A protester wearing a mask of university president John Welty
displays a sign mocking the university for violating privacy laws.
Photos by Joseph Hollak |
Group protests near police station
By MAURICE O. NDOLE
The Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition staged a demonstration
outside the university police station on Barstow Avenue on Thursday to
protest police surveillance of their meetings.
Wearing masks with face prints of university president John Welty and
police chief David Huerta, the group performed a mock re-enactment of
the events that happened last year when undercover agents allegedly infiltrated
a meeting by guest speaker and vegan activist Gary Yourofsky.
The group and its supporters beat drums along Barstow and waved at passing
cars, prompting some of the motorists to honk in support. At one point,
the group marched back and forth across an intersection of Barstow, stalling
traffic.
Earlier, around noon, the group members wearing Welty masks distributed
flyers around the free speech area inviting students to attend their afternoon
protest at the police station.
Ruth Obel-Jorgensen, president of the organization, said her group wanted
to pass a message to the university to respect civil liberties and academic
freedom.
While performing a re-enactment of the police infiltration, group member
Michelle Colvin played the part of Yourofsky while students who attended
the meeting held mock signs reading “I’m here for extra credit”
and “veganism is not terrorism,” while a character with an
undercover mask suspiciously lurked behind them.
Political science professor Michael Becker said he attended the meeting
to support the group and protest the university’s methods of invading
student and faculty privacy.
“We know of several incidences in which it appears to be quite clear
that they sent undercover agents to find out what’s going on in
certain lectures on campus,” Becker said.
Becker said university claims that they sent uniformed officers to the
event were untrue because he was present at the event and did not see
any uniformed officers.
A statement released by university spokesman Mark Aydelotte said the university
did not engage in surveillance activities using undercover police officers,
but they admitted using plainclothes officers to provide safety in certain
events.
“At a campus event on Nov. 10, 2004, the university assigned three
plainclothes police officers for event security,” Aydelotte said
in the statement.
He said the university has communicated its intent to the Campus Peace
and Civil Liberties Coalition to work out a plan of how to address security
issues in events with potential for controversy.
Social work professor and Campus Peace and Civil Liberties Coalition adviser
Donna Hardina said the group is now getting a response from the university
because of their protests.
“What we would like the university to do is to develop a privacy
policy to protect the rights of faculty and students,” Hardina said.
Huerta could not be reached for comment.
Industrial technology major Matt Grossen said he thought the country was
turning into a police state.
“I’m not a member of the group, but I’m against the
surveillance of the club,” Grossen said. “9/11 was just an
excuse to take away our civil liberties.”
Grossen said liberty was essential for everyone.
“You can’t trade liberty for security,” Grossen said.
“If you trade liberty for security, you end up with tyranny.”
|
