H -°, L 6° | Tomorrow: 
H 18°, L 6°Finally.
Just when we started to question whether The Badger Herald would ever get the chance to discuss the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, the UW faculty bailed us out.
Last Monday, a proposal was presented to the Faculty Senate aiming to protect the speech rights of UW employees in potential criticism of the university. The catalyst for the amendment is a 2006 Supreme Court ruling declaring state employees could be reprimanded for publicly admonishing their employer.
Under normal circumstances, a proposal like this might feel like worthless, self-serving banter, but if the Supreme Court is going to say employees can be reprimanded for falling out of line — especially if the employer is the government, an entity that has endured criticism since Day One — it’s an absolutely necessary safeguard.
A public university, more than any other government institution, depends on differences of opinion in order to fully discuss contemporary and historical issues. But debate exists beyond the confines of the classroom. Professors are intelligent, opinionated people, and to expect them to refrain from openly discussing their jobs, the educational infrastructure and the government turns them into little more than glorified TAs. It’s just not a good idea.
By the very nature of their jobs, many professors must question government, and, by extension, university policy. To fear for your job simply because you’ve publicly stated that the university could be run more efficiently — a claim similar to that debated in the 2006 Supreme Court case — is not only stupid; it’s absolutely dangerous.
After all, the sound of bitching carries so well when yelled from an ivory tower.
IP hash: 83b6c53e
After this week’s anti-Semitic incitement campaign at the BH, I expected this piece was a cautionary note on protecting professors.
Has the UW administration considered the “hostile work environment” implications of the BH publication policy?
IP hash: fcfb467d
The Badger Herald is a private entity & thus hostile work environment does not apply.
IP hash: 83b6c53e
Just as allowing distributing Hustler in campus facilities would create a hostile working environment for women, so UW Administration allowing distribution of anti-Semitic bigotry on campus property creates a hostile work environment.
BH distribution should be suspended until their editorial policies are amended to forbid incitement to violence.
Crossing the Line: The Intifada Comes to Campus, produced by acclaimed filmmaker Raphael Shore, explores the proliferation of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incidents on North American college campuses… http://campusintifada.com/homepage.php?p=about
IP hash: 3551194d
“…depends on differences of opinion in order to fully discuss contemporary and historical issues.”
Then they’d best do a bit of affirmative action hiring of conservative and libertarian professors!
And I mean somewhere other than Business or Engineering!