Smart Students

(Technorati Tags: UCLA, UCPD, Taser)

One cannot argue with the supreme logic found on facebook discussion boards. Here are some choice quotes made by our UC brothers and sisters down in LA:

"Cops are trained to be dicks. Go figure." --'06 Graduate

"BTW, Iranian Student Group and many others are having a PROTEST FRIDAY NOON KERCKHOFF STEPS. spread the word if you don't want to get tasered next time you do anything." -- Senior

OMG ANYTHING???!!

"One of my favorite things about UCLA, I used to tell people, was how safe it was. Looks like I was wrong." -- Senior

How terribly wrong you were. Indeed, tasering comes before all else.

"This was a clear cut case of civil disobedience. Saying that the "cops did their" job or an equivalent is like saying "I'm glad those British officers beat the shit out of Gandhi and his crew for taking salt out of a fucking lake" or "I'm glad those police officers hosed down blacks and released dogs on MLK's crew for marching"." -- Senior

Thank you, taser victim, for being a martyr for STUDENT ID RIGHTS!

"I would feel safe at UCLA if cops weren't scared to death of Middle Easterners."

"On the flip side, I do believe Tabatabeinejad was foolish for refusing to show identification. But then again, an officer was asked for his name and badge number, and when he refused, nobody tasered him." -- Freshman

Honestly, who knew he was a police officer? Anyone could've worn that uniform and fully-equipped utility belt and radio.

But this has to be my personal favorite:

"You can here the negro [officer] saying... "Get up or I'll taze you again" in the negro gangster accent. He can't be treating this like Compton, this is UCLA." -- Junior Scumbag Piece of Shit

I propose we tase THESE students multiple times. How about it?

Fun with Tasers 2

(Technorati Tags: UCLA, UCPD, Taser)




UCLA Students finally understand! But deep down I'm hoping they use some of our slogans for their next shirt design.

I feel bad for the CSOs that are checking IDs in that library now. Every encounter must now run something like this:

CSO: Can I see your ID?
Fucktard: I have it ---PLEASE DON'T TASE ME!!!!
CSO: Yeah, hah, ok, haven't heard that one before....
Fucktard: *dirty looks*
CSO: *rolls eyes; considers calling for a tase force just because*

Editorial from an Officer

(Technorati Tags: UCLA, UCPD, Taser)

It's like I was reading this cop's mind:

Taser was used as a defensive tool

I am a former full-time law enforcement officer and campus police officer.

As such, I have several points to make about the Taser incident at UCLA.

First of all, the student was unruly and uncooperative. "Get off me!" is not a response I will accept if I ask for identification on a college campus.

It shouldn't be an option to walk away from officers when asked for proof that you belong on campus.

Also, Tasers are defensive weapons, not necessarily compliance tools.

I was somewhat uncomfortable with the officers' use of the Taser. When faced with a subject who is restrained, but will not get up and come along, I usually just grab their ear and go to the car.

If that feels a little too strong at the time, I pick them up and carry them or drag them.

I don't beat them, pepper spray them, or use a Taser on them because they are not a danger to me.

However, given their presence on the scene, the officers may have decided that physically removing the student would have been dangerous to bystanders, the student or the officers themselves.

In addition, I would have told concerned bystanders to step away from what was happening or face arrest. This tends to work better than threatening them with a Taser. [My thoughts: Certainly, but it's important not to lie to the students, either. If a huge crowd of students are going to interfere directly with an officer while he is using a taser, there's nothing unjustified about the use of the taser as crowd control, IF the situation got to that.]

Soon after retiring from my job as campus officer, a female student was abducted from a parking lot, abused, and killed within a mile of the campus.

Having identification is the first thing you must do as a student.

The second is to not question when someone asks for it.

The Clog and the Taser Protest

(Technorati Tags: UCLA, UCPD, Taser)

So the Clog notes that Berkeley is throwing its own protest of the taser incident at UCLA tomorrow (Monday) at noon. They've jokingly asked counter protestors to make their voices heard, and are looking forward to seeing what's on their signs.

It's a tad bit childish of the Clog to be backing one side of this issue, to be chiding the opposition, and to not allow or respond to any feedback or alternative viewpoints they may (did) have received or found on the matter. This has been a good topic of conversation in many blogs and facebook groups, but I suppose the Clog is too highbrow to be bogged down with discussion, no?

