Read the biased news articles.
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 09:22:24 +1000
From: annaliese <aoc01@uow.edu.au> Add To Address Book
Subject: [uow_eac] the meek are getting ready
To: chuck <sbrown@uow.edu.au>, charles hawksley politics <charlesh@uow.edu.au>, glenn mitchell <gmitchel@uow.edu.au>, sharon bell politics <sbell@uow.edu.au>, mary street creative arts2 <maryrose@uow.edu.au>, josie castle arts2 <josie@uow.edu.au>, anthony ashbolt <aashbolt@uow.edu.au>, tim scrase arts2 <tims@uow.edu.au>, erin cahill cahill <erin@uow.edu.au>,
national_women@yahoogroups.com,
wvarney@uow.edu.au, farzad informatics <farzad@uow.edu.au>, terry picket ccs <terryp@uow.edu.au>, alastair davidson arts2 <alastair@uow.edu.au>, alison turner <alturnertive@hotmail.com>, graham barwell arts2 <gbarwell@uow.edu.au>, dblackall creative arts <dblackal@uow.edu.au>, helen mandl library <helenma@uow.edu.au>,
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womynscollective@yahoogroups.com.au, kate bowles arts2 <kbowles@uow.edu.au>, brian yecies ccs <byecies@uow.edu.au>, peter sales politics <psales@uow.edu.au>,
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uow_eac@yahoogroups.com, jo <joannek@uow.edu.au>, mareemurray commerce <maree@uow.edu.au>, danny <lone_cactus@go.com>,
Queer_Friendly@yahoogroups.com, stephen reglar politics <sreglar@uow.edu.au>
hey everyone
update on gong situation -
# negotiations begin on friday with vice chancellor. three arrestees
not permitted to attend negotiations.
# presentation of homophobic university of the year award tomorrow at
12:30pm on the mckinnon lawns at wollongong university.
# meeting today to discuss all actions at 12:30pm on the duck pond
lawns.
# further homophobic defacement of petitions has occured
# university is currently not allowing us to hang any banners
# check out article below printed in the australian in the higher
education section. yay.
love and peas
annaliese
Safe space protest ends in eviction
Brendan O'Keefe
September 01, 2004
THREE Wollongong University students campaigning for a safer space for
gays on campus have described as "overkill" an operation by 10 armed
riot police to eject them from a room they had occupied for 47 hours.
The students, the remainder of an original group of 16 who entered a
booked function room on Thursday and locked it down hours later, were
evicted on Saturday afternoon.
Spokeswoman Annaliese Constable told the HES that about 20 officers,
including armed riot squad police, members of the police rescue squad
and regular police officers either burst into the Belmore Room or were
on hand outside to arrest the three.
Ms Constable and two others, Daniel Brown and Dominika Grossy, were
charged with trespass.
A university spokesman said the eviction was a "hygiene issue".
"If it was a hygiene issue, why didn't they send up a bar of soap?" Ms
Constable said.
The students, from the Allsorts gay and lesbian group, had been
campaigning for "a couple of years" with letters to and meetings with
the university for a safe space on campus.
Once inside the Belmore room, the students declared it their space.
Their present room is off-campus and is not patrolled by university
security. It is prone to flooding and rainwater runs down internal
walls near powerpoints.
Earlier this year, a female student was trapped in the queer space by a
man who blocked the door with his bike and threatened to "burn the
woman to death" for being a lesbian, Allsorts said in a statement.
The students want the university to move them on to campus and to
provide security patrols and better health and safety standards.
Mr Brown, queer delegate on the Students Representative Council, said
of the raid: "It was total overkill. We had 10 armed riot police with
helmets and shields burst into the room. I was totally and utterly
speechless and shocked.
"The fact that a peaceful student protest was burst into by 10 riot
police ... we were leaning against the door and getting smashed against
it. The police were totally high on adrenalin and quite aggressive."
Mr Brown said he was frisked twice and that Ms Constable and Ms Grossy
were frisked at Wollongong police station.
Acting vice-president (administration) Chris Grange was unable to
comment in detail because charges were pending.
In a statement, however, he said students "should follow the proper
procedure of raising their concerns through the SRC [to bring] the
relevant issues forward to university management".
The occupation was the culmination of Sexuality Week activities at the
university, during which, Ms Constable said, Allsorts banners were
stolen, torn down and stomped into the dirt and a petition was stolen
and defaced with messages such as "die fags".
Allsorts will tomorrow present vice-chancellor Gerard Sutton with its
award to Wollongong as the "most homophobic university in Australia".
