Andrew Meyer is a student in Florida. Yesterday, he was at a campus forum featuring Senator John Kerry, and apparently went over his allotted time to ask questions. He was removed by the police officers of his school, although the Senator said he would answer the student's questions. As the scene escalated minimally, in that Meyer resisted being led away, the campus police apparently thought it appropriate to use a Taser; that is, the police used a stun gun on the student. A stun gun.
"Meyer was arrested on charges of resisting an officer and disturbing the peace, according to Alachua County jail records, but the State Attorney's Office had yet to make the formal charging decision. Police recommended charges of resisting arrest with violence, a felony, and disturbing the peace and interfering with school administrative functions, a misdemeanor."
OK. The police use a stun gun because four of them are having a hard time controlling a student at a campus forum, and now they recommend he be charged with a felony offense.
I was just having a conversation with someone this very day about the need for checks and balances on police power because of the possibility of abuse inherent in that power. This is exactly the kind of situation I was thinking about, the kind where the person in question is not a threat, not breaking the law, but is treated as a violent offender anyway. Leaving out entirely that it doesn't help the image of the police (or the many security personnel at campuses all over who have a very difficult and thankless task), it's a waste of police and court resources (read: your tax dollars) to prosecute this "criminal."
*Edited to say that having seen the video, the only comment I can add to what I've already written here is that Kerry, who drones on and on while this whole thing goes down, once again is left looking totally ineffective.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070918/ap_on_re_us/student_arrested_kerry
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Friday, September 07, 2007
A Boy Named Hsu
Norman Hsu. Sigh. Making my side look bad. But here at Trogvision we struggle for parity (cough), so he's gotta get talked about. Who is he? A convicted fugitive who gives big bucks to Democrats. Yes, it's true there are plenty of money-giving crooks out there. (See the deceased Kenneth Lay, for example.) What makes this case different?
In the wake of such scandals, er, misguided decisions, fundraisers have had to figure out how to deal. It's embarrassing to take money from bad guys. It could make the nonprofit look like it approves of said bad guy's actions. And might keep other donors from giving.
Sometimes the fundraisers feel the need to give the money back. Sometimes the donor wants the fundraiser to give the money back. (See the deceased Kenneth Lay v. Mizzoo.) But sometimes, as here, the fundraiser doesn't want to give the money back but really should. The others to whom Hsu had given money had gotten rid of it. Governor Rendell, who I generally believe does a great job, was the lone holdout. This was a bad move. But today he decided to get rid of his Hsu moo.
Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, having defrauded investors of $1 million after falsely claiming to have contracts to purchase and sell latex gloves. He remained a fugitive for 15 years until last week when he turned himself in to California authorities. Apparently this went unknown until some time last month, when receivers of Hsu's largesse began giving it back or giving it to charity. Last night Hsu, who had skipped town on $2 million bail for a grand theft conviction on Wednesday, was arrested in Grand Junction, Colo. (Grand Junction is a mere two hours from Aspen, which is where Kenny Boy went for a vacation and never came back.)
Sources:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/9636722.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1197912,00.html
In the wake of such scandals, er, misguided decisions, fundraisers have had to figure out how to deal. It's embarrassing to take money from bad guys. It could make the nonprofit look like it approves of said bad guy's actions. And might keep other donors from giving.
Sometimes the fundraisers feel the need to give the money back. Sometimes the donor wants the fundraiser to give the money back. (See the deceased Kenneth Lay v. Mizzoo.) But sometimes, as here, the fundraiser doesn't want to give the money back but really should. The others to whom Hsu had given money had gotten rid of it. Governor Rendell, who I generally believe does a great job, was the lone holdout. This was a bad move. But today he decided to get rid of his Hsu moo.
Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, having defrauded investors of $1 million after falsely claiming to have contracts to purchase and sell latex gloves. He remained a fugitive for 15 years until last week when he turned himself in to California authorities. Apparently this went unknown until some time last month, when receivers of Hsu's largesse began giving it back or giving it to charity. Last night Hsu, who had skipped town on $2 million bail for a grand theft conviction on Wednesday, was arrested in Grand Junction, Colo. (Grand Junction is a mere two hours from Aspen, which is where Kenny Boy went for a vacation and never came back.)
Sources:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/9636722.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1197912,00.html
Incoming Mindset
Every year, Benoit College puts together a list to show the mindset of incoming freshmen. It's useful. I remember once when I was in grad school, I had to take an undergraduate course and the professor made a comment about Yul Gibbons. Yul Gibbons, as you might recall, was a naturalist who ate things like pinecones, and hawked natural cereals. I might be simplifying things a bit, but the point here is that none of the students in the class (except for me because I was a little bit older) knew who he was, so whatever reference the professor was making was lost on the class. Hence the value of such a list.
This year's list has some of the kinds of things you'd expect: the Class of 2011 has always had bottled water, for example. The one that struck me is this: Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
Mandela: author, Nobel-prize winner, first democratically elected president of South Africa, activist. Jailed from 1962 to 1990. Most people think of Mandela as a promoter of peace, but in frustration, it was his view that the African National Congress should have a military wing, because it "would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force." He became an enduring symbol when he refused to compromise his position to gain a quicker freedom. Since being freed, he has continued as a tour de force for peace. Did I mention he was trained as a lawyer?
I remember the day Mandela was released in February of 1990. I had been boycotting all products of manufacturers that had a presence in South Africa for a long time, and continued to do so until everyone in that country, no matter their color, got the right to vote. I remember reading all the accounts of his leaving jail in all the newspapers, and I can clearly remember feeling very hopeful and happy, sure that we were on the brink of something big. Something right. Something just.
In a way I'm sorry for the incoming freshmen, that they missed such a joyful moment, the amen of a prayer for humanity. More broadly, I wonder if those who haven't known a particular struggle can ensure that it doesn't happen again. Santayana said that those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. He didn't elaborate on whether they had to understand it.
Sources:
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/mandela-bio.html
http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela.html
This year's list has some of the kinds of things you'd expect: the Class of 2011 has always had bottled water, for example. The one that struck me is this: Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa.
Mandela: author, Nobel-prize winner, first democratically elected president of South Africa, activist. Jailed from 1962 to 1990. Most people think of Mandela as a promoter of peace, but in frustration, it was his view that the African National Congress should have a military wing, because it "would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force." He became an enduring symbol when he refused to compromise his position to gain a quicker freedom. Since being freed, he has continued as a tour de force for peace. Did I mention he was trained as a lawyer?
I remember the day Mandela was released in February of 1990. I had been boycotting all products of manufacturers that had a presence in South Africa for a long time, and continued to do so until everyone in that country, no matter their color, got the right to vote. I remember reading all the accounts of his leaving jail in all the newspapers, and I can clearly remember feeling very hopeful and happy, sure that we were on the brink of something big. Something right. Something just.
In a way I'm sorry for the incoming freshmen, that they missed such a joyful moment, the amen of a prayer for humanity. More broadly, I wonder if those who haven't known a particular struggle can ensure that it doesn't happen again. Santayana said that those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. He didn't elaborate on whether they had to understand it.
Sources:
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1993/mandela-bio.html
http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)