Earlier this month, college students invited by the state Board of Regents traveled to Des Moines to protest increasing tuition. The cause of this, at least according to these students, was the cutting of university funds by the Legislature.
If you’ve been following the news in the past few weeks, you probably know what happened next. State Sen. Shawn Hamerlinck, who sits on the state Senate committee the students were lobbying, told the students to “go home” and to “leave the [political] circus” to the Legislature.
It doesn’t take Rahm Emanuel or Karl Rove to know that Sen. Hamerlinck’s comments didn’t go over too well. There was outrage, there were apologies, there was even a Huffington Post article or two — but was the senator from the 42nd district out of line? In my opinion, no.
The Legislature determines how much money is given to the universities, however the Legislature does not tell the universities how much money to use. Unlike other state agencies that must reduce spending when budgets are cut, the universities do no such thing. This creates a situation in which university spending outpaces what is reasonable given the current economic recession.
If there is a shortfall, the universities have other sources of income besides tax dollars. This is where tuition comes into play; if the Legislature cuts the universities’ budget, the universities respond by raising tuition.
The regent universities are just like every other part of the government; there is waste. For example, Iowa State recently purchased 42 solar-powered trash cans at a cost of $180,000. Don’t get me wrong, these trash cans are awesome and sometimes make me feel like I’m walking around in the Death Star, but at the end of the day, I’m going to throw my trash in them. Spending nearly 200 grand on futuristic trash cans may be something that the university can do when state revenues are high, but we don’t live in those times right now.
The state’s finances are in a precarious position. Gov. Terry Branstad and Republican legislators are trying to fix our state’s budget problem but are being cast as villains by the university administration. Unlike the previous administration, there are no federal stimulus funds to help in time of need. If you don’t think this is at least somewhat politically motivated, ask yourself where similar outrage was when Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, cut university funding by 10 percent last year.
The last thing we, as college students, need is a tuition hike — but the only way the universities will agree to bring their spending under control is if their cash cows, the students, demand it. This problem didn’t start under the golden dome in Des Moines; it started in Ames, Iowa City, and Cedar Falls. Our anger over the increasing education costs in a decreasing job market should be brought to the universities, and the administration should have to face us instead of leading a parade of students to the Statehouse. If we’re going to fix the problem, we should take Hamerlinck’s advice and “go home.”
For the second year in a row, the University of Iowa College Republicans hosted “Conservative Coming Out Week.” For those of you who have been holed up in the library studying for finals, here’s a quick recap.
On Monday, the College Republicans sent out an approved e-mail to the entire university community and received more than 105 responses. This is normal for one of these e-mails; however, one response was quite different. It came from tenured UI Professor Ellen Lewin. Her message was, quite simply, “FUCK YOU, REPUBLICANS,” with her credentials listed below.
Despite this hateful rhetoric, the next day we cosponsored a blood drive with the University Democrats in the Burge Carnival Room. Lives were saved, party lines were crossed, and a good cause received some much-needed help. That same afternoon, Lewin sent two e-mails to the College Republicans that, at best, were failed attempts at an apology for her previous outburst.
This matter went public Wednesday morning with a campuswide e-mail from President Sally Mason.
As Mason stated, “Intolerant and disrespectful discord is not acceptable behavior.” That afternoon, despite the unseasonable cold weather, the College Republicans were on the Pentacrest handing out fake doctors’ notes, a play on events that occurred during the protests in Madison, Wis., earlier this year.
Thursday, the College Republicans played some light-hearted field games in Hubbard Park. After playing flag football and kickball, we all enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers while discussing the events of the past week.
Finally, today marks “Wear Red Day” in honor of the men and women serving our country.
The unfortunate events of this week reaffirm the necessity of a “Conservative Coming Out Week” in Iowa City. The UI is not a welcome place for Republican views, especially as long as professors such as Lewin receive their $94,800 salary (plus benefits) and use their university e-mail accounts to send hateful messages to college students with opinions different from theirs.
We’re told when we come to college to express our ideals — that this is the first time in our lives where open discourse is encouraged. While it is expected that some of our more immature classmates would resort to hate speech and vulgarity in expressing their disagreement with a person’s views, I would never have imagined that that response would come from a tenured professor.
Many have complained about the use of “coming out” in the title of the week. There is no patent placed upon the term, and making general assumptions about our beliefs is off base. The goal of “Conservative Coming Out Week” was for Republicans to be honest with their community to who they are: Republicans. I believe we accomplished just that.
Perhaps surprising to some, on April 26, we will host Fred Karger in 71 Schaeffer Hall at 9 p.m. for our last meeting of the school year. Karger, who is pursuing a run for president in 2012, has advised numerous Republican campaigns and is an active opponent of California’s Proposition 8. Karger will be the first openly gay man to pursue the office of the presidency — and yes, he is a Republican.
As always, this event is open to all faculty and students. The Republican spectrum is broad, and we will always embrace respectful discussion of the future of our party and the issues facing our nation.
Throughout this week, we have faced much opposition, but that will never deter us from seeking an open, bipartisan discussion.
It is easy to mischaracterize and disregard an opposing view while sitting at your computer, as Lewin did on Monday. It is much harder, however, to let civility rule and stand for what you believe in.
Contact: Natalie Ginty, (319) 325-9314 or natalie-ginty@uiowa.edu
For Immediate Release: April 21, 2011
University of Iowa Professor lashes out at College Republican group, tells them to “F*** OFF.”
IOWA CITY, IA – For the second time in a month and a half, a public university has used taxpayer money to attack its students. Earlier this week, Ellen Lewin, a professor of Anthropology and Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies in the Department of Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa, sent a vulgar response to the University of Iowa College Republicans’ campus wide email promoting their annual Conservative Coming Out Week. The weeklong event, which includes such favorites as an Animal Rights BBQ, drew the ire of Lewin, who proceeded to fire off a rash response from her university email with a simple, strong statement: “F*** OFF REPUBLICANS!”
The full article regarding the happenings, along with copies of the email and ensuing emails, can be found at The Iowa Republican by clicking here.
Though the University posted a half-hearted, weak “apology,” the story has blown into a national headline. It has been covered on Fox News, CBS News, the Chicago Tribune, and many other national news sources. Additionally, some have even taken the initiative to create fake facebook and twitter accounts, posing as recently elected IFCR Chair Natalie Ginty.
Last Month, Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy singled out senior Logan Pals, then Chair of the ISU College Republicans, for raising questions regarding the university’s wasteful spending and staging a counter rally to the student fee-funded Regents Day on the Hill.
These episodes are an increasingly visual display of the battles College Republicans must fight to spread a conservative message on campuses throughout Iowa. Please join the fight today and help IFCR with a donation of $50, $100, or $200 to help fight rampant, out of control liberalism on Iowa’s campuses. We cannot win in 2012 without making serious gains on our campuses, and we need your help. Please donate today!
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Paid for by the Iowa Federation of College Republicans
