To the editor:
May 1 is Law Day, according to the American Bar Association. The first Saturday of May is an international marijuana protest day. The protest should be at the courthouse, not the statehouse.
I can get back in Maine courts if I want to try and get a summons or arrested for violating the marijuana laws. It is a civil offense to possess a usable amount of marijuana. It is now a class E crime to grow one to five marijuana plants. Being arrested would deprive me of my liberty as well as my property.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court and Federal District Court say I am claiming marijuana is a fundamental right. I have claimed that the enforcement of the marijuana laws violate fundamental rights.
The Fourth Amendment, “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.”
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law.”
In the Maine Constitution, Article I Declaration of Rights, section 1, states: “All men are created equally free and independent and have certain natural rights, inherent and unalienable rights among which are those of enjoying and defending life, liberty and acquiring, and possessing and protecting property and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.” (emphasis added)
If the courts reviewed the constitutionality of the abortion laws the same way they review the marijuana laws, abortions would be illegal.
Michael J. Dee
Windham, ME.
***
To the editor:
In 1969, a band of Cornell University students armed with guns stormed Willard Straight Hall and demanded academic reform. Their cause was bunk, of course, but it did get people’s attention. In fact, it just may have set the stage for the current practice of tailoring college classes to the whim and fancy of popular ideology. It took a couple years and some other factors, but eventually scores of colleges were taking a cue from the “better” institutions: implementing “progressive” reform and doing away with the essential, tried-and-true approach that made America such a great place to go to school.
Aside from how we feel about the Cornellians’ unusual demands and tactics, it is clear that we as students are indeed capable of changing the system. I don’t think I’ve got the energy to hold Luther Bonney hostage, but I haven’t completely junked the idea of crashing the next faculty meeting with a water pistol and a few theses.
Scrolling down the list of English courses during registration this semester, I was struck by the lack of basic literature classes and the disproportionate number of “lita-culture” courses that had replaced them. The multitude of quasi-English classes made it nearly impossible to piece together a schedule that would provide a solid, well-rounded survey of literature. Reading the course descriptions, I wasn’t sure if many of these classes hadn’t originally been slated for the Sociology Department.
Studying literature in the context of culture is vital; the two are inextricably linked. But if my only option for a study of nineteenth-century literature this semester is at all lacking in critical analysis of broader topics, or the canonical works that defined it, then I’m being cheated. I’d love to examine how race and gender impacted literature and discuss the works that explicitly or implicitly reflected these issues.
But if I’m forced to settle for a class that, under the guise of a comprehensive title like “Studies in Nineteenth-Century American Literature,” zeroes in on special aspects at the expense of a more crucial focus, then, again, I lose. If this class were more aptly named and offered in addition to a more traditional Literature course, then USM’s effort to include diverse, formerly neglected works and ideas would be commendable. However, in a push for political correctness, the core of literature has been swallowed up by contemporary concerns. Ideally, diverse works and social criticism would comprise a portion of literary study, but the inclusion of such has lead to the exclusion of the central texts and standard study we depend upon to become literate.
One might argue that because we are so woefully ignorant of other societies and times, culture-based classes would significantly improve our academic and personal being. I agree. Now get your own department. The English Department is bloated with questionably relevant, misplaced courses that pander, almost exclusively, to what is fashionable now. Studying English seems to be less about literary pursuit than it is about studying modern culture. The problem is that most of the newly designed classes offered at many colleges don’t really have a home yet. Maybe administrators figure we’ll be writing papers in those classes, so they might as well stick them in the English Department, rather than creating a Culture or Current Affairs Department.
Breaking down Barriers is fine, just don’t do it in lieu of Hawthorne. Like fly paper, the English Department attracts a variety of students who are drawn to the political haze surrounding it, and who, quite frankly, have little business being there. Women’s Studies, for example, which globs onto the English Department in a desperate attempt to validate its nonsensical agenda, routinely loses students to the English Department. Those who want to get a degree in something more substantial (or sane) than Women’s Studies, and something seemingly less demanding or dry than Sociology turn to English–and the English Department accommodates.
By carefully selecting classes, and if necessary, doing some outside reading, it is possible to come out of USM with a degree-worthy education in English. Fanatical pre-researching of courses, however, shouldn’t have to be part of the process. While classes such as The Bible and Chaucer are fairly dependable, it seems that anything post-1850 stands subject to the sort of excessive social scrutiny and modern interpretation that is neither scholastically appropriate nor valuable.
I was reading the preface to my copy of Therese Raquin the other day and started making notes on Naturalism and Realism and various other movements that were mentioned, trying to get a sense of what followed what, and why. I would much rather take a course that offered such explanations than sit through an hour and 15 minutes of people debating why Mme. Raquin didn’t just take refuge in a women’s shelter.
The English Department should be ashamed of pandering to modern trends and excluding classic works and approaches in favor of a literature and theory prized for its popularity or sociological merit. Our learning is disrupted and we are robbed of an education. It is the place of students to let the universities know when the business of administration has clouded its judgment, and when the authorities have sunk too far into their own vision to see the forest for the trees.
Amanda Yarlott
Sophomore, undeclared
***
To the editor:
Only at USM would you find a professor writing a letter of correction to the student paper to whine that her arrest for civil disobedience didn’t get equal coverage. Has this turned into a contest to see which faculty member can rack up the most citations before finals week? If so, what do they win, Rich? I’m just curious. I like to know what tuition is paying for (not to mention my taxes). I hope it’s not bail. I, for one, hope they win tenure in one Portland’s finer facilities, but why digress.
The real question here is, what are these professors accomplishing? Is anyone hearing the message? Wouldn’t it be more effective to hold a lecture, write a journalistic series, or sponsor a comprehensive discussion about the issues? You know, actually educate students rather than hang out with them in Monument Square. That is your job description, just in case you have forgotten-education, not probation.
Even better, if you really want to show you care for the welfare of your country’s soldiers, why don’t you volunteer to provide respite time for the wives they have left behind who have had to care for their families on their own. Or maybe have a drive to gather toliet paper and moist towelettes to send to our troops, as I understand these are the most highly prized goods in Kuwait and Iraq. Even better, visit a veteran in the Maine Veteran’s Home who no longer has family or friends near by. That would show you really care!
Of course, if chanting, holding signs and getting arrested more accurately convey your message – I guess you should stick with that plan. However, you might want to consider the fact that to most us (because we are a majority) you simply look like self-indulgent fools grasping for the spotlight while you relive your glory days.
Sincerely,
Heather Jackson Dilios
Senior, social work