In response, the UMCP administration overrode the student activity board and stopped the showing of the film. Outrage from UMCP students and others ensued. The film has been shown at Northwestern, UCLA, and Carnegie Mellon already. Since, students at UMBC and UMCP have moved forward in sponsoring showings of the pornographic film, not for pure entertainment purposes, but to resist the infringement of academic freedom on college campuses. Many argue that the choice of viewing such a film is option, and it is not the job of the legislature to censor adult material from adults on college campuses. Any step to limit explicit material is a step in the direction of limiting academic freedom and discourse.
The topic has recieved significant press:
- http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-te.md.porn03apr03,0,7632367.story
- http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.porn04apr04,0,2590515.story
- http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.porn05apr05,0,2964274.story
- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/04/03/pornography
- http://www.diamondbackonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=6a52747e-0736-4e12-8730-6b13518d318e
- http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2009/04/sex_senators_and_stupidity.html
- http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2009/04/campus_sex_shows_um_panics_whe.html
- http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2009/04/06/News/Students.Push.On.With.Porn-3698133.shtml
Here's my view: Viewing a pornographic film on campus in the student union is distasteful. But this conversation is about much more. It's about the innapropriate use of legislative authority.
Senator Harris' attempt to use the power of the purse to limit academic freedom and societal discourse at USM institutions is irresponsible and out of place. The film cost no money to the university, and the student activities board thought it to be a positive component to the discourse on the UMCP campus. While i find the movie distasteful, I fear of the potential for censorship to come on Senator Harris' and other's moral beliefs. When dealing with adults in our nation, we have celebrated a long standing tradition of free speech. Why should this change in campuses of public universities? Additionally, the legislature should respect the administrative authority of the USM and the UMCP administration in governing public universities in Maryland on such administrative issues. This move flies in the face of the principle of the First Amendment.
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10 comments:
Well said, Josh. For me, it isn't about "standing up for porn" but about standing up for free speech.
Why is everyone so willing to jump up and down and shout to give Digital Playground free advertising and publicity?
@ steelwolf. Thanks for the comment. In latest developments, it looks like the legislature will coerce the Board of Regents in setting a USM Policy on this issue. So, looks like the issue is far from over.
@ Tim- It's really unfortunate that Digital Playground is benefiting from a a First Amendment conversation. Oh the irony for Senator Harris' morals...
Our freedoms are constantly being tampered with in this country. The enlightenment is over, welcome to the dis-enlightenment. The action of our government makes people afraid to even leave their own homes, and there are so many ways to screw up it is as if we're better off just doing nothing. Fuck America, fuck Obama, and if you don't like this comment then fuck you too.
Honestly, watch porn on your own time. If this was about some other subject and exercising your rights then yes I would agree. But porn? People tend to forget that "free speech" does NOT necessarily mean that you can do or say whatever you want at your leisure. You still have to remember that you're at an institution with thousands of other students and alumni and that something like filming this could disrupt the school. If the school refused to let students to watch something like a pro-communist film THEN I would be stand right by my fellow students.
No one is trying to say you can not watch porn. They are saying that the school, which they appropriate funds to can not endorse it. There is a big difference. No individuals rights are being tampered with. Anyone who wants to watch the movie can. However, it just can not be a school endorsed function.
There is nothing wrong with this. There is no first amendment right being taken away.
You are not allowed to watch porn at work. Is that taking away your first amendment right? No. People who pay for the resources have every right to control how they are used. Thus, our states government has every right to put stipulations on what PUBLIC schools can and can not do. They do not have the power to tell you that you can not watch porn but they do and should have the power to limit a schools endorsement of it.
As for pro-communist stuff, the state should not allow that either. Why should any American institution (the government) appropriate money to schools who would go and endorse events which go against everything this nation is about. They shouldn't. Would I pay to have someone insult me personally. No. Would I give any money to anyone who advocates for beliefs systems other than mine (if I could help it). The answer is no. They have the rightful power to tell institutions they fund how to behave. There is nothing that says they have to give money so that there are public colleges. We do not have a right to go to college. Unless you want to pay double or triple to go to a private school (which might still get government funds in some cases) then quit whining and wise up to the fact that you can only go here for paying this amount because the government has decided to fund it. All they want in return is for the morals that the nation was founded on to be upheld and for the institutions not to endorse practices that would go against that moral foundation.
Everyone always wants to complain about rights when they do not actually understand what that right means. The first amendment means that individuals of our country have the right to view porn although it goes against the moral foundation on which our nation was created. We also have the right to assemble. This means that you and a bunch of your friends can get together and watch porn even though it goes against the moral foundation of this country. All this does not equate to a state institution having complete authority to endorse those activities. The STATE institutions endorsements to a certain extent should coincide with the governments interests. If you dont like it, too bad. Get in the government and flood it with people who think anyone should be able to do whatever they want whenever they please. That is an immoral world I do not want to live in.
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