The
erosion of the first amendment in college
radio
Free
speech is one of the most sacred things
our constitution guarantees. With it,
we are able to speak our mind without
suppression from authority, no matter
whether our opinions are in agreement
with the establishment or against. More
and more, as far as college radio is concerned,
it seems like institutions of higher learning
are censoring student views. Why is this?
Isn't college supposed to be a place where
one's mind is stimulated and healthy discussion
and debate is fostered?
Occidental
College, located in Los Angeles, has been
the site of a battle of free speech after
the college forcibly censored Jason Antebi,
a student who was vice president of the
student government and host of his college
radio show, "Rant and Rave."
Antebi, in a March 2004 broadcast, sarcastically
mocked two political rivals by calling
them various names, among them "Van
Der Douche" (a play on words derived
from one of the rivals' names) and a "bearded
feminist." The program, according
to the Foundation for Individual Rights
in Education (FIRE), "was a forum
for political parody and provocative humor"
and "frequently mocked Occidental's
administration, its student government,
and various political and social causes."
In March of 2004, the three offended students
filed ludicrous sexual harassment complaints
against Antebi because of the satiric
comments that he made on the show.
According
to FIRE, the three offended parties said
his show "promoted ‘disrespect
and slander' against ‘women, diversity,
and Occidental College. Maryanne Horowitz,
Occidental's Title IX officer, in the
wake of the sexual harassment complaints,
deemed that Antebi was guilty of not only
sexually harassing the students who filed
the complaints, but also of harassing
his entire audience. Does this make sense
to any of you? If so, then I recommend
getting your head examined. Antebi was
almost expelled from school as a result
of the remarks and the surrounding controversy,
all because of some overzealous imbeciles
who took his sarcastic remarks seriously.
This
story reminded me of my own experience
at KBeach, Cal State Long Beach's student-run
radio station. My show, which ran during
the fall semester of 2001, was effectively
taken off the air by John Trapper, one
of the station's advisors; the reasons
of which are still unclear to me. What
it boiled down to was that Trapper had
based his decision on a vast amount of
hearsay regarding my show. Ridiculously,
I was offered a chance to pre-record the
show and have it edited for content, which
defeats the purpose of live radio in the
first place. I challenged the ruling with
the student judicial board in a meeting
that took place not only between the members
of the board but also Trapper himself.
The intimidation factor stemming from Trapper
being in the room during the meeting led
to the ruling that I would not get my
show back.
In
the end, both Antebi and I were victims
of oversensitive administrations. What
I always find amazing about issues such
as these is the blatant hypocrisy at the
core of the debate.
Colleges,
typically liberal in nature, are supposed
to laud free speech and encourage students
to speak their mind, yet when students
do just that, censorship can easily occur.
Apparently free speech is only guaranteed
on certain terms.
Gerry
Wachovsky is a senior broadcast journalism
major at CSULB and the Diversions editor
of the Online 49er.
