Saturday, August 27, 2016

Blog Post 0

            In the parking lot across from Academic Village and the streets of old town there seemed to be a very liberal view both economically and socially.  At least a quarter of all of the cars in these areas had either pro-Hilary or pro-Bernie stickers.  In general, the cars with Bernie stickers tended to have more bumper stickers overall.  Many of these stickers advocated for tolerance and acceptance of various religious groups and minority groups.  These included bumper stickers about coexistence of various religions and LGBT rights.  There was a fair amount of cars that did not seem to overtly support any candidates but had small stick figures to represent all of the members of the family.  These folks seem to value family unity over politics and would probably vote for politicians that would allow these families to thrive as opposed to the overtly political people who may be more inclined to vote for a candidate that promises them personal gain.  A fair amount of cars had Colorado State stickers or Denver Broncos stickers that show support for local sports teams.  These topics are fairly noncontroversial and don’t reveal much about the occupants of the cars especially in the region that they were found in.  Very few people would have any problem with either of these stickers in northern Colorado.  The other majority of bumper stickers found in these two areas are sarcastic or humorous.  Once again these bumper stickers reveal very little about the owners of the car, at most they might suggest an easy going subset of people who don’t take things to seriously but for the most part very little is to be interpreted from these bumper stickers.  Fort Collins seems to have a very diverse group of people and while the most overtly political through bumper stickers are liberal there does seem to be an overall unity around the regional sports teams.

            A display of police action in the face of protest at UC Davis in November of 2011 prompted Nathan Brown, an English Professor, to demand for the immediate resignation of Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi through a letter.  Brown establishes his credentials as a professor as well as an active supporter of the very student protests he is defending from the Chancellor.  He suggests that he is an asset to the university and Katehi is a hindrance.  The students Brown wrote this letter in support of the protesters brutalized by police sent to quash the rally against tuition hikes by the Chancellor.  The police are vividly described at armed as if these students were starting a riot and proceeded to use excessive force with batons and pepper spray.  Many students and faculty were severely injured and hospitalized.  Brown explicitly tells about one of the teachers, who was a nationally recognized writer, was tossed around as if he were a criminal.  Katehi is accused of consistently using police brutality to hinder free speech in the face of always expressing concern about the safety of the UC Davis students.  Brown ends by asserting that Katehi herself is the greatest threat to the students of UC Davis and the right of free speech and call upon Katehi once again to resign her position of Chancellor.

No comments:

Post a Comment