Now here's a situation in which poetry is NOT being ignored! John
> Hard lessons from poetry class: Speech is free unless it's critical > By BILL HILL > Daytona Beach - News-journalonline.com > Last update: 15 May 2004 > > Bill Nevins, a New Mexico high school teacher and personal friend, was fired > last year and classes in poetry and the poetry club at Rio Rancho High > School were permanently terminated. It had nothing to do with obscenity, but > it had everything to do with extremist politics. > > The "Slam Team" was a group of teenage poets who asked Nevins to serve as > faculty adviser to their club. The teens, mostly shy youngsters, were taught > to read their poetry aloud and before audiences. Rio Rancho High School gave > the Slam Team access to the school's closed-circuit television once a week > and the poets thrived. > > In March 2003, a teenage girl named Courtney presented one of her poems > before an audience at Barnes & Noble bookstore in Albuquerque, then read the > poem live on the school's closed-circuit television channel. > > A school military liaison and the high school principal accused the girl of > being "un-American" because she criticized the war in Iraq and the Bush > administration's failure to give substance to its "No child left behind" > education policy. > > The girl's mother, also a teacher, was ordered by the principal to destroy > the child's poetry. The mother refused and may lose her job. > > Bill Nevins was suspended for not censoring the poetry of his students. > Remember, there is no obscenity to be found in any of the poetry. He was > later fired by the principal. > > After firing Nevins and terminating the teaching and reading of poetry in > the school, the principal and the military liaison read a poem of their own > as they raised the flag outside the school. When the principal had the flag > at full staff, he applauded the action he'd taken in concert with the > military liaison. > > Then to all students and faculty who did not share his political opinions, > the principal shouted: "Shut your faces." What a wonderful lesson he gave > those 3,000 students at the largest public high school in New Mexico. In his > mind, only certain opinions are to be allowed. > > But more was to come. Posters done by art students were ordered torn down, > even though none was termed obscene. Some were satirical, implicating a > national policy that had led us into war. Art teachers who refused to rip > down the posters on display in their classrooms were not given contracts to > return to the school in this current school year. > > The message is plain. Critical thinking, questioning of public policies and > freedom of speech are not to be allowed to anyone who does not share the > thinking of the school principal. > > The teachers union has been joined in a legal action against the school by > the National Writers Union, headquartered in New York City. NWU's at-large > representative Samantha Clark lives and works in Albuquerque. > > The American Civil Liberties Union has become the legal arm of the lawsuit > pending in federal court. > > Meanwhile, Nevins applied for a teaching post in another school and was > offered the job but he can't go to work until Rio Rancho's principal sends > the new school Nevins' credentials. The principal has refused to do so, and > that adds yet another issue to the lawsuit, which is awaiting a trial date. > > While students are denied poetry readings, poetry clubs and classes in > poetry, Nevins works elsewhere and writes his own poetry. > > Writers and editors who have spent years translating essays, films, poems, > scientific articles and books by Iranian, North Korean and Sudanese authors > have been warned not to do so by the U.S. Treasury Department under penalty > of fine and imprisonment. Publishers and film producers are not allowed to > edit works authored by writers in those nations. The Bush administration > contends doing so has the effect of trading with the enemy, despite a 1988 > law that exempts published materials from sanction under trade rules. > > Robert Bovenschulte, president of the American Chemical Society, is > challenging the rule interpretation by violating it to edit into English > several scientific papers from Iran. > > Are book burnings next? >
__________________________________________ Dr. John M. Bennett Curator, Avant Writing Collection Rare Books & Manuscripts Library The Ohio State University Libraries 1858 Neil Av Mall Columbus, OH 43210 USA
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