China Moves to Censor Home Computers

This is an article I find disturbing.

The Chinese government is moving to control what can be seen on the internet by installing all new computers with filters. The ministry of Industry and Information Technology is asking computer manufacturers to install blocking software that comes from a military based company. The program Green Dam is designed to filter out pornography and anti-revolutionary materials. The additional program Youth Escort filters out rude words ( I wonder what they consider rude?). Starting July 1 all PC's will be sold with the software included. Lenovo a company that bought IBM and encompasses 26% of the market will be using the software. The chinese market is the second largest behind the US.

After reading this I was immediately concerned with how this will effect the US, will China influence the US? What about the computers that are made by China to ship to the US? The software is made by the military, do the people of China see this as a problem? 

The article goes on to say the millions of Chinese want the software and have requested the purchase of the CD's. It is troubling to see a country take such extreme measures measures. China has already blocked hotmail, twitter and many more, because it fears that there could be a protest. This whole situation is scary, they control what you can view and then they take away the rights of voicing your opinions. How do their libraries handle this? How does this effect their researching? The government is determining what "they" feel should be filtered out. How can they monitor this?

Censorship of Mural in Chicago

Art like print and internet resources tends to be brought up in censorship issues.

This article caught my eye about an artist named Gabriel Villa. He painted a mural in Chicago that showed how surveillance cameras effect the urban environment.  Alderman James Balcer ordered the mural be painted over because he considered it a "threat to the community". His mural is actually protesting all of the surveillance cameras installed everywhere, and how people no longer have any privacy. He said that Chicago uses more that 2,000 closed circuit cameras to control crime. He was commissioned by a private organization to do the mural, and it was painted in the Bridgeport neighborhood, birthplace of the Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

The mural offended the police officers, and per the article the artist has painted other murals that have "provocative themes". By painting over the mural violates the rights of the artist. The artist was showing in his art that it was unlawful for the privacy of individuals be taken away, and by doing this his right to freedom of speech was taken away. The artist was not warned prior to the mural being painted over.

The mural was on private property and some found the art offensive, does the city government have the right to remove these images? What about the religious symbols and war flags?

What about the art books in the libraries and images that are offensive? Is a visual image more offensive then the printed word?

Chicago news article

Chat with Authors

I came across this article “A Fireside Chat About Book Burning” and it intrigued me.Toni Morrison and Fran Lebowitz came together to talk about censorship in libraries, school and stores. Jane Friedman was the host of the gathering. National Coalition Against Censorship (N.C.A.C.) sponsored this gathering of about 40 publishers, artists and writers. N.C.A.C. is hoping the event will help make people more aware of the organization. The aging not for profit organization needs to become less "quiet" per Ms. Friedman. Toni Morrison talked about her book “Song of Solomon” and how it was not allowed at a Texas prison because it might “cause them to riot”. She said she proudly hangs the letter from the prison and was gratified that her book was that powerful to cause concern. She is coming out with a new book called “Burn the Book” a book about censorship and the power of writing. After reading this article I wondered how many great authors through the years did not write what they wanted to for fear of being censored. How many authors changed their stories because of editors and pressure to sell the book. We will never know how many wonderful books were never written because of the fear of banning. I applaud Ms. Morrison for standing up for her literature and finding justification in her work even though it is judged harshly by others. How many authors are that strong?
Ms. Morrison said “We think about novels as merely entertaining”, but the good ones are bodies of knowledge. When will we understand this?

National Coalition Against Censorship

Preparing for Challenges

While I was reading an article for the class in the “Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center” I came across this article “Teachers Should Prepare For Book Challenges”, by Sharon Cromwell. She is referring to an article “Book Banning” by Ronnie D. Lankford.

She talks about how censorship can cause bitter debates and how challenges to curriculum have caused communities to take sides, both sides very passionate about their beliefs. I was concerned about a report she referred to from the National School Boards Association; “challenges frequently work; nearly one-third result in materials being withdrawn from school”. She goes on to say that the major challenges arise from materials referring to sex and drug education, challenging authority, women behaving nontraditionally, evolution and creation, and sharing personal information. Knowing that these topics can send up red flags, it is best to make sure schools have policies in place regarding these materials. She suggests that policies should weigh the viewpoints of the community and the policy should be drawn up by professionals. Other ways to be ready for challenges; have parents on board for the reading programs, recommend reading list but do not require them, keep files on professional reviews of materials (this is a great idea), and have collective bargaining agreements.
Ms. Cromwell also talks about the process for challenged materials. Talk with the complainant and try and resolve the issue, ask for a written complaint, give the complainant the district policies and explain the procedure, put a committee together to review, talk to the complainant about what is progressing with the complaint, have a appeals process and keep the materials challenged available for other patrons.
The author states that “the challenge is not to avoid censorship, but to meet it head on with adequate policies and procedures that provide an open forum for deciding what should, or should not take place in public school”. 

Sharon Cromwell. "Teachers Should Prepare For Book Challenges." At Issue: Book Banning. Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. UNIV LIBRARY AT IUPUI. 2 June 2009 http://find.galegroup.com.proxy.ulib.iupui.edu/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010489215&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=iulib_iupui&version=1.0

Claire Mullally. "Book Banning Has Legal Limits." At Issue: Book Banning. Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. UNIV LIBRARY AT IUPUI. 2 June 2009

http://find.galegroup.com.proxy.ulib.iupui.edu/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010489202&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=iulib_iupui&version=1.0

I read this article recently....

“Pelham Library Declines to Discuss Calling on a Teen’s Book Choice”
A teen was researching gun carrying and concealment laws at the Pelham Public Library.
A concerned librarian called the High School to report it. The director of the library said they do not normally do this, put felt they should check into it. The student was called into the principal’s office to find out more about why the student was looking for books about gun carrying and concealment. The police were called and questioned the student, and they found out the student was doing research on this subject. The student was concerned about going away to college, and was concerned about college shootings.
As a parent of a college freshman you have a fear about college shootings, because there have been so many of them. I am sure the librarian was thinking if she/he did not report this and something happened they could not live with themselves. Maybe the librarian had a student at the high school. So a part of me understands how all this happened, however…that poor student the likelihood of the student returning to that library again is pretty much slim to none. The library violated the privacy and the rights of the student. Fear can play a huge factor in how people respond to situations. Intellectual Freedom tends to just get thrown out the window if fear is involved. There is a bigger issue at stake here and that is the student’s privacy and right to read whatever he/she wants to read was in question. The library has the materials on the shelf so it is the right of the patron to read without question.    
We are all living through stressful times and because of this procedures need to be put in place to make sure situations like this can be avoided. 
So what do you think?  

Korngold, Leslie (8 May 2009). "Pelham Library Declines to Discuss Calling School on a Teen's Book Choice". LoHud.com. the Journal News. Accessed 20 May 2009.

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200905080230/NEWS02/905080347

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