Posted on 09/24/2004 7:26:14 AM PDT by Dr. Zzyzx
More than 200 Utah County residents have been circulating a petition to stop filmmaker Michael Moore from coming to speak at Utah Valley State College.
In little more than a week, the group has gathered 10,000 signatures from Nephi to Lehi and say they will be presenting the petition to the college once they have gathered 20,000 signatures.
"It's an insult. These kids are supposed to go to school to learn," said Rosa Weber, a Provo resident helping to gather signatures.
Though she doesn't have any students attending UVSC, Weber said she is still upset that Moore is being paid $40,000 in student fees to speak on campus. She said she thinks it is a slap in the face for teachers and police officers who don't make that much money in a year.
The college is reporting they have made back about $30,000 in ticket sales and will probably be making money after donations, co-sponsors and parking fees are taken into consideration.
Weber said she and others would have no problem with another liberal coming to the college. But because of the allegations Moore has made about the nation's government in some of his books and documentaries, including "Fahrenheit 9/11," Weber said he is more like a traitor and doesn't deserve to come, let alone be paid to do so.
The issue has also created an uproar on campus, and UVSC students have been gathering signatures in their own petition to oust the student leaders responsible for bringing Moore to campus and to prevent the filmmaker from coming to speak.
The students are trying to get 10 percent of the student body at UVSC to sign the petition so they can put the issue to a vote. They have said they will have the signatures they need by today. To retract the invitation and oust the student leaders, two-thirds of those who vote would need to be in favor of the changes.
Tickets to see Michael Moore have already sold out and the student government leaders have said they won't be canceling the speech.
To offset Moore's liberal views, the college has invited conservative radio talk show host Sean Hannity to speak little more than a week before Moore's speech. The college has said it always planned to have speakers from both sides address the students before the upcoming general election.
More than 1,500 of the 5,000 seats available to the public for Hannity's speech have already been sold since they went on sale Wednesday afternoon.
McKay Events Center ticket office coordinator Brian Miles said tickets to Hannity's speech are selling about as fast as Moore's did. That means tickets could be sold out by the beginning of next week. He said this is the fastest tickets have ever gone for a speech at UVSC.
All remaining seats for Hannity's speech are $5 and can be bought at the event center or online at www.smithstix.com.
Hannity challenged Moore to place that money on the table during a debate. Students would then vote on who they think won the debate. The winner would get to donate the $40,000 to a children's charity of his choice.
On a recent post, another university had taken the position that using public funds to pay for a polically motivated speech was illegal. Since Maggot Moore's stated purpose is to unseat the President, paying him to speak would violate the law regarding use of public funds.
Perhaps this could be pursued legally with the school's administration.
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