Posted on 09/15/2004 8:39:25 AM PDT by batter
Controversial filmmaker and anti-Iraq war activist Michael Moore is coming to Utah.
Moore will speak at Utah Valley State College on October 20th -- just before the presidential election.
"TO GET HIM TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION TO COME TO UTAH TO OUR COLLEGE, I THINK IS A BIG DEAL AND IT'S REALLY EXCITING FOR US."
But some students are not as excited to see the filmmaker --- who is best known for the documentary Fahrenheit 9-11 -- which heavily criticizes the Bush administration.
Jordan Gunderson, UVSC Student: "HE DOESN'T REPRESENT THE VALUES THAT WE HAVE HERE ON CAMPUS, SO I DON'T KNOW WHY WE SHOULD PAY FOR SOMEONE'S AGENDA TO COME, WHEN HE SHOULD PROBABLY COME FOR FREE."
Moore will speak at noon on the 20th.
Students will be able to hear him free -- but others will have to pay.
so now Moore is milking the Unknown School Circuit, and even that didn't work for him at Cal State-San Marcos:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1216610/posts
WOOHOOO!!! Finally a freep I can go to! If there is somebody organizing something, COUNT ME IN!
Please ping any other Utah FReepers you can think of.
Click here for a thread with MM's background. Interesting. Let's learn all we can and use it against him.
For those interested, here is the Student Body President's number he's supposed to have the information on this): (801)863-8175. I don't know where he stands on the issue, so be sure to be polite should you talk to him. His name is Jim Bassi.
I want to ask him:
Is the $50,000 public (as in our taxes) or private donations? If private, who donated the money (we can then let the donors know what their money is being used for etc). If public, why are they being used to promote someone who has been totally discredited (have the "59 Deceits" in hand) rather than someone with a contraversial view with some credibility, at least?
Why was Mr. Vogel allowed sole discression over the speaker budget and no student imput allowed prior to the fact?
How can we contact Mr. Vogel?
Who else is taking complaints and their phone number?
Who are the major donors to UVSC?
Bring US flags as well - I'm sure Moore will hate that and so will all the US haters who'll be present.
Chanting "Four more years" and "Bush Cheney" etc. will also drive them nuts. Speaking of which, it would be good if people bring cameras in case the lefties turn violent.
It would be best if someone familiar with UVSC and/or who lives in the area would do so.
I also really think a pro-America/Pro-Bush rally would be a far better protest than the run-of-the-mill "Moore sucks" protest (I also think it would take a lot of the headlines and steam away from Moore).
Finally, I was able to talk to a Mike (Murray?) in the Institutional Advancement Dept. He was curtious and stated most are not fond of Moore coming but he is not allowed to divuldge the major donors to UVSC.
I talked to the operator and got the VP of Community Relations' (Val Peterson) phone number: (801)863-8424.
He was in a meeting but I left a message stating that the Student Government has gone against student opinion and failed to seek it. I suggested, in the future, they do as my University did - allow students to fill out a survey (with a list of choices) as to who they would like to speak, rather than allowing Mr. Vogel and the Student Council have sole discresion on this matter. Through the surveys, we still got a mix of lefties and conservatives, but no one who completely lacked credibility. I went on to state that I don't have a problem with others of a different view than mine but suggested academic institutions should get speakers who have some kind of credible thought process rather than someone who just makes stuff up.
Whoever chooses to organize this just needs to pick a spot for freepers/lurkers to meet before proceeding into the protest area.
Finally, the chief stated he was almost thrown out of the meeting when he stated his dissenting view re: their choice of Moore as a speaker. He also stated that he hoped a lot of protesters would turn up.
Thanks for pinging the Utah folks! I hope someone will step up as I've done a bunch of the work. All they need to do is pick a meeting spot and remind everyone to have their 59 points summary sheet (just in case).
I would still really like to see this turn into a Pro-Troops/America rally, I think it would be a major political coup with media coverage as it would tick off MM and the lefties (let's face it MM loves his name being shouted) and turn the news coverage from MM talks and is countered by conservative groups to MM talks about the evil US and sparks a large Pro-USA/Troops/Bush counter-rally.
It's on a Wednesday (October 20), but I'm still certain I will have to work! Doh!
Lived in Utah for 10 years... Sorry to hear that its about to become polluted by Mr. Moore's hate and greedy nature..
$50,000 for speaking about a hour and half maybe.
He puts himself up to be a poor guy.. but he is rich and gets richer every speaking engagement
Oh gosh, October 20th, not September. Good, that gives us more time to prepare. Let's keep the pot simmering and not let this die down.
I'll do what I can, but I'm awfully far away.
Considering the number of Republicans in that state and the high percentage of Mormans, I would think that Utah is the LAST state Moore would want to go to.
I was born and raised in Utah and have raised my family here. I have seen how things have changed (for the worse) in Happy Valley since the liberals took over at UVSC. Michael Moore will not change the outcome of the election, because Bush is going to win no matter what. Maybe Moore will get people so mad that they'll get more involved politically. There's a lot of apathy here.
I can't see wasting $50,000 on him. Does Elaine Englehardt have anything to do with this?
Actually, UVSC is in Orem.
$50,000 speaking fee is what blows me away, coming from a public college.
Darn, I thought UVSC was in Orem! LOL
I am in Utah and I can't go. Work beckons. I still can't believe the student council talked the advisor into this harebrained move. Incredible.
How about more people show up outside to protest than those that show up for the speech inside? This will send him a message from Happy Valley. Unfortunately, most people will come hear him speak just out of curiosity--not because they agree with him.
Plus I hear students get in for free. If I were a student, I would be tempted to go just because, well, just becasue I was 19 and he was famous.
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