue our campaigning efforts tomorrow, and expect the respect and recognition of personal rights to which we have been and will continue to be obligated. Additionally, we feel that this is a serious matter that warrants a written apology from you to all students involved.
I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Ben Narodick
Signatory, SQUELCH! Party I can certainly attest to the fact that a bunch of folks promoting some revolution or some crap was using amplified sound, and watched as Nad Permaul strolled on by without particularly caring. I don't know if they were students. I was not there for the incident described here, and don't know the basis for the university's complaints. I can guess that they were complaining about the tossing of water balloons that may have threatened bystanders with moisture, but I'm not sure. There was a water balloon fight earlier in the day, when Sproul was packed, but I didn't see any response.
(I think the stuff about constitutional rights may be overblown, depending on what the complaint was.)
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