Subject: RE: Spectator coverage of a current issue Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 09:30:16 -0500 Message-ID: <376546015E56D640AB10F112B8127DDF0182F898@PEPSI.uwec.edu> From: "Wilcox, Jean A." <wilcoxja@uwec.edu>
Kate and Others,
I find this more than disheartening; I find it downright scary. I
particularly find the "unsigned" letter from parents scary. Is not
allowing the discussion of political issues in the classroom in fact
allowing a political statement to be made in the classroom?
Jean Wilcox
________________________________
From: sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu
[mailto:sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Alea, Mary Ellen
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 9:14 AM
To: Wesenberg, Nancy Christine; Hale, C. Kate; sfpj@listserve.uwec.edu
Subject: Re: Spectator coverage of a current issue
Question: where is the principal in all of this. It seems to me his
voice has been quiet. I thought he was a stand-up kind of guy. --ME
Alea
On 5/12/05 9:00 AM, "Wesenberg, Nancy Christine" <WESENBNC@uwec.edu>
wrote:
Just for your information, The board of directors of the LGBT
Center of the Chippewa has crafted a letter in support of Beth Franklin
which will be delivered to the School Board and the L-T today. N.
Wesenberg
________________________________
From: sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu
[mailto:sfpj-request@listserve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Hale, C. Kate
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 8:19 AM
To: SFPJ
Subject: FW: Spectator coverage of a current issue
Colleagues,
This is disheartening-the rally at Clairemont yesterday was well
attended and the energy there was good. But this response, these
additional comments from Mr. Bennett, really troubles me.
We need to stay alert and to be prepared to act as necessary.
Kate Hale
English
------ Forwarded Message
From: "Phillips, William H." <philliwh@uwec.edu>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 06:42:16 -0500
To: "ENGL.STAFF" <ENGL.STAFF@uwec.edu>
Subject: Spectator coverage of a current issue
The Spectator - Campus News
Issue: 5/12/05
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Discussion, photo of student angers parents
By Karline Koehler
Eau Claire community members are divided after a local high
school teacher showed photographs of transgendered UW-Eau Claire senior
Jessica Janiuk's face as part of a discussion about lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgendered people.
On April 14, Memorial High School English teacher Beth Franklin
showed classes photos of Janiuk's face before and after (see photo) her
sex change. The lesson took place during the Day of Silence, an event
"to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment" against
LGBT people.
During the discussion, one student walked out of the classroom.
His father, Neal Bennett, filed a complaint against the school board,
stating the situation constituted harassment.
"She's taking her own agenda and she is forcing it on the
students," Bennett said. "It doesn't matter what that agenda is - if
it's a controversial issue, that's wrong."
Franklin is the adviser for GLASS, Memorial's LGBT student
group. She declined to comment for this article.
"This whole incident is the very reason that the Day of Silence
even exists," Janiuk said. "This is an attempt of a large community to
silence minority groups. I won't stand by and let that happen."
That's why Janiuk organized a rally in support of Franklin
Wednesday at the corner of Keith Street and Clairemont Avenue.
"Her lesson was in line with all the policies of the school,"
Janiuk said. "The problem here is ignorance. It's not bigotry; it's not
hate speech. The only way to fight ignorance is through education."
However, Bennett said he believes such discussions can be
harmful to still-maturing high school students.
"They may look like they're adults, but they're teenagers," he
said. "They have a lot of stuff that they're trying to figure out."
Janiuk said the parents' criticism of Franklin's teaching was
also personal.
"Even though he may not have directed it at me, it attacked me,"
she said. "It's not an easy thing to deal with, knowing a sizeable part
of the town is upset that you exist."
Bennett said parents should have been notified ahead of time
about the discussion and given the option to remove their children.
"You can talk about gays, but there are times when that
discussion needs to stay away from the students. It becomes offensive to
people," Bennett said. "If someone decides to do that to their own body,
that's a very private issue."
Janiuk disagreed.
"They're not private issues, they're life issues," she said.
"They're no more private than your ethnicity or your family. That's who
you are and there's nothing wrong with expressing it. It doesn't have to
be kept secret."
In addition to the rally, Janiuk said, she is organizing an
educational panel and forum at Memorial in response to the debate. She
also plans to meet with the school's principal.
"I've had a lot of people say, 'Jess, just tell me where to be,'
" Janiuk said. "I'm not concerned (for myself). It's for everyone who is
now being told they're not welcome here."
In early May, the school board received an unsigned letter from
parents objecting to sexual and political issues in the classroom.
Bennett said the group is asking for the school's administration and
staff to be retrained on rules, for the school to enforce a dress code
for teachers banning "offensive" clothing such as "rainbow-colored
necklaces," for the school board to hold a forum with parents twice a
year and for the educational system to "return to American heritage and
tradition in the classroom."
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