CSU Cal State
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</font></div><div style=""><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> =</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">// UC slush fund?</font></p><p style="" /><div class="mag-post-box hentry" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 374.545px; overflow: hidden; display: table; border-bottom: none;"><div class="magcat-thumb" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; float: left; position: relative; transition: opacity 0.3s ease 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="penci-image-holder penci-lazy small-fix-size" data-src="https://www.alternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/5617930206_4eedb37a82_b-585x390.jpg" href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/how-adam-smith-became-a-surprising-hero-among-conservative-economists/" title="How Adam Smith became a surprising hero among conservative economists" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; position: relative; width: 120px; background-image: linear-gradient(to left, rgb(245, 245, 245) 0%, rgb(239, 239, 239) 15%, rgb(245, 245, 245) 40%, rgb(245, 245, 245) 100%); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; overflow: hidden; animation: 0.85s linear 0s infinite normal forwards running pencipreload; background-repeat: no-repeat !important; background-position: center center !important; background-size: 900px 1700px !important;" /></font></div></div><p /><div class="mag-post-box hentry" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; width: 374.545px; overflow: hidden; display: table; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(236, 236, 236);"><div class="magcat-detail" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><h3 class="magcat-titlte entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" px="px"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/cal-state-university-blasted-for-1-5-billion-bankroll-while-hiking-tuition/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Cal State University blasted for $1.5 billion bankroll while hiking tuition</font></a></h3><div class="grid-post-box-meta mag-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 7px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/nick-cahill/" title="Posts by Nick Cahill" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Nick Cahill</a> / <a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/courthouse-news/" title="Posts by Courthouse News" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Courthouse News</a></font></span></div></div></div><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">csu clears ---> aaas</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18757-aaas-reassessing-award-to-public-interest-scientists"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18757-aaas-reassessing-award-to-public-interest-scientists</font></a></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">p<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">ress release announcing award to Sri Lankan researchers is suppressed</span></font></div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) says it's "<a href="https://twitter.com/aaas/status/1093145382677286912" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">reassessing</a>" its previous decision to <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18748" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">give</a> the 2019 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility to two Sri Lankan scientists who uncovered an association between glyphosate herbicide exposure and chronic kidney disease in farmers in areas with hard water.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In a <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/2/2125" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">series</a> of peer-reviewed <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2369/16/103/abstract" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">papers</a>, Drs Sarath Gunatilake and Channa Jayasumana <a href="http://www.ehjournal.net/content/14/1/6/abstract" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">presented</a> their hypothesis that glyphosate, marketed mostly by Monsanto as Roundup, was transporting arsenic, cadmium and other heavy metals to the kidneys of those drinking contaminated water, causing chronic kidney disease.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Just a few days ago, on 4 February, the AAAS <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18748" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">announced</a> it was giving the award to Drs Gunatilake and Jayasumana, whom it characterised as "Two public health researchers who battled powerful corporate interests to uncover the deadly effects of industrial herbicides, solving a medical mystery and protecting the health of farming communities across the world".<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The AAAS press release <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18748" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">continued</a>, "Drs. Sarath Gunatilake and Channa Jayasuman<b>a faced death threats and claims of research misconduct</b> while working to determine the cause of a kidney disease epidemic that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in their home country of Sri Lanka and around the world. Ultimately, their advocacy led to the culprit, a herbicide called glyphosate, being banned in several affected countries."<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In a strange reversal, by 6 February, the AAAS had removed its press release from the Internet – but not before GMWatch republished it. You can read it <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18748" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a>.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In response to a Twitter storm from defenders and foes of glyphosate, the AAAS <a href="https://twitter.com/aaas/status/1093145382677286912" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">tweeted</a>, "We are taking steps to reassess the 2019 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, after concerns were voiced by scientists and members. This award will not be presented next week as originally planned while we further evaluate the award selection."<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Who exactly were the people who voiced these "concerns"? We know who one of them was: Kevin Folta, the University of Florida promoter of GMOs and pesticides, and a member of the AAAS. On 5 February<b> Folta wrote a <a href="http://kfolta.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-am-i-missing.html?m=1" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">blog post</a> which was republished on the website of the <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18507" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Genetic Literacy Project</a>,</b> under the heading, <a href="https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/02/05/aaas-fumble-prestigious-scientists-organization-endorses-data-less-study-suggesting-links-between-glyphosate-and-kidney-disease-in-sri-lanka/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">AAAS fumble? Prestigious scientists’ organization endorses ‘data-less’ study suggesting links between glyphosate and kidney disease in Sri Lanka</a>.