A “Support Our Troops” yellow ribbon magnetic decal has generated national media attention and angered citizens across the country.
Last week, the University asked delivery truck driver Pete Baker to remove the magnet from his car to comply with an Oregon state administrative policy that prohibits “unauthorized stickers” on state-owned vehicles after another employee complained. The only decals permitted, according to the policy, are those that identify the state agency that owns the vehicle.
KEZI-TV, Channel 9, Eugene, picked up the story, but Andrew Padula reported that Baker was forced to remove the decal because it may constitute “a political message.”
“I don’t know how they think they’re political,” Baker said in the news program. “I think they’re patriotic.”
After the show aired, news of Baker’s magnet spread like wildfire across political Weblogs. Many Webloggers construed the story as an egregious violation of Baker’s rights.
“Since when did the Bill of Rights have
to undergo perusal and permission of the
administration of the University of Oregon?” asked Kevin McCullough on his Weblog at crosswalk.com/ news/weblogs /kmc/ on Monday. McCullough is a radio talk show host and syndicated columnist based in New York City, and he brought up the story on his show.
McCuIlough posted University President Dave Frohnmayer’s e-mail address and phone number on the Web site and called on readers to “form a blog swarm/storm.”
Similar messages appeared on other Weblogs. One Weblogger, a graduate of the University identified as “Gaius Livius,” gave an explanation for the University’s actions.
“A relatively small, but vociferously vocal and disproportionately influential leftist clique among
the faculty, administrators and students dictates policy at the Berkeley of the Northwest,” the Weblogger said. “They loathe the United
States in general, and anyone/anything connected to social/political conservatism in particular.”
The next day, yellow ribbons appeared on the bannisters of Johnson Hall and other campus locations. Executive Assistant to the President David Hubin said these ribbons are legal and therefore did not have to be removed.
“They are a political statement, and there’s not a policy that
precludes it,” Hubin said.
The New York Times published a short article, and radio talk show host Lars Larson let loose on the University on his show.
Hubin reaffirmed that the state’s policy that prohibits the magnetic decals has nothing to do with
the actual decal’s content, citing an instance in which a fire marshal was prohibited from putting
a “Check Your Fire Alarm” bumper sticker on his truck because of the administrative rule.
“The question of whether the decal is political or not really has no bearing,” he said.
Meanwhile, phone calls and e-mails poured in from all over the country to the University president’s office. Assistant Media Director Melody Leslie estimated she spent nearly two work days handling about 500 e-mails and calls.
“It makes me a bit sad that the public’s money has to be spent to respond to a deliberate misinformation campaign,” she said.
Hubin said he responded to a call from the wife of an officer who is on active duty in Mosul. He said after he explained the policy the woman pointed out that the military has similar policies.
“Our policy was not an indication that we don’t support the sacrifice their loved ones are making,”
he said.
Leslie said the e-mails and phone calls have tapered off significantly and that many of the callers have
actually volunteered to help correct the misinformation.
But McCullough’s assault on the University has not ceased. Following his initial post on Monday, McCullough hypothesized that the person who filed the complaint was actually a donor to the University that was
“anti-war/anti-American.”
McCullough said he wants to continue the campaign until “the point where they actually put the magnetic ribbons on the university trucks,” he wrote in his Weblog on Wednesday. He is currently searching for someone to donate 500 magnetic decals.