To the editor:

John McCarroll is a man after Martin Jischke’s own stone-cold heart. Earlier in the year, McCarroll sputtered an attack on Iowa State Daily editor Sara Ziegler for articulately pointing out the deprioritization of teaching and elevation of high-dollar donors at Iowa State.

Now, McCarroll is vaguely threatening legal action against the student organizers of the call.to/jischke Web site for a creative parody of Iowa State’s own home page. I’m not surprised that the Jischke administration has once again attempted to shut off free debate instead of engaging students in it.

This isn’t about trademark abuse, it’s about viewpoint discrimination. Jischke and McCarroll don’t give a damn about the trademarks when homophobic preachers parody Cy on placards and banners. In fact, students unsuccessfully prodded Iowa State to enforce its trademarks when just such a preacher came to town.

Yet McCarroll finds the time in his busy day to viciously attack the creative and humorous insights of students who come here not just to learn, but to learn how to live a life.

Part of that life includes political discourse and criticism of public officials like Mr. McCarroll, even if that criticism is vehement and hostile.

The call.to/jischke Web site is a hilarious political caricature, significantly altered from the original. It is, in my humble layperson’s opinion, highly protected political speech. Mark this as another occasion where Jischke’s minions attempted to quell dissent.

Perhaps the call.to/jischke student organizers should consider probing the legality of McCarroll’s cynical, heavy-handed tactics in silencing free debate on campus.

David Cmelik

Alumnus

Iowa City