And I've got a few counterprotest slogans to list here -- anyone have more?

"I am a Student! Rules do not apply to me!"

"Tasering is so, kinda, sorta, almost against the law!"

"Civil Disobedience: saying 'La La I Can't Hear You' to police"

"YES I've got an ID / NO you can't see it"

"TAZERZ is TORTURE!"

UCPD R TERIBBL!!!!

(Technorati Tags: UCPD, UCLA, Taser)

The title might help me relate to, oh, every goddamned college student in California lately.

I'm a raging liberal, but even I am getting a little steamed at the way UC students have faulted the UCPD in this situation, claiming an abuse of power. Let's go over some of the key issues, and I hope they are quick, because I gotta get ready for trouncing USC sobbing quietly in the corner.

1) If the officers felt threatened by the advancing crowds, letting students who are coming close know that they may also be tased is justified. The officer was giving the warning that if someone were to interfere with law enforcement, those folks would also have to be dealt with. The police statement mirrors what's seen in the video: the officers were vastly outnumbered by a very responsive and vocal student community.

You can whine about getting "threatened" all you want, but like it or not, the police have a job to do, and need to let you know the consequences of interfering with their job if you are perhaps contemplating it. Looking at the way many have responded to this event ("I WOULDA JUMPD THOSE COPZ!"), I'd say the warning was an important one.

2) With given policy, tasers can be used to attain compliance from passively or aggressively resisting individuals. The initial tase was fairly justified: an unidentified suspect resisted police and started screaming when the police tried to hold him. After the suspect is handcuffed, he still refuses to comply, and is tased multiple times thereafter. The alternative to tasing to attain compliance in this situation (his body would "go limp" and make it easier to transport him outside) would be to wrestle him down and drag him out. Given he wasn’t compliant at any point during the incident, why should the officers assume he would now comply in cuffs? He wasn’t acknowledging their clear directives, either in actions or in words.

Also important to note is the danger to both parties, not just the police. Given that the suspect is handcuffed, he would not be able to draw a weapon should he have one, but physical resistance could very well lead to more injuries to his own body, such as by falling head first on the tile. The situation provoked a judgment call, as officers ought to be used to, and the outcome fell on what the officers decided. Given what we know of the circumstances, it’s hard to honestly be angry at them, for it seems theirs was a logical call.

3) I'm not entirely sure I like the taser policy. But that's a different beast of a topic entirely. I'm seeing lots of arguments from folks who are not distinguishing between policy and action. However you want to go about responding, please understand that regardless of your feelings on police wielding tasers or how dangerous tasers can be, these officers were following their department's policy. You can protest the policy, but that does not also correlate with protesting the officers's actions involved.

4) There is little to no evidence that this incident is a hate crime, other than the suspect being Iranian-American. The CSOs followed normal policy, the suspect disobeyed police and started screaming when they tried to stop him from leaving without using the taser, the officers warned him approximately 70 times throughout the situation that his noncompliance would result in more electric shocks. There's a much better chance that this guy simply got what was coming to him. That's not an asinine statement at all.

Saying that this is a hate crime shits all over the concept of hate in our society. Wanna know what a hate crime is? Savagely beating and sodomizing a teenager for being Hispanic, all the while shouting racial epithets, is a hate crime. Lodging a bullet in the head of a Muslim mother of 6 in Fremont, while she walked down the street with her 3-year-old daughter to a nearby elementary school, is a hate crime.

That the suspect is not white in this case does not make this a hate crime, and it shames all of us collectively for college students to be claiming it. We have a wealth of hate and apathy to be actively addressing in our communities, and the only thing that can come from protesting this incident in the name of racial equality is deterrence from that duty.

Fun with Tasers

(Technorati Tags: ucla, taser, ucpd)

Can't help but laugh:

Meyerhoff Park was electric Friday afternoon when more than 400 students, faculty, staff, parents and community members gathered to protest the use of a Taser multiple times on a UCLA student in Powell Library on Tuesday night.

...

"These police were way out of bounds," said Samer Araabi, a general representative on the Undergraduate Students Association Council. "Do you feel protected by the police?"

The crowd roared back with a resounding "No."

(Daily Bruin 11/17/06)

Glad it wasn't a night rally, otherwise they'd have to call up some of those unprotective police officers for escort services.

