You can view some of my published rantings by clicking below. All of which, except for the first one, were published in student newspapers here at UW. There was also an op-ed piece in the Wisconsin State Journal, but I don't seem to have an electronic copy of it. (Note: Some of these were published under different titles than those used here.)
Letter to the University Committee - Opening salvo
"Our speech Code: The Right End, the Wrong Means" - Broadside!
"Speech Codes Again" - Hand to hand combat
"Working on the Speech Code: Can We Agree?" Mopping up?
The Primary Documents:
The Old UW-Madison Speech Code Here it is, the rule that was replaced at the Monday, March 1st 1999 meeting of the UW-Madison Faculty Senate.
Report of the Ad Hoc Committee This is the report that represents both factions of the committee.
Proposed Revisions in the Speech Code These are the changes recommended by the majority of the ad hoc committee.
Minority Report This is the report of the eight-person minority faction of the speech code revision committee.
Reply to the Minority Report This is a rather long document, signed by the nine-person majority. The minority report seems to have really annoyed whoever is writing for the majority here.
The New Rule This is the rule that replaced our instructional settings speech code. It is written as an amendment to the "Proposed Revisions in the Speech Code." Its meaning is dramatically indicated by how much of the code is crossed out in this version.
Of related interest:
The Shadow University This is a new book by historian Alan Kors and lawyer Harvey Silverglate on speech codes and related issues.
Harvey Silverglate's brilliant Memorandum on the Wisconsin Speech Codes Harvey wrote this to advise us at the UW regarding how to respond to certain arguments to the effect that anti-discrimination law requires speech codes in instructional settings.
Silverglate's Suggested Harassment Rule. This rule addresses some of the same concerns as speech codes, but without censorship.
"Is Free Speech in Peril at WVU?" By Daniel Shapiro My good friend Dan Shapiro, a West Virginia University political philosopher, has been carrying on an effective campaign against his university's speech code. It is rather similar to our own code, so I thought that this op-ed piece, published in a WVU student paper, will be interesting to people here.
No great thing comes into being all of a sudden, not even a bunch of grapes or a fig does.
--Epictetus
