Media Coverage :
The Nation
CBS
LAT
AP
DT
LA Voice
SCALE's blog
Union Voice aka click here support
My immediate commentary :
1. Someone in the administration of USC willingly made a decision to not allow the students to go to the bathroom without forfeiting their stand. A USC administrator actually thought it was a better decision to force to students to have not other option but to piss in buckets in Sample's waiting room than to let them go to the bathroom down the hall. Fucking inhuman, uncivil. You want to talk about not treating other people like they're human, too? You've got to be kidding me, this is ridiculous.
1b. Let me reiterate... USC thought it was best to leave tuition paying students to decide between pissing in buckets or giving up on their personal ethics, beliefs, and leadership steps -- attributes that the university professes to foster?
From the Code of Ethics of The University of Southern California ...
At the University of Southern California, ethical behavior is predicated on two main pillars: a commitment to discharging our obligations to others in a fair and honest manner, and a commitment to respecting the rights and dignity of all persons. ...
... building USC's stature as an ethical institution...
We nurture an environment of mutual respect and tolerance. As members of the USC community, we treat everyone with respect and dignity, even when the values, beliefs, behavior, or background of a person or group is repugnant to us. This last is one of the bedrocks of ethical behavior at USC and the basis of civil discourse within our academic community.
We do not harass, mistreat, belittle, harm, or take unfair advantage of anyone. We are careful to distinguish between legal behavior on the one hand and ethical behavior on the other, knowing that, while the two overlap in many areas, they are at bottom quite distinct from each other. While we follow legal requirements, we must never lose sight of ethical considerations.
2. Immediate suspension, followed by expulsion, which could only be appealed after 2 weeks, which would effectively fail the students for the semester because they would not be able to attend the most crucial weeks of class. For sitting for 6 hours. Yea, USC is that scared, apparently.
3. In response to LA Voice calling jail worse than suspension... First, they expected some student conduct issues, but not expulsion before other things were threatened. Maybe it could have been planned better around this blow, but that's just learning for next time, like everything in college. But jail worse than suspension? No way. A rap sheet for protest is way more a badge of honor than paying $20,000 and not being able to graduate and ending with half of the student group not being allowed on campus and therefore unable to continue the campaign for the rest of the semester... A few hours or days in jail versus no diploma, $20,000 down the drain, kicked out of your place and killing the campaign? uh...
4. How do you change the scenario to make the change you want to see become someone else's best interest? If they're business people, you make them look bad so it threatens their bottom line.... Objective accomplished. The conversation is now everywhere and USC is scrambling to look like they didn't just make their own students piss in buckets. Create the impetus that changes the game and forces their hand.
5. Props to SCALE for being good grassroots organizers. In contrast to Answer coalition protests, the group does not fall into today's protest model of posting a full minute by minute agenda on the internet so the cops know exactly where to be and having the organizers be the focus of attention, rather than the issues and the people. As Joshua Glenn lamented in Slate recently, "These days, whether you attend a rally, sign a petition, or forward a MoveOn e-mail, it can be a disempowering experience... obscured within these and other well-intended political actions is a philosophy of passive political spectatorship: they organize, we come; they talk, we listen." Way to break the current mold, SCALE. A protest where an apolitical, generally cynical friend of mine is inspired to personally lead a group to march in a circle around Bovard? A good protest, with real empowerment. Rock on.
6. Go USC students. I'd estimate at least 100 students were there throughout the day. Constant vigil? Damn right. Spontaneous adaptations to protest? Yup. That many people finally all getting together and getting everyone on campus talking? Good job.
Who's University? Our University...
5 comments:
Sad. super sad.
I was watching the CBS clip also. I wonder what justifies forbidding students from using the restrooms?
Decent coverage..very interesting situation...
From accounts that I have read, including your own, it seems to me that the University Administration provided the student protesters with a real-life lesson in accepting responsibility and suffering consequences.
Good to see some students getting together and doing something for what they believe in. It needs to be done more often for more issues. Students can have more of an impact than they think.
No one has argued that the students failed to take responsibility, nor suffer consequences. Generally, people have commented on the extent to which the students scared USC enough to such swift action. This is about perceptions and reactions to the university's actions, and many people believe they went to the extreme. It's fine if you believe otherwise, but no one has tried to claim the students don't understand responsibility.
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