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Classical Liberals invite ACLU speaker
By Jon Gibbons
Collegian Freelancer
On Sept. 24
Noel Saleh, a representative from the Michigan branch of the
American Civil Liberties Union, gave a presentation to Hillsdale
College students on the United States Patriot Act.
Saleh presented the ACLU's position
on the Patriot Act to a group of approximately 50 students and
faculty.
"This is part of the whole
public education part of the ACLU," Saleh said. "A
major part of the ACLU is to be doing public education and community
outreach."
When asked about Hillsdale's conservative
reputation, Saleh said he tries "not to be too pre-judgmental."
Saleh said he was glad to have
been invited.
"It does have that reputation,"
Saleh said. "It was heartening to me to receive that phone
call."
Junior Tyler Watts invited Saleh
to speak at the inaugural meeting of the Hillsdale Liberals.
"We saw a flyer from the
ACLU that urged people to learn about and oppose the Patriot
Act," Watts said. "This informed us also that the
ACLU is providing speakers to speak in this regard, so we decided
to call them and give it a try."
Despite many differences in the
missions of the ACLU and the Hillsdale Liberals, the group was
glad to host Saleh.
"Some people raised their
eyebrows at the prospect of having an ACLU speaker, but the
response was generally one of interest and support," Watts
said. "We may have disagreements with the ACLU on certain
issues, but this is one on which we wholeheartedly agree, and
so it suited our purpose very well to have an expert from the
ACLU present their arguments against the Patriot Act."
President of the Hillsdale Liberals,
junior Daniel Greene, agreed.
"It's partly financial, partly
practical," he said. "We don't have a large budget
right now, and the Michigan ACLU was able to send out someone
basically for free. If someone has common ground with you, you
want to work with them."
Saleh's presentation was primarily
centered on the "sunset provisions" of Sections 215
and 213 of the document. Saleh said Section 215 "changes
the current interpretations of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments."
Saleh also spoke about the effects
he believes Section 215 has on the freedoms enjoyed by the American
public.
"[This act has] chilling
effects on the peoples' ability to speak its mind," Saleh
said.
Forty-one students and five faculty
members attended the lecture.
Junior Paul Poenicke took advantage
of the chance to hear an alternative point of view.
"I wanted to hear both sides
of the issue, plus I wasn't able to attend the [Center for Constructive
Alternatives] and I wanted at least to hear something on them,"
he said. "I thought it was very, very informative, the
thing I liked about it was that he was very specific about what
parts he had problems with and why."
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