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b>Citing the Sri Lankan authors' first paper, Folta wrote, "The paper presented a hypothesis. There were no data. There were no experiments. It was a semi-well-crafted hypothesis that could be tested."<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></b><b>However, Folta's claim that there are "no data" in the paper is false. </b>There are plenty of data in this and the authors' follow-up papers – from epidemiological and case-control studies, as well as geographical surveys – that support the idea that glyphosate herbicides should be withdrawn from use as a precautionary measure until they can be proven safe.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b>Are these data conclusive? No. They point to an association. It's true that the link between glyphosate exposure and chronic kidney disease will always remain a "hypothesis" until it is proven in controlled long-term animal feeding studies.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Such studies would count as the "experiments" that Folta complains haven't been done. The truth is that they are unlikely to be done, due to the massive expense and the unwillingness of industry and governments to fund studies that could show that they were responsible for exposing people to poisons over many years</span>.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Drs Sarath Gunatilake and Channa Jayasumana, as<b> Folta admits, have in no way overstated their case. They are conservative and careful in forming their conclusions.</b><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The AAAS's press release likely overstated things in <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18748-researchers-who-uncovered-glyphosate-herbicide-link-with-kidney-disease-honoured-by-aaas" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">calling</a> glyphosate herbicides "deadly" and "lethal", as such words tend to imply acute toxicants that kill with immediate effect. It would be more accurate to call them slow poisons, though there is little doubt that the end result of exposures can be "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/10/monsanto-trial-cancer-dewayne-johnson-ruling" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">deadly</a>".</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />But a less than ideal choice of words on the part of the author of a press release is an argument for modifying the press release, not reconsidering an award given to honest public interest researchers, particularly ones who have already been the victims of industry-linked intimidation.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">And in the case of this particular award, the conclusiveness of the researchers' findings on glyphosate is irrelevant. As Prof Jack Heinemann of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, said on <a href="https://twitter.com/Jack_Heinemann/status/1093929931413819392" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Twitter</a>, "Whether or not the link between glyphosate (or formulation) and kidney disease is right misses the point. A scientific freedom award is given for persecution. If you only give it for proven science, it would be delayed decades and it would only benefit those who persecute."</font></p><h3 style="margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5em; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Folta's record</font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Now let's look at the record of their accuser. Kevin Folta took a $25,000 <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/16340" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">grant</a> from Monsanto to promote GMOs and took steps to avoid <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/16408" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">disclosing</a> it to the public, while all the time falsely telling the public that he had "nothing to do with Monsanto".</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b>Folta has <a href="https://usrtk.org/our-investigations/kevin-folta/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">allowed</a></b><b> an agrochemical industry PR firm to ghostwrite for him, but then denied it. </b>The PR firm ghostwrote answers to questions on GMOs, which were then published on the industry's public relations website, GMO Answers, under Folta's name.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He had to stand down as Chair of his university department after his then wife accused him of violent <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18303-kevin-folta-s-wife-goes-public-says-abuse-allegations-are-true" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">abuse</a>. She also <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18232" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">accused</a> him of taking money for<b> consulting for Bayer. </b>He was <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18293" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">deserted</a> by several of his former close associates after that turned out to be <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18476" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">true</a>. He has also publicly <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18297" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">defended</a> drunk driving and published advice on how to get away with it.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b>Finally, although Folta has no known medical or toxicology background, he regularly pontificates on food and chemical safety as if he were an <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/15949" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">expert</a>, often <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/16374" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">inaccurately</a>. And in his defence of Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, Folta has not only made a series of false <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/16435" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">claims, </a>but irresponsibly, has even drunk it <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/gmwatch.org/news/latest-news/16340" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">publicly</a></b><b>, supposedly to demonstrate its "harmlessness”</b>.</font></p><h3 style="margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5em; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The AAAS's record</font></h3><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Let's hope the AAAS stands up to the likes of Folta – and stands by its decision to honour the Sri Lankan scientists, who have endured too much victimisation already for their brave work.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The AAAS has a mixed record when it comes to public interest issues. In 2013 the AAAS's board of directors <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18711" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">issued</a> a statement opposing the labelling of GM foods in the US. The statement argued that such labelling “can only serve to mislead and falsely alarm consumers”. The AAAS was at the time chaired by Nina Fedoroff, who has close ties to the GMO <a href="https://usrtk.org/gmo-science-is-for-sale-2/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">industry</a>.