"It's a shock that something like this can happen at UCLA," she said.

These ongoing puns make up for everything that happened, in my humble opinion. Please, students and journalists, keep them coming!

Thoughts on UCLA Taser Incident

If you're a UC student, you've probably already heard of the shocking (*snort*) news to hit the UC campus in LA, but for you "Melinda Duckett Porn" googlers:

UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.

...

At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately.

The CSOs left, returning minutes later, and police officers arrived to escort the student out. By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second officer then approached the student as well.

The student began to yell "get off me," repeating himself several times.

It was at this point that the officers shot the student with a Taser for the first time, causing him to fall to the floor and cry out in pain. The student also told the officers he had a medical condition.

(Daily Bruin, 11/15/06)

You can check out the YouTube video of the incident, as it loads a lot quicker.

While watching the movie is enough to make one cringe, no one should be all that convinced that this is a flagrant abuse of power.

The issue here is not simply that the student forgot his ID. If you forget your ID, you say, "Whoops, forgot my ID!" and the situation is over. The CSO asks you to leave, you comply, end of story.

That's not what happened.

"He wasn't cooperative; he wouldn't identify himself. He resisted the officers," Young said.

...

Young said the CSOs on duty in the library at the time went to get UCPD officers when Tabatabainejad did not immediately leave, and UCPD officers resorted to use of the Taser when Tabatabainejad did not do as he was told.

If you are going to tell a CSO to get lost after a directive to leave, and the real cops need to show up to ask you to do so, there's a good chance they're going to want to talk to you. You don't suddenly get to pack your things and leave at this point.

But some students feel differently:

When asked whether the student resisted when officer attempted to escort him from the building, the witness said, "In the beginning, no. But when they were holding onto him and they were on the ground, he was trying to just break free. He was saying, 'I'm leaving, I'm leaving.' It was so disturbing to watch that I cannot be concise on that. I can just say that he was willing to leave. He had his backpack on his shoulder and he was walking out when the cops approached him. It was unnecessary."

I mean, one can try asking politely, but I don’t think the officers are going to just let go after they’ve had to physically hold someone down to the ground. Say what you want, but at that point, you aren’t leaving.

In this situation the use of a taser seems fairly justified, particularly because the unidentified person is not complying with police directives. Yeah, getting tased hurts, but using other physical means to detain this person, or to perhaps pull this person up from the ground and out the door, particularly when the police do not know whether he is armed, can end up being more dangerous for both parties.

My stomach turns everytime I watch this clip, and I do feel some sympathy for the guy (the visceral emotions evoked by his screams is what gets most students, I wager), but I really do not understand his preaching about his rights and the officer’s abuse of power. Priorities are important here. Do that AFTER they have deactivated the taser and ceased with the threats to tase you again. The police made the consequences of continuing to ignore police directives very clear, yet he refused to comply.

Given what we know of the situation, we can of course logically protest the policy of officers wielding tasers, but we cannot fault the officers for doing their job.

"Any student who witnessed it was left with an image you don't want to remember," said a witness who asked not to be identified.

Yeah, and I hope that image and this story's moral is crystal clear: shut the fuck up about the Patriot Act and listen when an officer has already had to use force to subdue you and is giving you stern commands, with a stun gun primed and aimed up your ass.

***
The Daily Bruin has an editorial that reflects some of this sentiment.

Not again

I was wondering why I was getting all these renewed hits for key words "Melinda" and "Duckett".

I get it now: Mom's Adult Videos, Nude Photos Investigated In Missing Boy Case.

And on came the conspiracy theories, like a flood. I don't want to do this again, folks. Let's all calm down until we see something of substance.

As for the good news: Trenton might be alive? Great! Let's concentrate on finding him instead.

*UPDATE*

You all wonder why I've taken such a personal tone with this story? It's because comments like these are a common find in online forums and message boards:

"If [Trenton] is alive, I have a horrible feeling he’s being used for child porn."

...and we proceed to kick around Melinda's corpse for another couple weeks or so. Nancy Grace, lead the way!

Kiwi!

A very touching short.

Teach For America

I've been mainly preparing for graduate schools by not applying to them. That's just how I roll.

In the meantime, however, I've applied to Teach For America, a national corps in which recent college graduates commit 2 years to teaching in public schools and communities. It is a direct connection between my passion for education and equity, and it mirrors the experiences and challenges found on Hall Staff, so how can I go wrong?

