UC-Davis backs down from threatening Ayn Rand club with 'criminal punishment'

Posted by sdesapio 8 years, 7 months ago to Education
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From the article: ARS contacted FIRE for help after the university’s Center for Student Involvement (CSI) demanded ARS change the URL of its Facebook page, which contained the letters “UCD.” The Center said the use violated CSI’s trademark policy, which warns that violators could face criminal punishment. After ARS reported that it could not change the URL, CSI instructed the group to delete the Facebook page entirely. When ARS refused to comply, the group lost its “good standing” status, including its listing on UC Davis’ student organization search page, as well as its ability to reserve campus meeting rooms and apply for funding and grants.
SOURCE URL: http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/23975/


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  • Posted by ProfChuck 8 years, 7 months ago
    I used to teach astronomy and physics at the college level. But when I compared conservation of energy and momentum to the economic theories of Adam Smith and Fredrick Hayek I was roundly criticized by the administration for introducing unacceptable political thought into my curriculum. If I had used the analogy to compare favorably with Keynesian economics I gathered it would have been acceptable. However Keynesian economics violates fundamental laws of symmetry and conservation while Smith and Hayek do not. But because that is a politically unacceptable position I was instructed to no longer include that idea in my class. So much for open thinking at the university level.
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    • Posted by fosterj717 8 years, 7 months ago
      All of these institutions are now run by drones and worse. They all were taught what to think but not how. Now they are perpetuating this fallacious educational practice creating generation after generation of fools and illiterates! Some even go into teaching like the morons in UC-Davis! Hey! Relax, at least they can parrot all of the Liberal/Progressive dogma such as "Global warming" and communal self-loathing........
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  • Posted by dukem 8 years, 7 months ago
    I spent a year of graduate school at Stanford, where I witnessed student speakers at rallies who dared to contest the premise of the rally having the microphone ripped from their hands and the speakers physically pummeled.
    Later I spend three years in the town of Davis, witnessing even stranger idiocies.
    And it's worse now.
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  • Posted by SaltyDog 8 years, 7 months ago
    I fully realize that we're talking about UC here, but really...aren't they the ones that preach diversity and inclusiveness? Or is there a hole in the umbrella over actual free thinkers? I went to a service academy and it was far more inclusive than this!
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    • Posted by Timelord 8 years, 7 months ago
      Mad and Rainman got it right, but it's worse than that. Diverse has an entirely new meaning in the Progressive community - it means "not white male and not all white females, only the progressive ones." I've lost count of the number of times I've heard of one person referred to as "diverse." That's absurd, of course because diverse can only apply to groups.
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  • Posted by cbemery3 8 years, 7 months ago
    If only the government would cut off funding to institutions which limited freedom of speech or association; like letting the military recruiters on campus or, say, muzzling a group that talks about things the University opposes. Of course I'm in favor of completely de-funding higher education as all it serves to do is drive prices higher with no perceptible benefit.
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  • Posted by NealS 8 years, 7 months ago
    Just another attack on our Constitution, hopefully protected.

    We need more stand up confrontation from the right today. Ferguson (and Baltimore, DC, Chicago, etc.) needs the quiet majority to stop hiding, to come out of their homes, demonstrate, and put a stop to this erroneous "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" movement that has now spawned, "Black Lives Matter", that now has "unwittingly" promoted cop killings, killing of the people they pay to protect them and enforce their laws.

    We need to get rid of all the leaders that have not performed, and have not actually improved the community, no excuses. We need to specifically define the criteria that we want our leaders to direct their efforts to, set goals and standards, and hold them to it, not just to lead us where they personally see fit (see New York).

    We need to call out the Al Sharpton's and ban them from even entering our communities and trying to create havoc. They seem to bow to him like our president bows to dictators. Personally I feel Al Sharpton and president Obama have a common goal here, they are trying to tear this country apart. I can't think of any other scenario for doing what they seem to be doing. Why hasn't anyone specifically asked them, and why haven't they actually specifically answered?

    This is what's wrong all the way up in our government today. If it wasn't wrong there wouldn't exist so much dissention about the direction we're going. Most people agree on where we should be going, it's just how we get there that seems to be wasting all our time and effort. We're wasting way too much time on arguing and not enough time on sitting down, telling the truth, setting goals we all agree on, and coming up with methods to actually achieve them. Sometimes I wonder if it actually takes a dictator for human beings to reach a common goal. Then again was it always this way, was it this way when I was young and stupid, or has something changed?
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  • Posted by davidmcnab 8 years, 7 months ago
    An aspect of property rights, even intellectual property rights, is whoever owns property can do what they want with it, otherwise it's not property. This is a straightforward trademark infringement case. ARS should have known better.
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    • Posted by Timelord 8 years, 7 months ago
      You can't trademark something generic like UCD; you have to trademark a very specific representation of the letters, such as typeface, colors and design considerations
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      • Posted by davidmcnab 8 years, 7 months ago
        Are you entirely sure about that, Timelord? These days, even the broadest branding concepts seem eligible for protection, either through formal trademarking or through the courts. An infamous example is Apple going after anyone who names their product with a word beginning with lower-case 'i'
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        • Posted by Timelord 8 years, 7 months ago
          I don't know how many of those suits Apple won but there are lots of iGizmos out there. The Roomba vacuum is made by iRobot - you'd think Apple would have gone after such a successful company.
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    • Posted by $ jdg 8 years, 7 months ago
      The University of California not only doesn't hold a trademark in the acronym UCD, they weren't even first to use it. On European blogs and mailing lists you will frequently find it used to announce events at University College Dublin.

      But even if it were a valid trademark the rightful response would be to send a cease-and-desist letter followed by a lawsuit. Not to threaten anyone with arrest.
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      • Posted by davidmcnab 8 years, 7 months ago
        I'll give you that. Threat of arrest is a bit weird. (However, it will become more commonplace as criminalisation of intellectual property infringement gears up - think: several years imprisonment for downloading a couple of MP3 songs).

        I stand corrected regarding the trademark - I was not aware UCD didn't have one.

        FYI - in some jurisdictions, if a word, slogan, image or design is held to be associated with a business, a court can rule it in as a de-facto trademark. For example, in New Zealand, a business with branding involving black text on yellow background was ruled to be infringing on the IP of Yellow Pages, despite Yellow Pages not even having a trade mark.
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  • Posted by $ Susanne 8 years, 7 months ago
    Davis used to be a good school... I think, however, since its on the highway between Sacramento and Berkeley, it has slowly been overtaken by those enamored with socialist political liberalism.

    I wonder if they still have the animal research facility north of town... or if the students found out about it and "liberated" it...
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  • Posted by fosterj717 8 years, 7 months ago
    Typical of what we are seeing from the educational "Mafia" these days. Forget about diversity of thought! Can't have any thoughts that are not "endorsed" or taught be these uber-liberal institutions such as UC-Davis. Aren't they of supposed to be institutions of "higher education" and critical thinking? Silly me! I forgot you have to conform with the thought police of that institution.....

    If these folks were attacking "Conservative" institutions, there would be absolutely no problem and the naming of their Facebook page.

    Being that they do not embrace the institutional orthodoxy of this school, these students have been made scapegoats! Good job UC-Davis! You have learned your Gramsci/Allinsky lessons well!!! Unfortunately, Truth and honest education suffers. For what its worth!
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