With college freshman descending upon campus, the hunt for acceptance and friendship take center stage during the first week of school. Many students seek clubs, dorm activities, and other forms of voluntary human interaction which may include parties right around the campus area to help find themselves and those similar to their interests. Unfortunately, the public servants of UNR are also on a hunt: a hunt for students who may need “protection” from … well nobody. To combat this, Nathan and I (and also Mareena) hit the streets on Saturday, August 22, 2010 around midnight to inform intoxicated freshman that they have inherent human rights to say no to strangers shoving things in their mouth at midnight. They have a human right to remain silent to strangers making them uncomfortable. They have a human right to dismiss themselves from a situation that they did not ask for. Officer Diamond even recognized that tricking kids to “provide a sample” is a dirty tactic, yet he continues to do it or allows it to happen. Near the end an officer thinks that by wearing a badge and shining a light into our eyes, his safety takes precedence over our safety. Those poor kids thought they were being detained when in fact they were free to go. Is this right? These kids did not ask for their “help”. They didn’t ask for any of this… and it’s really to bad. Who likes being harassed by bums asking for favors or by intimidating thugs forcing you into doing things you don’t want to do? I hope you enjoy this quick video, and I hope that you too can see the bully mentality certain strangers inflict upon otherwise peaceful people.
PS: Throughout this video you will hear me citing the Constitution as a form of protection, but those are really just words on paper stored in some glass container somewhere across the country. We need to recognize that, with or without some document dusty politicians back in the day wrote, human beings across the world still retain certain fundamental rights that never go away. It’s just more convenient to point to the Constitution than explaining the tenants of human liberty on the side of the street at midnight. Enjoy!