I just scored a phone interview, so I'll have that on Monday. Times are a'changin'.

Catharsis

Ca·thar·sis (noun)

1. A purifying or figurative cleansing of the emotions, especially pity and fear, described by Aristotle as an effect of tragic drama on its audience.
2. A release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit.
3. Purgation; vigorous evacuation of the bowels.


Democrats win House

Democrats promised Wednesday to lead the country in a new direction after winning control of the House for the first time in 12 years in midterm elections.

By early Wednesday, Democrats had picked up at least 28 seats; they needed 15 to capture a majority in the House.

Democrat Wins Senate Race in Montana:

The Democratic challenger in Montana, Jon Tester, won the race for the United States Senate today, leaving only Virginia to face an uncertain outcome in a tight midterm election race that is not expected to be decided for days or weeks.

Mr. Tester’s victory means that the Senate will at the least be tied 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.

Early this afternoon, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Jim Webb, the Democratic challenger [in Virginia], led Senator George Allen, a Republican, by less than 8,000 votes out of more than 2.3 million cast — a difference of about one-third of a percent.

Strategy Shift Likely for Bush:

For weeks, President Bush has waved off questions about how he would cope with a Democratic House. He and his aides said they simply did not expect to be dealing with a Speaker Pelosi, and Bush regularly mocked the Democrats for "measuring the drapes" on Capitol Hill in anticipation of victory.

But the dramatic election results yesterday left Bush facing not only a House but also, possibly, a Senate in the hands of the opposition party -- should the narrow Democratic leads in Virginia and Montana hold up. And later today, at a White House news conference scheduled for just after 1 p.m., the nation will begin hearing just how Bush plans to cope with a completely different Capitol Hill environment than he has faced in his first six years in Washington.

Rumsfeld Resigns:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the hard-driving and super-confident Pentagon boss who came to symbolize President Bush’s controversial Iraq policy, is resigning, President Bush announced today.

Mr. Bush, appearing at the White House the day after the Republican Party suffered sweeping defeats in Tuesday’s midterm Congressional elections, said he and Mr. Rumsfeld had “a series of thoughtful conversations” and agreed that “the time is right for new leadership at the Pentagon.”

A new agenda:

"Democratic candidates across the country have been talking about their agenda for the country: accountability in Irag with a focus on training Iraqi soldiers and police, engaging partners in the region, and developing a real plan for victory and redeployment; to raise the minimum wage; to provide access to quality and affordable health care to all Americans; to overturn the President's stem cell veto; to allow the government to negotiate for lower prescriptions prices, and to extend the tax deduction for college tuition. And there's more."

VOTE VOTE VOTE!

TODAY, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th is the LAST DAY TO VOTE; there are no more early options for voting—this is the final day to USE YOUR VOICE!

If you are registered to vote here in the residential halls, listed below are the Units/Polling places where you can vote:

Unit 1: YWCA MAIN LOUNGE, 2600 Bancroft Way
Unit 2: MLK HELLER LOUNGE, 2475 Bancroft Way
Unit 3: MLK HELLER LOUNGE, 2475 Bancroft Way
Unit 4: WESTMINSTER HOUSE MULTIUSE ROOM, 2315 College Ave.
Clark Kerr: REDWOOD GARDENS COMMUNITY HALL, 2951 Derby St.

If you live outside of the residence halls, use http://www.smartvoter.org/ to find your polling place!

See you at the polls!

Ted Haggard and our Donnie Darko

(Technorati Tags: Ted Haggard, Donnie Darko)

So Ted Haggard, ex-president of the National Association of Evangelicals and staunch moral authority revered by many, has admitted to purchasing illicit drugs (and subsequently "throwing them away"!). A man taken with the Bible's interpretation of homosexuality, he is also vehemently denying accusations of nailing a male escort every month for the last 3+ years.

There's something to be said for comparing Ted Haggard's morality and recent fall from grace to that of Jim Cunningham, the adored motivational speaker from indie-film Donnie Darko, whom is exposed as a pedophile. Cunningham is seen rattling on in educational videos and school events about coming to terms with fear, he and his methods generally well-received by the town. But when it is discovered that Cunningham is a victim himself of fear with his collection of pedophilic material, the town responds with mixed feelings of anger and denial. Just as his indie counterpart, Haggard is exposed as a hypocrite, in the sense that he has until now preached from a pedestal on morality and espoused views that homosexuality is a “sin” and “devastating for the children of our nation and for the future of Western civilization”, but in the end cannot escape his own character and drug abuse.

