[SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity

Sat Oct 1 12:30:38 EDT 2011

They can detain anyone breaking the law on campus.  I believe that that's the case on any university campus, just like private security guards in a mall. They have to bring in city police for anything beyond that.

JJ, the campus police, or whomever was behind the event, were wrong to do what they did, but their actual powers at Stout are no different from those of other campus police around the country. That's not the problem.

Mike

________________________________
From: pierceqfpl at ewwpi.com [pierceqfpl at ewwpi.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2011 9:50 AM
To: Rockwood, Bruce L; Levy, Michael; Greg Conley; sfra-l at charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu
Subject: Re: [SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity

Something that bothers me even more than the censorship itself. Do the campus police at Wisconsin-Stout actually have the authority to arrest and imprison professors as they claim? Where's the jail? Does the university have its own criminal court that can try alleged offenders? I've never heard of anything like this at any university.

--J.J.P.

-----Original Message-----
From: Rockwood, Bruce L [mailto:rockwood at bloomu.edu]
Sent: Saturday, October 1, 2011 08:24 AM
To: 'Levy, Michael', 'Greg Conley', sfra-l at charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu
Subject: Re: [SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity

This could be a panel at Detroit. It also shows that SF still has the ability to unnerve the powers that be, not a bad thing in these difficult times. Bruce Rockwood "When Dwight Eisenhower as the new president of Columbia University in the 1950s was introduced to the senior faculty, he remarked how pleased he was to meet with the employees of the university. The physicist I.I. Rabi interrupted him: 'Mr. President,' he said, 'we are not the employees of the university. We are the university!' Perceptions were different then. . . . Some intellectuals see these changes in the university as a decline of the higher culture. Others see evolution and progress. Which change you see depends, ironically, on how you were educated." -- Heinz Pagels, The Dreams of Reason, pp 37-38 (1988). ________________________________________ From: sfra-l-bounces at charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu [sfra-l-bounces at charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu] On Behalf Of Levy, Michael [LevyM at uwstout.edu] Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 12:26 PM To: Greg Conley; sfra-l at charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu Subject: Re: [SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity There's also a story in the Chronicle of Higher Education, And no one has actually stopped anything. No apologies. No acceptance of Miller's right to have the posters up. No admission that what they did was wrong. ________________________________ From: sfra-l-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu [sfra-l-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu] on behalf of Greg Conley [gregconley at gmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 8:39 AM To: sfra-l at charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu Subject: Re: [SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity There's apparently at least one new development: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110929/01225516129/university-police-administration-freak-out-over-nathan-fillion-firefly-poster-censor-threaten-professor.shtml Short version -- an advocacy group explained exactly how and why this is censorship and unacceptable on a campus, and the people involved appear to have stopped (called off a meeting, dunno how permanent that is) but still insist they are in the right. On Sep 29, 2011, at 8:54 PM, pierceqfpl at ewwpi.com wrote: I see that even the Huffington Post, which might have considered the original poster politicallly incorrect -- duh, must be propaganda for gun nuts, duh -- slammed the campus cups and Sorenson for his mealy-mouthed response. --J.J.P. -----Original Message----- From: Levy, Michael [mailto:LevyM at uwstout.edu] Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 03:16 PM To: 'Susan George', 'Davis, Doug', 'Lewis Murphy', sfra-l at wiz.cath.vt.edu Subject: Re: [SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity Susan, what surprises me the most is to find out that you're a fellow Bears fan. Who would have thunk it? ________________________________ From: sfra-l-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu [sfra-l-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu] on behalf of Susan George [sageorge13 at yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 1:58 PM To: Davis, Doug; Lewis Murphy; sfra-l at wiz.cath.vt.edu Subject: Re: [SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity Hello All, While I haven't read the whole exchange about this Serenity thing, I can say that this isn't really new in the work place, though certainly more upsetting being at a university. Many years ago, say 1989 oe 90 I had a poster on my wall of Chicago Bears quarterback, Jim M and Walter Payton. They were dressed like Tubbs and Crocket from Miami Vice with guns (and a live Bear of course). I was told I had to take it down for sexual harrasement issues!! And they were fully dressed . . . and so it goes in the work place. Best, Susan G Susan A. George, Ph.D. Merritt Writing Program University of California, Merced Science Fiction Research Association, Secretary From: "Davis, Doug" To: Lewis Murphy ; "sfra-l at wiz.cath.vt.edu" Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 7:22 AM Subject: Re: [SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity I'm not sure it's that cut and dry--depends on the office policy regarding decorations. If posters are allowed but one promoting women's rights is ordered taken down--that's discrimination and the beginning of a lawsuit. Anyway, stupid posters on doors is very much part of academia and life in the non-profit sector, Lewis. The principle of academic freedom is essential to basic knowledge production--and it extends to our office doors unless some system-wide policy forbids all door decor. At my institution I frankly wouldn't mind such a policy. A colleague of mine in the history d ept. has a poster on his door calling Obama/Pelosi/Reed the axis of evil. Obama has horns on his head. Oh well. I put a postcard from Donnie Darko on my office door; nobody understands it. Nor do I. Doug ________________________________________ From: sfra-l-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu [sfra-l-bounces at wiz.cath.vt.edu] On Behalf Of Lewis Murphy [atlscifiguy at bellsouth.net] Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 8:55 AM To: sfra-l at wiz.cath.vt.edu Subject: Re: [SFRA-L] Censorship of Serenity What I find interesting in this is the differences in work/employment environment, between academia and other fields. For example, in most other situations, if your boss/employer tells you that a poster cannot be disp layed in the workplace, and you do it anyway, you get fired. Free speech is never discussed. Lewis On 9/28/2011 6:37 PM, Sue & Bruce Rockwood wrote: In the Chronicle of Higher Education afternoon update today. What nonsense! U. of Wisconsin Professor and Administrators Clash Over Posters Called Threatening Snipped for length _______________________________________________ SFRA-L mailing list SFRA-L at wiz.cath.vt.edu http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sfra-l _______________________________________________ SFRA-L mailing list SFRA-L at wiz.cath.vt.edu http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sfra-l _______________________________________________ SFRA-L mailing list SFRA-L at wiz.cath.vt.edu http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sfra-l _______________________________________________ SFRA-L mailing list SFRA-L at wiz.cath.vt.edu http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sfra-l _______________________________________________ SFRA-L mailing list SFRA-L at wiz.cath.vt.edu http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sfra-l