discourse harassment

[GSCole]

In response to Beverly's question, and perhaps OT, but here's my two
cents worth, the present value of which might be less than two cents.
I'll do my best to keep the reply short.

Please delete now, if non-dialect-directed notes present a problem.

I am not dismissing the free speech issue at SU, but, since receiving
the memos about 'free speech zones', I've wondered what the problem
might be.  I can only think that those at higher levels have access to
information that is beyond my ken.

Perhaps there was a situation that they were attempting to head off?
There have been calls to make severe cuts in the budgets of
state-supported schools.  Overall, I haven't seen that the political
climate is markedly different than in the past.

In my years at SU, I've never seen any situations that would begin to
approach the protest-speech situations that I saw, as a grad student, at
Michigan State, in the 1970s.  At MSU, when walking between class
buildings, it wouldn't be unusual to see several protest demonstrations,
on several topics.  From my perspective, those protests provided a
valuable addition to the knowledge acquisition process.

My SU experience has been that the administration is, basically, open to
a wide range of discussion issues.  The president doesn't duck questions
from faculty, and tends to give straight-from-the-shoulder answers to
questions.

I've yet to find a colleague who understands why the 'free speech zone'
memos were issued.  If anything, we've seen fewer
demonstrations/protests than in past years.  Perhaps I need to wander
about campus a little more.

The memos have drawn attention to an issue that we didn't know existed.
If they were issued to draw attention to our quiet, and lovely, little
campus, they seem to have succeeded.

George Cole
Shippensburg University
http://ark.ship.edu/