Opinion
October 14, 2011 • The Arrow
5
Is Free Speech Truly Free? Muslim students found guilty of violating free speech.
Shayna Kudler Stacey Kane
Harry Chung Staff Writer
Staff Writers
Courtesy Photo
Should free speech be allowed to proliferate? Or should individuals be harshly punished for voicing their opinions in inappropriate places? Both of these are important questions that have been brought up in the infamous Irvine 11 trial. On the fateful day of Feb. 8, 2010, Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, came to the University of California Irvine to give a speech on relations between the U.S. and Israel. Eleven Muslim students, appalled by Oren’s position on a controversial issue involving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, chose to interrupt his speech and publicly protest his actions; they stood up one by one spewing out messages such as “Propagating murder is not an expression of free speech.” These interjections initiated an eruption of verbal harassment both at the students and at Oren. These Muslim protesters, now dubbed the Irvine 11, have faced severe consequences. After threatening the students with academic punishment and suspending the school club in which they planned these protests, the Muslim Student Union, the UC Irvine officials took retribution one step further by pursuing criminal charges. Despite multiple protests from advocates of the Irvine 11 cause, including the dean of UC Irvine’s Law School, Erwin Chemerinsky, the case started on Sept. 7. Defense lawyers claimed that despite being rude, they did not break the law and the protesters had a right to free speech. Prosecutors countered, claiming that by premeditating this disruption the students censored the free flow of ideas and infringed upon the rights of 700 people who had gone to the Irvine campus to hear Oren. While one defendant was dismissed pending completion of 40 hours of community service at a local soup kitchen,
Peaceful Protest: Students demonstrate at the office of the Orange County District Attorney.
on Sept. 23 the other 10 defendants were found guilty. What is so infuriating to many is not the fact that these students were punished, but rather, the degree to which they were punished. Indeed, interrupting a speech in a private setting is wrong. However, isn’t being academically suspended, as many point out, punishment enough? Furthermore, there have been similar situations related to free speech with vastly different outcomes. When 30 Palestinian students at the University of Chicago disrupted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s speech, not only were they free to go, but they weren’t even brought to trial. In an even more disturbing free speech case, when Fred Phelps, of the hate-mongering Westboro Baptist Church, decided to bombard a dead U.S. soldier’s funeral with homophobic remarks,
Supreme Court justices voted in favor of Phelps 9 to 1 because he had the right to free speech. Could this possibly be a case of Islamaphobia? “The targeting of a group of Muslim American students, who were already sanctioned and whose organization was already suspended by their university as punishment, is unacceptable and will only strengthen Islamophobia and attempts to stifle political speech in this country,” said Jewish Voice for Peace. Cases like these are unnecessary and costly. To target and prosecute Muslims students while letting others, such as the Palestinian protesters, go unpunished is wrong and unjust. If our American courts choose to prosecute protesters who disrupt the environment, we should prosecute all protesters equally.
Dodger Blues for McCourt
Courtesy Photo
A Dim Future: Owner Frank McCourt looks out at the opening of the season.
Alex Farkas
Sports Editor Frank McCourt, the Los Angeles Dodgers owner, filed bankruptcy back in July because the team “owes a total of $74,121,433 to their players, food and travel vendors, and even the city of Los Angeles,” according to The Huffington Post. Two
Halloween for Teens?
years ago, the Dodgers were on track to make it to the World Series, but now they are just another team barely squeezing by the .500 mark. What happened? The Dodgers cannot continue to afford players like Manny Ramirez and Andrew Jones who are no longer with the team, but the Dodgers still have financial obligations to them based on guarantees in their contracts. For many such reasons the
Dodgers can only afford young players; their salaries are much lower compared to those of high caliber players. Not only are the Dodgers losing money, but they’re also losing fans. Dodger stadium holds about 57,000 people; however, towards the end of the season, the Dodgers were only attracting as few as 10,000 fans. No fans means no money. This does not help reimburse their major losses. The Dodgers have been on a downhill slide ever since the McCourts filed for a divorce. In April 2011, another court case was filed to try to determine the rightful owner of the Dodgers, Frank and Jamie McCourt. Furthermore, these court cases and high bills caused the Dodgers to file for bankruptcy. Many Dodger fans have lost hope and interest in their team because of its major financial problems and its 2011 win-loss record of 82-79. Although the Dodgers may have produced a possible Cy Young Winner and MVP, Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp, respectively, they may not receive recognition because of the team’s problems on and off the field. As a Dodger fan myself, I am embarrassed for them. They are turning into the West Coast version of the Florida Marlins. The Marlins have one of the worst attendance records in the history of baseball and it seems like the Dodgers are on the same path. The Dodgers need to find a way to resolve their financial problems to regain the respect they deserve from both Major League Baseball and from their fans.
Halloween candy sales average about $2 billion and equate to a quarter of the candy sold in the United States annually. This billion-dollar industry adds up when considering more than 93% of children go trick-or-treating each year. Although Halloween originated as the day before the ancient Celt’s New Years, it has become a joyous occasion for dressing up, throwing parties, and carving pumpkins. The night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead becomes blurred. Walking around school during the Halloween dress up day, students notice a weird turn of events in their classmates. Cats begin to roam the hallway, witches and ghosts fly swiftly by, and the number of nerds on campus increases (although the grades don’t prove an increase). Unfortunately, this year Halloween will fall on a Monday, with school still in session the following day. About 35% of approximately 120 WHS students polled claim they will trick-or-treat, 14% will hand out candy or watch Halloween movies, and about 19% will be in for the night, working on homework. As we grow older, Halloween becomes less about trick-or-treating and more about the Halloween parties. According to a poll, about 56% of students believe that there should not be an age limit on trick-or-treating, but as many of us teens know, some candy givers refuse to hand out candy to children over a certain age. “I hate when people don’t give me candy because I’m a teenager. I dress up and trick-or-treat just like all the other kids. The only difference is how many years I’ve been doing it,” said Sami Simon ’13. Teenagers are stereotyped as disobedient to the rules, and the stereotype appears to be true. Students were asked if, when they arrive at an empty house with a candy-filled bucket and a sign that reads “Take one please,” they take only one or the whole bucket. “The whole bucket. It’s their fault for leaving the candy out, duh,” admitted Danielle Gilbert ’13, along with one third of the other surveyed students. The results are not shocking knowing that teenagers are rebels. It is believed that some of the 53% of students who claimed they would grab only a few pieces buffered their true opinion to look better.
Halloween Humor Q: Why didn't the skeleton dance at the Halloween party? A: It had no body to dance with. Q: What do you get when you divide the circumference of a jack-o-lantern by its diameter? A: Pumpkin Pi. Q: What is a mummy’s favorite type of music? A: Rap. Q: Why is a ghost such a messy eater? A: Because he's always a goblin. Q: What kind of makeup do ghosts wear? A: Mas-scare-a.