Stop Packing Up Early

Something's A-Foot

Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, gave a speech in the United Nations on September 21, 2022. While he was giving his speech about human rights, people were being shot by the government of Iran for protesting the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in morality police custody.

government, the Iranian people had enough. Women came out of their houses to burn their hijab, while men supported them. Together, they are protesting the Islamic dictatorship which has held the Iranian people hostage for almost half a century.

As an Iranian woman in America, I choose to lend my voice to the Iranians inside of Iran. We already know that people’s communication is heavily filtered in Iran, since the government controls what they have access to. But then why is it that the U.S. is silent?

SHARHZED HAMZEH

The morality police patrol the streets of Iran and arrest anyone who is not wearing hijab “correctly.” It is for wearing hijab “incorrectly” that Mahsa Amini was arrested, beaten and tortured, leading to her death. Amini was not the first victim of the morality police, and she will not be the last if the world keeps ignoring what is happening in Iran. There has never been a clear statement on what is the “right” way to wear hijab from the government. All it says is it will arrest those who are not wearing it correctly. Iranian women leave the house in fear every morning wondering if they are going to be arrested for what they have on.

I should be clear — Iranian women used to leave the house in fear. Now, they are defiant. Right after Mahsa Amini’s murder at the hands of the

There is President Biden, who sat there as Raisi hypocritically talked about human rights on PBS News, but later said he stands with the Iranian people.

“Today we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights,” Biden told the General Assembly of the United Nations on Sept. 21.

That is an outright lie. To stand with the Iranian people is to break the silence. To stay silent in front of the Iranian government is a crime. It is violence in itself.

As Ebrahim Raisi was giving his speech about freedom and human rights on PBS News, people in Iran were desperately trying different VPNs to get past the Islamic Republic’s internet lockdown. The Islamic government intentionally shut off the Iranian people from the internet so they could be killed without the world noticing. While Raisi was talking about justice, the Iranian people’s simple requests were answered with bullets. The Iranian people only want freedom. In response, the government shut off the internet, just like it did in November

2019 when people were peacefully protesting gas prices. After the internet shutdown in 2019, the government killed 1,500 people in a matter of days.

As Raisi was giving his own speech in the United Nations assembly, the United Nations was posting on Instagram that the violence against women must stop. As an Iranian woman, I prefer not to hear the United Nations or Biden tell me that they are standing with the Iranian people, because they are not. They want to have their cake and eat it too. Well, guess what? You need to pick a side. You either stand with the Iranian people or you stand with the Islamic government. Standing with the government of the Islamic Republic either means that all the slogans about human rights you share are lies or that they only apply to people in your own country. Unlike you, those in Iran are denied these rights. I have to wonder if the people who share these slogans but still support Raisi know what they are doing. Do they really care about us? Do I, as an Iranian woman, matter? Is my life worth fighting for? Or are the only women who deserve a voice the ones with blue eyes?

I do not want your prayers. I want you to speak up. I want you to break the silence. I want you to be the person you claim to be. Be our ally on the outside. Be our voice. Let everyone know what is happening inside of Iran. Share post from the inside. Spread the hashtags.

Remember, when a population is being persecuted, silence is violence. Don’t be silent. Help our sisters. Demand an end to the violence. Lend your voices with me to those who cannot speak. This must end!

JACK SIERPUTOWSKI Opinion Editor

Students should show their professors more respect and stop packing up early.

We've all been in a class like this. Basic pre-requisite, so no one gives a crap. One hundred and twenty people in a lecture hall. And then in the last 10 minutes of class, when the professor begins a recap, it seems half the students think class is already over. The backpacks zip up, chairs scoot back … so many sounds stack on top of one another, it is impossible to hear anything. The professor is simply forced to acquiesce and end class early. People, why do you feel the need to pack up early?

Are you really in such a rush to get to your next class? Maybe you have to go from Jonsson to JSOM in five minutes, but I doubt this is true for the average person. And if it is, it still indicates poor foresight. You have agreed at enrollment to attend a class at this exact time, for this exact duration of time. You have literally signed your agreement to this contract by paying tuition, and you have once again signed on by sitting in your seat today. So why leave before you promised you would?

This brings me to my next point — every minute you spend in class is paid for by your tuition (one of the highest public tuitions in the state). So, why are you so willing to throw that time away? Is it perhaps that money isn’t a concern for you? My scholarship only covers eight semesters. I have one shot at this education, and I don’t want to miss a single minute of it. I am lucky enough to get significant financial aid from UTD, and I don’t even feel comfortable throwing those few minutes away. So why do you? Is it Daddy’s money? Or, even more confusing, could you be just as broke as me? Because if you are responsible for your own finances, the only explanation I can think of is that you are disrespectful on a basic person-to-person level. Educators in America need all the support they can get, and you are not helping the way that professors are already treated. unlike those in Iran —have the ability to speak out and should use their freedom to do so.

I’m not some hardheaded traditionalist. I don’t believe that elders deserve respect just because they are elders — especially if they are nasty people. I believe those who earn our respect deserve our respect, and that those who treat us with dignity and care should be treated the same way. But then why is it that I find people disrespecting even the most devoted professors?

Do you think your professors came to UTD of all places because they thought they would get rich? The vast majority of professors I know are motivated by a passion for their subject, a love of teaching and a genuine care for their students. You think your one-hour lecture is tough to sit through? The average professor has put more hours of planning into that lecture than any student will ever see or likely even think of. By rebuking those precious minutes of instruction, you are disregarding that professor’s passion and hard work. You are labeling as worthless the ridiculous amount of extracurricular time they spend planning for your success — and all so you don’t have to think about it.

By disrespecting your professor’s time, you are both forfeiting your own education and failing to show your instructor basic human decency. So please, take a seat. You’ll survive 10 more minutes.

“I did vote ‘Yes.’ I would like UTD to develop working in the Student Union and I know how old the campus is. The number of students here are growing so I would like the space to grow as well to accommodate that. Plus, I hate being hit by the ping pong balls.”