I swore I wasn’t going to embroil myself in the Catt Hall debate, the Jack Trice issue or the ups and downs of The September 29th Movement.

Then I got sick of all the whining.

Let me begin by publicly announcing my support for Carrie Chapman Catt and her devotion to women’s suffrage. I happen to like my right to vote and I don’t think I will be trading it in because Catt happened to be politically brilliant and morally ignorant. Then again, let’s see how much better black suffragists would have done if they had to win the vote through political strategy instead of military force.

One very important point in this debate should not be overlooked: Carrie Chapman Catt is dead. I cannot emphasize this point enough. The woman is worm food. Try picking a fight with Catt if you wish, but I don’t think you will get much of a response from her. The dead are REALLY patient.

Furthermore, if Catt Hall is the most serious problem facing minority students on this campus, then I will assume we have solved all issues of recruitment, retention and racial violence.

While I obviously disagree with The September 29th Movement when it comes to Catt, I support its argument that more students should have been consulted about the name change. It is the same argument I made concerning McDonald’s on campus. Do what you want to the campus, just let students have their say.

This brings me to Jack Trice Stadium. Name it whatever you want. Trice is a good candidate because he was ISU’s first black athlete and because other teams refused to play ISU as long as he was a Cyclone.

Forgive me, though, if I note the hypocrisy. No building on this campus should undergo a name change until the candidate’s personal history has been investigated to ensure that the candidate never uttered a racially biased, sexist or xenophobic remark. Remarks about overweight people and blondes may also be included as it becomes politically incorrect to knock these groups.

Then again, I suppose “Jack Trice Stadium” gives everyone a warm fuzzy. Minority students get to immortalize a hero, the administration gets to toss a bone to its critics, and the GSB gets to appear as though it has actually done something under Adam Gold’s leadership.

The one nice thing to come from all of this is the emergence of a group of students who are willing to fight for what they believe. I am sick and tired of hearing students moan and groan about every little thing on campus and then stand there in true anal cranium insertion fashion when asked to do something proactive.

Unfortunately, the Beardshear Eight desperately needs a lesson in civil disobedience. Civil disobedience does not mean breaking the rules without fear of punishment. On the contrary, civil disobedience is the peaceful violation of a rule or law to express a political or moral belief, knowing punishment is to follow. It is the stance in the face of punishment that gives civil disobedience its force.

The Beardshear Eight knew, or should have known, the ramifications of its acts. The potential outcome is mentioned in the Student Information Handbook. Speaking as a former student leader to the next generation, you damn well knew the administration wouldn’t let it slide. Usually the administration just waits for the troublemakers to graduate. This time, though, it’s just a little too hot for the administration to wait around.

Finally, the Beardshear Eight’s actions cannot be legitimized as free speech. As any constitutional law scholar can tell you, there is no such thing as “free” speech. In the case of the Beardshear Eight, speech is subject to the legal constraints of time, place and manner restrictions.

If the issues for which the Beardshear Eight has been fighting are the issues students are willing to support, then it is up to the student body to help. The participants themselves should accept the consequences of their acts.

Fighting Beardshear Hall ain’t no walk in the park.

Theresa Wilson is a graduate student in political science at ISU from Dubuque. She is a second-year law student at Drake University.