The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

SIU denies free speech

When I attended LSU Baton Rouge in 1979, I participated in several of the group debates there in the format called "Free Speech Alley". The gathering place for these daily events was directly in front of the Student Center. Vigorous discussions would frequently develop. There was no effort to impede or disturb anyone who was not participating. I recall especially Iranian students informing us of the atrocities occurring in Iran back then, before they deposed the CIA-installed puppet regime headed by the Shah. Their descriptions of the treacheries committed made the subsequent revolution there much more understandable.

It is difficult for me to comprehend how an American university could deny such free expression of political and other ideas, as is going on here presently at SIUC. This cordoning off of debaters to an inconsequential area is analogous to the Bush administration's handling of protesters at events attended by the president or his cronies: they are relegated to some obscure fenced in compound several blocks from the "action."

Ideally, this policy will backfire and provoke MORE involvement from the apathetic mass of modern students. And here's a tip for the fascists (read Republican fundamentalists) out there: such formats are a great place to observe and surveil the "radicals."

Christopher S. Turner

senior, anthropology

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