One of the frustrating things about people in our nation is the freedom of speech.
Here at the university, a lot of people have been practicing their freedom of speech by writing a variety of messages around campus, on the ground, in chalk. It was mainly on North Campus last year, and the messages displayed were happy things like "Smile, it'll help the world" and "You're beautiful, no matter what."
Once the snow started melting, it was obvious that all of the multitudinous, cheerful old messages were replaced, and they've been replaced with a combination of propaganda, moderately rude or destructive messages, as well as messages pertaining to Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which April apparently is. In addition to awareness of sexual assault, there's been a large amount of political messages regarding things like the war in Iraq, and some campaign messages for John McCain in '08. (Campaign messages I don't support.)
I was really into the messages of love, joy, acceptance, etc scattered playfully around North Campus, but the latest batch of chalk writings are really frustrating to me. I find them distracting, much too politically charged, and I think that they degrade the mood, not improve it.
Attached to this post are two photos I've taken of the chalk drawings just out in front of the School of Communication. The sexual assault people have canvassed some parts of campus pretty well.
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1 comment:
Well okay, this is just me talking, but am I the only one that is starting to get annoyed with these writings? I mean, its all fine and dandy every once in a while, but I think people's message is getting lost amongst all the other chalk writings. Maybe they should stop wasting their time on the sidewalk and actually do something useful, like raise money for a plane ticket to DC so they can slam their senator against the wall and say "This is how things are going to work..."
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