College News Roundup

Correction appended.

Anti-Muslim Posters Found at Yale

Yale students woke the morning of Nov. 15 to find flyers with anti-Muslim sentiment anonymously posted around campus.

The posters, which depict the Prophet Muhammad holding a sword in one hand and a severed head in the other, appeared about a month after two students anonymously posted allegedly anti-gay flyers.

"Repeatedly, we keep seeing that this campus is not as safe and welcome for students as it should be," Muslim Student Association President Altaff Saddi '08 told the Yale Daily News.

The MSA removed the flyers and plans to hold a dialogue with the college dean's office.

College Dean Peter Salovey's condemnation of the posters focused on their anonymous nature. While he said that Yale free speech polices allowed students to display material that may offend some in appropriate venues, he told the Daily News that the university had "no obligation" to protect anonymous speech.

But Saddi felt the posters crossed the line between free speech and hate speech.

"This is about something that is blatantly racist and has no place on a campus like Yale," she told the Daily News.

Deputy Secretary Martha Highsmith told the Daily News that Yale University Police Department did not have enough information to continue investigating the case.

Student Tasering Prompts UCLA Protests

UCLA campus police tasered a student several times after he refused to present his ID at the main library Nov. 14, inciting student protest against what many believe was unnecessary force.

A video of the incident, posted on YouTube, galvanized further protest.

After students demonstrated on Friday, UCLA's acting chancellor, Norman Abrams announced that an independent investigation would be conducted.

The police, who have said the incident warranted force, are also investigating what happened.

"I do not believe that one can make a fair judgment regarding the matter from the videos alone," Abrams said in The Chronicle of Higher Education as he announced the investigation.

The student, junior Mostafa Tabatabainejad, said Friday he would sue the university police for "brutal excessive force" and false arrest with the help of civil rights lawyer Stephen Yagman.

Yagman said that Tabatabinejad, who is of Iranian decent, refused to show his ID because he thought the police were racially profiling him.

Checking student IDs in the library is a regular procedure, according to UCLA officials.

The incident has raised questions of taser use on college campuses, and UCLA Muslim Student Association President Sabiha Ameen called for a review of her campus' taser policy.

According to Public Safety, Columbia campus police do now carry tasers.

Correction: "Student Tasering Prompts UCLA Protests" in the College News Roundup on Nov. 21 incorrectly stated that Columbia Public Safety officials carry tasers. They do not.