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| Fifth Column |
| UC Berkeley doesn't like what they said, wants to raise the rent |
| 2001-10-11 |
GEORGE Orwell would have loved UC Berkeley student senate bill 67. Its first and second versions begin praising Berkeley as "a place of light where the rights of individuals with difference are appreciated and honest, probing inquiry is encouraged." Also: "Berkeley remains one of the few places in the world where a thoughtful, critical exchange can occur from people across a spectrum of backgrounds and races, without fear of reprisal or hatred." But, in an exercise of left-wing censorship, a version of the bill introduced last week recommended that a student board raise the $8,000-per- month rent of the Daily Californian in retaliation of the student newspaper refusing to be intimidated into running a front-page apology for a Darrin Bell political cartoon it ran Sept. 18. The cartoon showed two turbaned terrorists ready to "meet Allah and be fed grapes," but finding themselves instead burning in hell. Bill co-author Sajid Khan believes the cartoon was "racist." (I disagree. The cartoon clearly lampoons a vicious fanatical mind-set that equates slaughtering innocents with martyrdom and eternal reward.) The newspaper could avoid a rent increase, the bill explained, if it adopted "voluntary diversity training." (Doublespeak lives in the misuse of the words "voluntary" -- when the bill says submit or pay -- and "diversity" -- when only popular opinions will be tolerated.) Also, the paper could "rectify its complete insensitivity to the needs of its campus and its values" with "a printed apology, and a new record of dedication to truth in editorial and news content." |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |