Debate over free speech versus hate speech on college campuses raises censorship concerns Self-censorship and fear of social retribution may be hindering conversations in the classroom

BY REBEKA ZELJKO features@theaggie.org

On Oct. 25, 2022, Turning Point USA, a student-led conservative group, organized an event hosting speaker Stephen Davis on the UC Davis campus. However, the event was canceled before it started after protests and counter-protests outside turned violent.

Protestors “fought among themselves, used pepper spray, knocked over barricades […] and beat on the glass of the UC Davis Conference Center,” according to a statement released by UC Davis.

The university’s statement also emphasized its commitment to upholding free speech on campus, saying, “We affirm the right of our students — in this instance, Turning Point USA at UC Davis — to invite speakers to our campus, just as we affirm the right of others to protest speakers whose views they find upsetting or offensive.”

A 2022 study from the Knight Foundation published findings regarding college students’ views on free speech on campus. “A growing majority believe their school’s climate stifles free expression,” according to the study. In 2021, 65% of students “strongly [or] somewhat agree that the climate at their school or on their campus prevents some people from saying things they believe because others might find it offensive.”

Joel Landis, Ph.D., a lecturer for the UC Davis Political Science Department, has been paying close attention to this issue.

“It does not feel like these are isolated incidents,” Landis said. “It does feel as if, particularly during the Trump administration, passions ran high, and things got worse. At the same time, violence against conversations we don’t like is something we have always seen. Toleration for the ideas we hate is an unnatural virtue that must be developed in every generation.”

Many students feel the virtue of toleration is hard to come by. Megan Acarregui, a fourth-year civil engineering major and chair of the UC Davis College Republicans, noted her experience at UC Davis with ideological intolerance.

“I was afraid I wouldn’t have acceptance from my peers because of

Carbonfarming

FROM PAGE 1

The California Healthy Soil Program is a statewide program created by the California State Department of Food and Agriculture that will continue to fund writing these plans so that more private- and city-owned farms can implement carbon farming. Funding is also available through the Federal Department of Agriculture, called the National Resource Conservation Service, so that growers who don’t have a carbon farm plan with their cities can still use the grants to implement these practices.

“We are kind of special here in the city, having a carbon farm plan,” Gardner said. “We’re happy to help fund the writing of this plan and to use our publicly owned property as almost a demonstration piece where we can figure out some of the logistics of how to implement these things in partnership with the growers that farm the city-owned property, and then they can see benefits happening on our ranch and hopefully spread that throughout the community.”

Strawberry

FROM PAGE 3

“There’s a very common analogy that you see pop up in plant pathology classes: There’s a constant arms race between a pathogen and the crop that you’re breeding resistance to,” Pincot said. “That’s the whole Fusarium story. We had race one in California. We found five different resistance genes that protect against that race. And now a race two has popped up, and we have to catch up finding a deliverable gene and get that into our material.” my political beliefs,” Acarregui said. “I lost friends over it even though I didn’t really do anything. I mean, if someone asks my opinion I’m not going to lie about it, but it feels like they didn’t even try to understand my point of view.”

Researchers have to be constantly wary of new pathogens, such as the destructive Macrophomina. According to Feldmann, the research program has placed a new plot of seedling nursery in Wolfskill Experimental Orchards to develop genetic resistance to future cultivars of the soil-borne disease.

Along the way, strawberry growers from different regions are heavily involved in the process of selecting strawberry varieties. Growers eventually help whittle down the advanced selections of cultivars UC Davis plans to release to commercialized farmers.

With enough time, strawberries that make the cut end up beside a person’s kitchen sink as a juicy study snack they might casually munch on. The berries they just washed represent hours of experimentation and selection by a group of people in a research facility.

While it is an endless, arduous task to develop the “perfect” strawberry, it is nevertheless rewarding to continuously improve and pursue the next variety.

The growing concern is that this attitude of intolerance for dissenting views is trickling into the classroom.