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />But in an incident that showed that the AAAS is not monolithic but contains scientists who do not toe the GMO lobby's line, a group of scientists and physicians that <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">included many long-standing AAAS members <a href="https://gmwatch.org/en/news/latest-news/18711" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">condemned</a> the AAAS board of directors’ statement as “an Orwellian argument that violates the right of consumers to make informed decisions”. They pointed to evidence showing that Roundup, the herbicide used on most GM crops, could pose risks that consumers might reasonably want to avoid.</span><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Sadly, the AAAS board seems more likely than its membership to have the power to decide on the fate of the award that was to be given to the Sri Lankan scientists. Whatever they decide, the row kicked up by the antics of the likes of Folta has served to bring the risks of glyphosate herbicides to the notice of a wider public.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />If the AAAS does decide to withdraw its award to the Sri Lankan scientists, that will send a clear message to the public about the suppression of science. Ironically, of course, it was the now-suppressed AAAS press release which noted that jeopardizing the profits of the glyphosate industry has come with serious “consequences” for Drs Gunatilake and Jayasumana.</font></p><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">san luis obispo peace disciplined by admin</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">calpoly</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><a href="http://www.ksby.com/story/38264191/group-claims-cal-poly-investigating-and-threatening-sanctions-against-protesters">http://www.ksby.com/story/38264191/group-claims-cal-poly-investigating-and-threatening-sanctions-against-protesters</a></font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="" /><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Investigation 'not warranted' into SLO Peace Coalition protest at Cal Poly, university finds</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="">Posted: May 23, 2018 6:14 PM PDT</div><div style="">Updated: Jun 29, 2018 3:55 PM PDT</div><div style="">UPDATE: On Friday, June 29, Cal Poly said the university's Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities had conducted a requisite review of the incident and determined that a full investigation was not needed.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">School officials say they found "insufficient evidence that violations of student conduct had occurred."</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">"The university followed standard policy and procedure - which exist to help ensure that the rights of all campus community members are upheld," according to Spokesman Matt Lazier. </div><div style="">
</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">Another free speech clash at Cal Poly is making the rounds online.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">Members of the SLO Peace Coalition protested at a career fair on campus in late April.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">They sang a song in the vein of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." but with different lyrics criticizing the military and weapons makers.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">"You're killing all across the world for that war money and we proudly rise up until you put your weapons down," they sang outside the booth for defense contractor Raytheon.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">"Private corporations who make a literal killing of money off of killing, off of making weapons. On our campus, companies like Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, they have huge stakes on our campus in many ways but in particular, getting our future graduates to work for them," said Matt Klepfer, with the SLO Peace Coalition.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">A Facebook Live recording shows the group members sang and chanted for about 15 minutes.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">The group says they left their protest viewing it as a success. The students now say The Cal Poly Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities is investigating them for possibly breaking campus rules.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">"These sanctions could go anywhere from not walking in graduation to expulsion," said Dominic Scialabba, a member of SLO Peace Coalition.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">Pointing at Cal Poly's recent blackface controversy, the group says their first amendment right is just as important as anyone else's.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">"There's a lot of people who are making this school worse and their actions are considered free speech, yet we're trying to make this school better and ours aren't. It's really scary," Klepfer said.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">Cal Poly would not say whether there's an investigation, though the university did say the event was not open to the public.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">Matt Lazier, media relations director for Cal Poly University Communications, sent KSBY News this statement:</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">Cal Poly supports the free speech rights of all of its campus community members and visitors. To ensure that the exercise of the right of free expression does not interfere with university functions, imperil public safety, obstruct or damage university facilities, or cause individuals to become audiences against their will, the university maintains and enforces campus regulations regarding the time, place and manner of the exercise of free expression by individuals and groups. These are outlined in Campus Administrative Policy 140.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">I can also tell you that the specific event you reference was not open to the general public. Someone who chooses to stage a disruptive protest during such an event could face potential criminal charges. As well, if this action is engaged in by an employee or student, the university would review the activity to determine whether it violated a university policy. If a violation of university policy is found to have occurred, an employee and/or student could face appropriate disciplinary action.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">Privacy laws preclude the university from discussing any specific student conduct processes, so I can’t tell you whether there are any reviews under way specific to this matter. However, I can say that there were no arrests associated with the protest, nor were any criminal charges submitted to the District Attorney’s Office.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">The group has started a petition on Change.org asking the university to stop investigating them, claiming they were peaceful and the university has bigger issues to deal with.</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">"This happened the same week, or shortly thereafter, as Cal Poly's administration decided not to sanction someone who did blackface," the petition reads. "While we are not sure what the sanctions will be, student peace activists are scared the university will threaten their futures."