Free Speech... from 12pm to 1pm

Everyone has heard of the first amendment. Everyone has heard of situations in where this amendment has been violated. Never have I heard of an in between. At Yuba Community College District, a new policy has been approved that limits student free speech activities to two hours per week, and require students to obtain permission at least two weeks in advance.

In 2008, officials threatened a student with arrest and expulsion fir sharing a Christian

message at the college. In turn, this outraged many students. Free speech is a first amendment laid out in the Constitution, and no student should need a permit two weeks in advance to exercise this right. 

A college is the place where one's mind is the most free and open it will ever be. Suppressing freedom of speech to a mere two hours a week is an outright violation of rights. A student peacefully exercising his First Amendment right to speak on campus is not a crime- nor should he be punished for that. After all, this isn't North Korea; this is America.

By taking away these rights, colleges and authority are taking away the basic principles behind America and our founding.  This situation was so outrageous that Young America's Foundation ranked first on "Academia's Top 10 Abuses of 2008." The student, not violent or disruptive, was threatened to be expelled solely for his freedom of expression.