Jonathan Dahlsten, a third-year graduate student in political science, said that he believes intolerance negatively impacts the quality of education on college campuses.

“There is an amount of freedom of speech that is required to have these discussions imperative for a robust, liberal education,” Dahlsten said. “If we can’t have these discussions here, we cannot have them anywhere. That doesn’t mean putting up with direct hate speech, but we should have discussions about hate speech and consider the arguments on both sides.”

Some students call for the regulation of “hate speech,” defined by the American Library Association as “any form of expression through which speakers intend to vilify, humiliate, or incite hatred against a group or a class of persons on the basis of race, religion, skin color sexual identity, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, or national origin.”

Maximilian Isensee, a fourthyear political science major, said that the presence of hate speech and the negatives that come with it outweigh the positives of having diverse views in the classroom.

“Schools are a place for learning, and every student should be given the same level of safety and comfortability in that environment,” Isensee said. “But hate speech deters the learning process, and does a disservice to the students affected by it, so universities should make a point to prevent and punish those who participate in any speech that harms fellow students.”

On the other hand, some students think that labeling dissenting views as hate speech can diminish productive conversation and reduce the quality of education.

“You are here to learn how to think and speak effectively and how to think critically,” Acarregui said. “If people say you can’t even talk about it because you will spread a hateful message, you are silencing opinions and history that could be repeated.”

Acarregui said she feels that the polarized nature of our conversations is damaging and fosters more extremism.

“If you’re not allowed to talk about these things, it can become reactionary,” Acarregui said. “People should learn why we don’t tolerate certain things, not just that we shouldn’t.”

The subjectivity of the term hate speech and its varying definitions are a point of concern for some students.

“Just because someone doesn’t agree with the majority opinion on campus doesn’t mean they are spreading hate speech,” Dahlsten said. “Deeming something as hate speech states that that’s the end of the conversation. It’s a condemnation, and it can be well-warranted, but you need to be very careful about what you deem as hate speech.”

Landis argues that the utility of hate speech laws necessarily varies from one context to the other.

“I would not apply the same rules for the classroom that I would the quad or the street corner,” Landis said. “One of the ideas behind hate speech codes is to foster an environment in which everyone can feel equal in the community. Minorities and majorities can be equal participants in discovering the truth. I don’t think the classroom is the appropriate place to say we cannot discuss the idea because it’s controversial. Every idea is subject to inquiry.” However, these stigmatized conversations that many think ought to take place in a university have been stunted in recent years, according to a Campus Expression Survey from Heterodox Academy. Student hesitancy to express political perspectives for fear of retribution has been increasing.

According to the survey, “60% of college students expressed reluctance to discuss at least one controversial topic,” the category with the highest reluctance being politics. Additionally, “Republican and Independent students were more reluctant to discuss controversial topics compared with Democrat students.”

This self-censorship is undercutting the educational process and hindering productive conversation in appropriate settings, according to Landis. But not all students believe forms of censorship are okay.

“In my opinion, hate speech should be shunned by the general public,” Isensee said. “But it is still within a person’s right to use those words if they so choose. We cannot as a society completely ban and silence people just because we disagree with them and what they are saying.”

The social consequences of being part of an ideological minority have affected the behavior of students, both on and off campus. Acarregui said her personal experiences caused her to feel socially isolated.

“I lived in a sorority house full of girls who thought completely the opposite of me politically, which I was used to,” Acarregui said. “But it was really frustrating when they didn’t reciprocate the respect I gave them.”

Acarregui said that she felt like she was experiencing constant social retribution for her beliefs, which ultimately led to her leaving the sorority.

Landis said that self-censorship and censorship should be differentiated and that self-censorship is the “problem” we are seeing more and more in social and academic institutions.

“I would say that it has become increasingly apparent that students are self-censoring in the classroom and the ‘spiral of silence’ has gotten worse,” Landis said.

Landis suggests that the quality of classroom conversation is reduced because of this hesitancy to be a part of the dissent.

