UW Prof Holding Class at Protests
Wednesday 02-16-2011 1:11pm CT
By Justin Earl.
They are bussing in high school students to protest after classes were canceled because Madison teachers "called in sick." Now UW Madison professors are FORCING students to go to the protests. Here's a letter sent to WISN's Vicki McKenna:
Vicki,
My *** is a Senior at UW - Madison. For one of *** classes today, they were told that instead of a regular class. They will meet out front of the Orpheum on State Street and walk to the Capitol. They were told that the people that attend class will get lecture notes from the professor. My *** doesn't support these protesters. But can you imagine if ***were to voice that opinion to these thugs? I fear for *** safety. Instead, in order to obtain lecture notes,*** is forced to attend this charade. Just so they can increase the body count. Do you think the reporters will highlight the ones that are just there to "observe"? (and take a look at that link from the undergraduate. scary stuff)
My***was fearful of me sending this to anyone. *** doesn't wa*** grades to be hurt or to be harassed. [...]
Here is the body of the email:
As a reminder, we will meet for class on Wednesday out front of the Orpheum on State Street at 11 am. At 1110 am, we will walk to the Capitol. You will be able to get lecture notes from me when you arrive as I will have copies available for those who attend class.
Witnessing, joining, or opposing this protest of Governor Scott Walker's budget reparation bill is a great opportunity to either take part in or watch many of the things we have been talking about so far in our course including: how citizens discursively enact their citizenship, the way the public sphere can be used to hold the state accountable, the use of the public screen and possibly image events, and the function of activism vs. public deliberation.
As I said in class, you can join the protest in solidarity with public sector workers, you can witness the events as a bystander, or you can choose to stand in support of Walker's propositions.
For those who are interested, here is a blog post written by a UW graduate student in communication arts about why undergraduates should care about the state budget:
blog.thebriz.org
Here is also a link to Walker's budget repair bill:
host.madison.com |
