Also on today’s menu:
How Campus Unrest Can Get Out Of Hand
UCLA Breaks Out In Violence When Both Sides Clash
Associate Justice Melissa Beth Countway, whom the Executive Council confirmed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court on December 20, already had been officially sworn in to the position on January 2, but Governor Chris Sununu administered a ceremonial oath on April 26. Countway is the former Melissa Guldbrandsen of Alton, who had served as Belknap County Attorney and a judge in the Fourth Circuit District Division in Laconia.
Sununu described her as “Fair, well-rounded, experienced! Thirty years ago, she became a middle school math teacher. Today, I had the honor of swearing in Melissa Countway as New Hampshire’s newest Supreme Court justice. The Supreme Court will be well-served with the experiences she brings to the bench. A pleasure to celebrate her next chapter of public service today surrounded by friends, family, and colleagues!”
How Campus Unrest Can Get Out Of Hand
The BBC has reported on the contrast between how Northeastern University in Boston and Northwestern University, just outside of Chicago, have handled the student protests over the war in Gaza. While Northeastern called in state police in tactical gear to clear “infiltrators” from the student protest encampment, leading to the arrest of more than 100 students, Northwestern handled protests with campus police who made no arrests and were able to leave when things settled down.
Northwestern administrators agreed to allow the protests to continue until the end of classes on June 1 if the demonstrators remove their tents and limit those taking part to students and others affiliated with the university. They did not agree to demands to end their investments in Israeli companies and arms manufacturers, but agreed to reinstate the university’s investment committee and be more transparent about how it uses its $13.7 billion endowment.
Northeastern campus administrators said outsiders had infiltrated the protest groups, which “led to a clear escalation in tensions” and reported an antisemitic slur that protesters deny having uttered.
Discussion: Handling student protests (or any demonstration) requires a delicate balance. We’re approaching the 54th anniversary of the May 4, 1970, Kent State University shootings that took place after the Ohio National Guard was called in to quell student demonstrations over the escalation of the Vietnam Conflict into Cambodia. Twenty-eight National Guard soldiers fired about 67 rounds over 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, including some who were not even part of the demonstration. That is a sober reminder of how not to handle a protest. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, a historian at the University of New Orleans, told the BBC that the pro-Palestine protests have not reached the fever pitch or level of violence of the anti-war demonstrations, where some students were calling for the overthrow of the United States government, but calling in outside police forces dramatically raise the stakes. “Nearly all American universities have campus police, who are full-time, uniformed, and can make arrests,” she pointed out.
UCLA Breaks Out In Violence When Both Sides Clash
Pro-Israel demonstrators at the University of California-Los Angeles started attacking the pro-Palestinian camp overnight, leading Vice-Chancellor Mary Osako to report that “Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight, and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support.”
It appears that the conflict began when counter-protesters knocked over a barrier that formed a buffer zone between the two groups. Pro-Israel students threw objects that included “fireworks, a scooter, water bottles, and tear gas” into the other camp, according to the BBC. A campus newspaper reporter reportedly was tear-gassed while covering the clashes.
As of 8 a.m., there was a large police presence and a handful of protesters outside the camp cordon. Things were much calmer, and police were setting up metal barricades while protesters were setting up wooden boards and protest signs.
Discussion: Again, it is a delicate situation when students are clashing among themselves and outside police are called in to quell the violence. There are no easy decisions, but de-escalating the situation has to be a priority.
You know that we grew up in the protest against the war situation. The Civil Rights movement. And a funny one, but bras as a woman’s statement about how we were and now again being treated. I think, that there is a difference.
An understanding of the Middle East differences is complicated. Listening to the answers to questions about the conflict, some knew nothing of HAMAS murdering innocents. They didn’t know that HAMAS were not letting Palestinians leave the north using them as human shields.
I feel certain that it wasn’t a large amount of students at Columbia and other colleges who are uninformed. However, calls for killing Jews. Calls for support for HAMAS! On campus. Jewish students were advised by their Rabbi at Columbia to leave the campus as it isn’t safe for them there. To Zoom classes. That reminds me of the South and integration of schools. How whites treated young children.