</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">SLO Peace Coalition is more than halfway toward its goal of 1,000 petition signature</div></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">many consertv stories, this is LA weekly:</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro, a Cal State Los Angeles student, and a pair of right-leaning organizations are suing the university and some of its professors over the matter of free speech.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Despite protests and an attempt by <b>Cal State L.A. president William Covino</b>to postpone the presentation, Shapiro gave a speech, titled "When Diversity Becomes a Problem," at the largely Latino school on Feb. 25. The conservative students group Young Americans for Freedom, a plaintiff in the case, sponsored the appearance.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The suit, filed today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, claims that, in effect, the university muzzled Shapiro to some extent because organizers were unsuccessfully asked to pay more than $600 for extra security, professors enticed students to block access to the speech as a way of protesting Shapiro, and he was "forced to speak to a half-empty theater."[vid]</font></p><div class="unruly_in_article_placement" data-unruly-ad-type="horizontal" style="outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: initial !important; margin: 16px 0px 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; line-height: normal !important; letter-spacing: initial !important; min-width: initial !important; min-height: initial !important; overflow: hidden !important; position: relative !important; max-height: 313px !important; opacity: 1 !important; transition: max-height 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.445, 0.05, 0.55, 0.95) 0.2s !important;"><div class="unruly_ia_bottombar" style="outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: initial !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; line-height: normal !important; letter-spacing: initial !important; min-width: initial !important; min-height: initial !important; height: 20px !important;"><span style="letter-spacing: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It also alleges that plaintiff Mark Kahanding, a finance major at the university and the chair</font></span></div><div class="unruly_ia_bottombar" style="outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: initial !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; line-height: normal !important; letter-spacing: initial !important; min-width: initial !important; min-height: initial !important; height: 20px !important;"><span style="letter-spacing: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> of its Young Americans for Freedom chapter, was falsely imprisoned because protesters</font></span></div><div class="unruly_ia_bottombar" style="outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: initial !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; line-height: normal !important; letter-spacing: initial !important; min-width: initial !important; min-height: initial !important; height: 20px !important;"><span style="letter-spacing: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> blocked exits during the speech.</font></span></div></div><div class="mobile-fold ex-fold" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thus the school denied Shapiro's "fundamental rights to free speech, due process and equal protection of the law," the filing states argues</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The suit seeks compensatory and nominal damages, civil penalties, attorneys' fees and costs, and a judgment that Cal State Los Angeles violated the civil rights of the defendants as well as its own policies.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Attorneys for the plaintiffs say Shapiro, who has said that the "public school system has been teaching students that they are each members of victimized groups," is in favor of <i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">intellectual</i> diversity.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the speech Shapiro reportedly said "f—- you" to demonstrators and complained that "an actual conversation" about diversity could not take place under those conditions.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Students unhappy that the speech went on later called unsuccessfully for the ouster of university president Covino.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The cornerstone of higher education is the ability of students to participate in the 'marketplace of ideas' on campus,” said <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel for a group called Alliance Defending Freedom and an attorney for the plaintiffs. </span>"Instead, student groups and Mr. Shapiro encountered systematic and <b>violent</b> opposition to a free-speech event promoting diversity of opinion. When public universities discriminate against points of view they don't like, they violate both the First Amendment and a core purpose behind their own existence. This type of viewpoint discrimination cannot and will not stand."</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="inline-video" data-vmg-ad="Teads" data-vmg-track="2nd ad" data-vmg-tracked="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;" /></font><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shapiro said on his website that some <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/5765/three-months-late-csula-creates-safe-space-ben-hank-berrien" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; outline: none !important;">Cal State Los Angeles students had scheduled a "debrief"</a> this week to address the "hurt and trauma" caused by his speech. A link to the event is no longer active.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A spokesman for the university said it had no comment.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ethnic and racial diversity is crucial in California, where Latinos now compose the largest demographic. Brown taxpayers should be able to see their kids enjoy public universities, get jobs in a very white Hollywood, and continue to have hope that the American Dream isn't over now that white folks are no longer the majority.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But that doesn't mean we should hit the pause button on free speech.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Should the taxpayers of California have rolled out the red carpet and kept protesters at bay as if he were president of the United States? Is the school responsible for ensuring a full theater for every speaker?</span>The question for this case seems to be this: <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Are Cal State Los Angeles officials and the professors named in the suit,<b> including local Black Lives Matter organizer Melina Abdullah, </b>responsible for ensuring not only that Shapiro had a platform but that it was free of disruption?</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We're going to go out on a limb and predict this suit will be about as popular with its U.S. District Court judge and jury as Shapiro is with Latino students in L.A.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 28px; max-width: 565px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shapiro is a <i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">pendejo</i>, and it's <i style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">our</i> right to say that.</font></p></div></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">==
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