Here's the Conspiracy Theory: In Student Council Not The Phoenix Being misunderstood by the mental lightweights on Student Council is something of which I am quite proud; being inappropriately sanctioned and commented upon by the same individuals is something I cannot tolerate. I never attempted to get involved in the Holocaust controversy on this campus. In my opinion, there is no Holocaust controversy. The future is much too valuable to waste debating technicalities about the past when there are such shady motives at work. The Phoenix has explained its stance on this issue too many times, and I won't rehash it on these pages. I just ask that everyone remember the following: We are fair, and we treated Bradley Smith's letter like we would treat any other letter. I became involved when Ari Plost came to Parrish 5th and entered the Phoenix paste-up room. Mr. Plost is not on the key list for this room, and it is off-limits to everyone but authorized individuals. He took a stern tone with me that I thought was inappropriate. When I attempted to delay his questions in order to debate them in a more appropriate venue, he told me that he wanted to see me fired. I said, "I don't have to listen to your shit," and left the room. I slammed the door, and the glass broke. Plost came after me, screaming. I screamed back. He followed me into the Parrish 4th stairwell, and pushed me against a wall. Now, Mr. Plost is lucky I didn't call Public Safety at that point to have him removed, as he physically assaulted me. Instead, I opted to try to actually explain to him what I did and why I did it, and work towards a more intellectually satisfying solution to this issue. After an hour and a half, we made some progress. When the Daily Gazette came out several days later, I was shocked to find a quote by Plost that he was planning on taking this issue to Student Council. Our cartoonist Wilson Kello obviously felt a little shocked about it too, as he decided, based solely on the Gazette's report, to draw a scathing and, in my mind, very pointed commentary on Plost's position. Plost bypassed several methods of communication that society values: letters to the editor, non-confrontational dialogues, and attempts to understand other points of view. The point has been raised that Ari didn't try to censor the Phoenix. My question is: What was he planning on taking to Student Council--a proposal to ban nose picking? Political cartoons don't represent the truth. They satirize, twist reality, and often times are completely untrue. They all have a point, however, and Wilson Kello's cartoon had an essential point: No matter how strongly think that Bradley Smith is full of shit, his letter to the editor did not contain anything that was grounds for any action against the Phoenix. The legal standard is one of fair comment and criticism, and I will defend with my last breath the right of The Phoenix to make a fair criticism of someone who says in a widely-read news report that he is going to present Student Council with a proposal to take action against us. The plot thickens. Ari never went to Student Council. He had a better way of furthering his personal agenda. He turned to his girlfriend, Laura Barandes, and she took up the anti-Phoenix crusade on Ari's behalf. Barandes is the Student Council observer to the Board of Managers. Now, Board of Managers meetings are closed to everyone but the Board of Managers and the student observers. Concerned students, including the observers, cannot present items to the Board of Managers, no matter how grave the issue. The only way for students to interact with the Board of Managers is through a 5-minute presentation that the SC Chair makes to a Board of Managers sub-committee. This presentation was prepared in advance and the student body's opinion on its content was solicited. But the Plost conspirators were not content to function through official channels. Ms. Barandes used her position as a silent observer to the Board of Managers to further her own--and her boyfriend's--personal agenda to smear The Phoenix and its editors, just because we commented on Plost's actions and injured his bloated ego. She had prepared before the meeting an 8-page packet with a slanted letter from her asking for 'action.' She signed it as the "student representative to the Board of Managers," which is not her title. She made 70 copies of the packet and distributed it to every member of the Board. I will not stand for this. Laura's action was more than inappropriate; it was a gross violation of the way things are supposed to work on this campus. She conspired to use her position to circumvent SC, the Deans, and the President of this College for her own purposes. There are several instances in which she specifically circumvented SC procedures and made sure that no one on SC would know about her actions, even though, in retrospect, she claims to have been acting as a concerned student on behalf of some magical fairyland constituency of people who agree with her. Imagine if Laura Barandes gets upset about SASS next time. She makes a 10-page packet about how support groups--and African-Americans--ruin the quality of life on this campus. She passes it out to the Board of Managers. No one on campus would know about it, even though everyone would have been wronged, and no one would be able to defend themselves, because NO STUDENTS ARE ALLOWED IN BOARD OF MANAGERS MEETINGS. I have been wronged throughout this whole affair. The Phoenix has been wronged, and there has never been an appropriate debate on this issue. Now, Barandes' attempt to frame myself, Min Lee, Brendan Nyhan, Ryan Peterson, Vincent Jones, Owen F. Lipsett, Wilson Kello, and others as anti-Semites seems like the death throes of a wounded horse. The Anti-semitic conspiracy may be happening in Ari and Laura's heads, but it's not happening on this campus. The conspiracy to squelch free speech and open debate, however, is in high gear.
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