“The perceived majority becomes more and more entrenched and becomes more popular, and it’s particularly fatal for the classroom,” Landis said. “When the only students speaking are the ones speaking the orthodox opinions of the day, you destroy the classroom.”

“My favorite strawberry is the ‘next strawberry,’” Cole said. “The strawberries we’re releasing right now — I’ve looked at them for three to five years. I know their values, and I know what’s good about them, but I also know what’s coming. There are [strawberries] that are going to have better disease resistance [and] better taste. And so, I think it’s the next best strawberry. That’s my favorite strawberry.”

Turtlehouse

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Another relatively new Turtle, Ryan Foster, offered more information: “I think it was originally named ‘Music Note House’ and then someone had a turtle and they renamed it Turtle House. Not sure about that at all though.”

These sentiments unknowingly echo one of Turtle House’s most important ideals: life is about connecting and experiencing in the present moment. It’s about the beauty and fluidity of change. This is an important factor when it comes to being accepted to live at Turtle House because the process essentially measures if you hold similar values to the other Turtles. It involves a written application followed by an invitation to dinner where the main focus is to see how comfortable both the applicant and the current residents feel in the space, according to Goodfriend.

Both Goodfriend and Hostetler expressed their admiration for each Turtle’s differences and how they make the house stronger together. Goodfriend added that it brings them closer together as everyone offers something irreplaceable to the group. People are celebrated for who they are and are always welcome at Turtle House, no matter how different they appear.

“Are you the person interviewing people?” Foster chirps excitedly as he hurries up the steps to the table I’m sitting at. He has just arrived home from an outing with his friend and fellow Turtle House resident, Maya Hendrix. Before I can even respond, they are sitting across from me, beaming.

Hendrix is clad in a head scarf and racoon fur hat — complete with the tail — atop her shaved head. Her long, orange skirt had floated her onto the deck as I was greeted with a soulful and infectious smile. Ornamented in layered silver necklaces, jeweled bracelets, long hanging earrings and rings on every finger, each step she takes jingles and chimes. Her right hand displays an Apple Watch. An unapologetic modern hippie.

Foster wore blue jeans, a simple long-sleeve and a bomber jacket.

Under the string lights, Hendrix tells me that Turtle House is a place where all ideas feel welcome. She conveys that at the core of any housing co-op is democracy. Appropriately, house meetings are held in the basement at least once a month where people are encouraged to voice their concerns and share ideas on improvement and future projects.

Interested in the power dynamics of the house, Foster shares that the two people who have lived there longest are the official communicators with the landlord, as per the lease agreement. He tells me, “They hold extra sway and are the rule-followers.” A grin starts to form on his face, “And then there are the more rebellious and rambunctious — some old people, some new people — and they say f*** the rules.” Hendrix chuckles, “We don’t say that. We just want this place to be a good time.”

Gotg3review

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Meanwhile, the second animated Spider-Verse film created by Sony Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment, was released in theaters on June 2. The first “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” movie rocked the Marvel fandom and introduced an animation style that mimicked comic books and street art.

This new sequel was a stunning success; I believe it is one of the best examples of fusing art with film, as well as a pioneer in terms of representation and diverse characters. This movie features people from various socioeconomic backgrounds, races and ethnicities, as well as different ages and gender and sexual orientations, effectively shining light on groups of people that are often underrepresented in media. Nothing about the characters felt forced, and the unique art style of each Spider-Man variation expertly complimented their personalities and individual characteristics.

Beyond the incredible storyline and action sequences, this movie also had some very fresh music choices. All of the songs in this movie were played on vinyl and physical media to protect the “crunchy” and “scratchy” quality of music and allow it to shine through to compliment the ambitious visual style, according to an interview of composer Daniel Pemberton.

The reworked “Prowler” theme from the first film also felt like a breath of fresh air. It was staticky, crisp and ominous, and absolutely perfect for a character that wasn’t your typical villain but rather a fusion of different motivations and identities.

