Tag Archives: petitions

EVENT
Troy Davis Petition Extravaganza in Usdan courtyard

troy-davisJoin the petition to free Troy Davis on Tuesday:

In 1991, Troy Davis was sentenced to death for murder in Savannah, Georgia; a crime he maintains he did not commit.

There was no physical evidence against him, and seven out of nine of the witnesses against him have since recanted or contradicted their testimony. Many claimed that they were pressured by police to make false statements against Davis.

WesAmnesty is taking part in a nationwide campaign to get a fair trial for Troy Davis. We’ll be making a giant petition upon which people will make a red handprint and sign their name.

Take a stand against a capital punishment system that regularly makes mistakes like these. DON’T LET THE BLOOD BE ON YOUR HANDS!

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 22
Time: 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Place: Huss/Usdan Courtyard

Petition to Rehire Professor Lynn A. Westling

Students in Physics 112 have created a petition to urge administrators to rehire physics Professor Lynn A. Westling for the 2009-2010 academic school year. The petition reads as followed:

To Whom It May Concern:
Professor Lynn Adrea Westling has provided an invaluable service to both the Wesleyan Physics Department and the Wesleyan community overall. She incorporates wonderful in-class demonstrations, informative activities, and interesting topics in Physics into her lectures. She makes learning Physics come to life, especially in the context of the real world. Without her contributions to the Physics Department and Wesleyan’s Sciences, the university would suffer a great loss. She has changed students’ views not only of Physics, but also of the learning process. She is fair in her grading, and makes learning a constant process. She truly cares for her students, and makes it a point to see them succeed in her course. Please very strongly consider rehiring her for the 2009-2010 Academic Year.

If you believe Professor Westling should be rehired, you can sign an online petition at: http://www.petitiononline.com/bwaynyc/petition.html

[The above text was quoted directly from an anonymous submission]

While I’ve heard mixed things about Professor Westling, the impression I get is she provides a good class for those fulfilling NSM or pre-med requirements interested in physics but not interested in the (at times) tedious math involved in the calculus-based intro and upper level classes. There is no doubt in my mind she does more for the department and university than a certain other professor in the Physics department.

Its nice to see a group of students fighting for a professor they believe in. Good luck to Professor Westling and the students in Phys 112 and throughout campus who support her.

Eclectic Petition Now Closed

The “Overturn Eclectic Housing Restriction” online petition is now closed after having received 721 signatures. Here’s a message from Eclectic:

Thank you so much for your support.

Unfortunately, due to spam, the petition is now closed. We strongly urge you to contact Assistant Director of Student Affairs Scott Backer (sbacker@wes) or President Michael Roth (mroth@wes) to vocalize your concerns.

We’re taking the link down from the sidebar.

EVENT
Petition to Overturn Eclectic Hosting Ban

An online petition to lift the ban on social events at Eclectic is up. Here’s what you’re signing for:

The Eclectic Society has recently been informed by Scott Backer and the Student Judicial Board that all events, lectures, gatherings, and shows taking place at 200 High St. this semester – including those already scheduled – must be canceled due to a “House Hosting Restriction.” Backer and the SJB have made one exception: WesFest weekend. We feel that in eliminating Eclectic as a campus-wide venue, these restrictions threaten to eliminate an integral campus space necessary to foster the creative and intellectual energy upon which Wesleyan prides itself. We will be appealing this mandate this week and hope that wide student support will help the case.

In signing this petition I declare my support for the Eclectic Society’s efforts to overturn the House Hosting Restriction in order to maintain all previously-scheduled events for the duration of the semester.

If you’re somehow resentful of Eclectic, be clear about the distinction between your sense of schadenfreude and the seriously negative impact this ban will have on life at Wesleyan. Shutting down all events taking place at Eclectic for the rest of the semester doesn’t just punish Eclectic members, it punishes the campus as a whole.

Eclectic is unmatched as a consistent venue for events at Wesleyan, and you’ve got to understand the benefits of having it available as a public space for students even if you don’t personally attend these events .

And if you do appreciate live music, just look at this sad, sad list of events from Aural Wes and note how many are potentially no longer happening:

UPCOMING EVENTS

march 4: buru style & special guest (public)
march 5: noms, decora, sewing machines, tall tales (eclectic) CANCELLED
march 5: chris white, stephanie nilles, captain coconut (earth house)
march 25: cassorla, dear lamp (earth house)
march 26: pink reason, hue blanc’s joyless ones (eclectic)CANCELLED
march 26: dar williams
march 27: ryan leslie (eclectic)CANCELLED
march 28: kentucky fried doom, sourvein, ehnahre, relics (eclectic)CANCELLED
march 28: raina rose, rebecca loebe (earth house)
april 3: buru style, barefoot junction, banish the rabbit (psi u)
april 3: big tree, shai erlichman, tall tales (eclectic)CANCELLED
april 4: pissed jeans, drunkdriver (eclectic)CANCELLED
april 10: previously on lost (eclectic)CANCELLED
april 11: art show with musical guests adam gunther, zully adler, celia hollander (eclectic)CANCELLED
april 16: das racist, francis & the lights, acrylics, tall tales (eclectic)CANCELLED – oops, this one will still happen!
april 23: battle of the bands (eclectic)CANCELLED
april 24: ponytail, miracles of modern science (eclectic)CANCELLED
april 30: mice parade (eclectic)CANCELLED
may 1: japanther, ninjasonik, grocery thief, michael jordan (eclectic)
& more! (send us your shows)

The SJB should really consider other ways of sanctioning those students responsible for the infractions that led to this restriction, which aren’t detrimental to the greater student body.

Read Aural Wes editor Anna Wiener ’09‘s impassioned plea to students here. Paper petitions will be distributed all week during meal times at Usdan, but be sure to sign the online one as well.

Judging by the interest expressed by readers in the previous post, we will easily get 1,000 signatures over the next few days.

Online petition to lift the ban on social events at Eclectic.

Sexual assault resources petition now online

Some of you might remember this article published in the Argus a month ago detailing the lack of campus resources for sexual assault survivors. The Feminist Network wants to do something about that and has created a petition it plans to send to President Roth. Erin Clark ’09 writes:

I am writing to ask you to take a moment of your time to sign this letter to President Michael Roth, which urges him, on behalf of the University at large, to make steps this academic year (and beyond) to improve upon the existing resources for sexual assault survivors and all students at Wesleyan. The proposed changes have been compiled using the results of a sexual assault survey conducted during the fall of last year by the Feminist Network, a student group.

Your support is absolutely essential to making these changes a priority. Sexual assault is a devastating social issue that must be taken more seriously at this campus so as to make sure that survivors have the best options available to them. We know that sexual assaults occur on this campus. We also know that they considerably underreported at Wesleyan, and that survivors are not always getting the help they need and deserve. Currently, Wesleyan’s response to sexual assault is considerably less coordinated than some of our peer institutions, notably Williams and Amherst. Furthermore, we believe that these improvements are necessary so as to send the clear message that sexual assault will not be ignored or tolerated on this campus.

Questions? Contact Erin at eclark@wes.

[EDIT: I realized it might be easier if I had a separate link instead of burying it in the text above, so…here is the petition. -Ben, 10:59 PM]