Update on UC President OC Appearance

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


"One person's hate speech is another person's education"


On November 4, University of California President Mark Yudof will speak at the Bat Yahm Synagogue in Newport Beach. The appearance is being sponsored by the Orange County Jewish Federation, and the topic will be civil discourse on college campus, of dire concern to the UC-Irvine community. As I recently wrote, Yudof should expect a number of questions about the question of whether anti-Semitism exists on the UCI campus, some of which I laid out. Well, it appears that the event may not shape up that way. Check out the Federation web site, which lays out all the ground rules.

https://secure.ujcfederations.org/ft2/form.html?__id=20653





First of all, why all the registration rules? This event is in a synagoge, and is open to the public. It is not as if the Israeli ambassador is coming to speak. Why does the Federation need to register everyone who wishes to attend? I have been to other Bat Yahm events related to the this subject. I just walked in, sat down and listened to the speaker then asked my question. Why is it necessary to put one's name on a list, supply address, phone number, e-mail, choose a security code word, and present a photo ID?





Note also that the Federation wants you to post your question in advance and that those questions will be given priority. I'll say. They don't want any hostile or embarrassing questions asked of the president. It looks like they will try and control the questions and who asks them.

And then there is this dandy about a suggested minimum "donation" of $18. What is that all about? That would lead me to ask if Mr Yudof is getting paid for this appearance.

Well, it looks like a wonderful time will be had by all. I hope some wise guy doesn't have the temerity to ask President Yudof a hardball question, like,

"What is your favorite color?"

or

"If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?"