Upon reflecting on both these newly released films, I can conclude that they are a must-watch in theaters. Each has a unique and refreshing angle, and both introduce new music, animation, humor and plot twists that make them perhaps even better than the movies that preceded them. I am happy to say that superhero movies seem to be turning a new page following their post-pandemic decline: I can’t wait to see what is to come.

Movieadaptations

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Stories by both Jane Austen and Shakespeare have been adapted countless times for the big and small screen — so often, in fact, that there are lists ranking these versions that are in the double digits. Now, I recognize that it would be bold to say that films made in the 21st century are able to outshine their predecessors (though “Clueless” does give Austen’s “Emma” a run for its money), but there is something to be said for the ability of filmmakers to translate stories from days long past into a tale fully palatable to a modern audience. The authors wrote novels with classic themes, but it’s the work of the film’s cast and crew that keeps them pertinent to our time.

Another example of a great book with an equally fantastic movie is the children’s classic “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”

Originally created by British author Roald Dahl, the whimsical children’s tale was taken under the wing of iconic filmmaker Wes Anderson and turned into an ingenious stop-motion film. Though not necessarily a success by box office standards, the movie is a beautiful work of art that remains true to the sentimental nature of the original source material. The movie, though undoubtedly made for children, has all the trademarks of a classic Anderson film, and therefore doesn’t limit its reach to a younger audience — something which Dahl’s book might find itself inadvertently doing.

Though I will always have a special place in my heart for books — especially children’s books — as I have grown older, I’ve come to realize that there is no point in pitting books and movies against each other. Both are their own unique, thrilling art forms, and while they may be cut from the same cloth, they don’t seek to compete; rather, they act as perfect complements to each other.

Bestmblplayers

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Yennier Cano Relief Pitcher

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles improved immensely last season, narrowly missing the playoffs with a record of 83-79. They have continued to build upon their success with the second-best record in MLB (28-15) this year. Their bullpen has the best ERA in MLB, yet Cano stands out the most, having not given up a single run through 21.2 innings. Of the 67 batters faced, only five of them managed to reach base against Cano.

Cano struggled with a 11.50 ERA last season. However, with some mechanical adjustments, he transformed his sinker into one of the best pitches in MLB, adding an extra six inches of vertical movement from last season. As a result, his sinker has -10 run value, and he is striking out 37.3% of batters faced. With such success, Cano leads all relief pitchers in Fangraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR).

Alex Verdugo Outfielder Boston Red Sox

The former Dodgers’ top prospect Alex Verdugo, who was traded to the Red Sox for star outfielder Mookie Betts, is beginning to reach his potential. Through 43 games, he has 51 hits, five home runs, 18 RBI and 0.877 OPS. Red Sox fans have been waiting for this type of production since he last flashed his potential in 2019 and 2020. Verdugo has significantly improved his on-base percentage (OBP) from 0.328 in 2022 to 0.380 this season. He has also improved his defense in right field. Last season, he ranked 13th percentile in outs above average (OAA) and 43rd percentile in outfielder jump. This year, he ranks 86th percentile in OAA and 91st percentile in outfielder jump. The Red Sox need Verdugo to continue performing at this level in a competitive AL East.

It’s been a strong start for each of these under-the-radar players. If they continue to perform as expected, they can gain the recognition that they deserve as star players and lose the “underrated” label.

GYMBUDDY FROM PAGE 12

Liu and Bagale have plans to make GymBuddy available on other campuses and in other areas, in hopes of connecting more gym buddies everywhere. This expansion may be a slow process, as the app focuses on only UC Davis students right now, but it will possibly include other universities in the future. Liu and Bagale have also discussed expanding to geographical areas outside of universities by making the pairings location-based; however, that will likely occur much further in the future.

As of now, GymBuddy is a studentmade resource for UC Davis students to not only find like-minded gym goers but also people with similar recreational activity interests. Since it includes the ability to add photos to your profile, users can find others with similar workout interests outside of the gym too, such as spikeball or rowing. Bagale said that his and Liu’s main focus is to create “the best experience for the students.”