Haggard’s Church and followers are likely feeling angry and hurt after these confessions and allegations, as they should. But they—and we—should also continue to show understanding for each other, especially for Snort-It-Up Ted. Let us all understand that, despite moral views, we all are capable of doing these deeds: sex, drugs, rock-and-roll, all of them. No one is completely impervious to temptation, so why then do we dream up unrealistic visions of those we look up to? Why do we let our ethics be dictated by these figures?

We need to stand up to the Jim Cunninghams and the Ted Haggards of our time and remove them from their soap boxes, and to do that it is imperative we all continue to think for ourselves and own the understanding that we are all human and share many of the same desires.

The next time another Haggard straddles the high ground and bemoans a dearth of morality in our society, why don’t we all reply as Donnie did:

Jim Cunningham: Son... DO YOU SEE THIS? This is an Anger Prisoner. A textbook example. DO YOU SEE THE FEAR, PEOPLE? This boy is scared to death of the truth. Son, it breaks my heart to say this, but I believe you are a very troubled and confused young man. I believe you are searching for the answers in all the wrong places...

Donnie: You're right, actually. I am pretty- I'm, I'm pretty troubled and I'm, I'm pretty confused. But I... and I'm afraid. Really, really afraid. Really afraid. But I... I... I think you're the fucking Antichrist.

I Voted

I voted today in the early afternoon. It was a painless ordeal, constituting a walk down Upper Sproul and a 15-minute wait in a comfy chair out of the rain. I hope some of you got to take advantage of it. Remember that, if you are registered here in Alameda county, you may vote prior to November 7th at the Berkeley Civic Center, if you wish (details here). Otherwise, vote on the 7th!

For those still undecided, The Bubble has some good analysis on the state measures on the ballot--personally, I leaned toward a 'Yes' on 88 and a 'No' on 90. In an earlier post I also gave a few links to find more information on these and candidates, which I reference here as well. Do your homework.

But Measure H is my favorite:

Shall the City of Berkeley petition the United States House of Representatives to initiate proceedings for the impeachment and removal from office of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney and call upon the California State Legislature to submit a Resolution in support of impeachment to the United States House of Representatives?

Olbermann on Kerry's Misfire

Bravo to Olbermann for nailing the non-issue of Kerry's misfire and those that have politicized it:

A brief reminder, Mr. Bush: You are not the United States of America.

You are merely a politician whose entire legacy will have been a willingness to make anything political — to have, in this case, refused to acknowledge that the insult wasn't about the troops, and that the insult was not even truly about you either — that the insult, in fact, is you.

I find it nauseatingly ironic that this president is criticizing someone else for bungling a speech.

Have YOU voted yet?

VOTE TODAY @ BERKELEY CAMPUS

There's been a lot of talk about the upcoming midterm elections on November 7th, but not so much about "early voting" and what that entails. Simply enough, depending on the state you are registered to vote in, you may be allowed to cast your ballot way ahead of the official poll date. Here in Berkeley early voting has been ongoing since October 16th:

Any person registered to vote anywhere in Alameda County and wishing to vote prior to Election Day, November 7th, may come to the City Clerk Department located on the first floor of the Civic Center Building at 2180 Milvia Street from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. on weekdays starting on Monday, October 16th through Monday, November 6th. Alameda County registered voters may also vote in the City Clerk Department from 7:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 7, 2006, Election Day. Voters may also return absentee ballots to the City Clerk Department up through 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.

I've always voted absentee so this is a new concept to me, but I'm wondering how many other voters know about this useful option and take full advantage of it. I often hear that folks either forget to vote or simply skip it altogether because of their busy schedules during election day, but with the opportunity to vote made available to everyone weeks in advance, that excuse becomes even less reasonable.

And on special occasions, the early voting poll workers will come to you--

If you're going to conveniently forget to vote on November 7th, and the City Clerk Department is much too far away for someone as lazy as you, then vote today or tomorrow on campus:

!!VOTE!!
ASUC Student Union Building [MLK in Heller Lounge], on UC Berkeley campus,
Wednesday and Thursday, November 1st and 2nd, 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m.