Flag decision is the result of a strict, unjust display policy

To the Editor:

The logic behind the administration’s decision to refuse a Palestinian student the right to fly her flag is still unclear to me. The administration fears that by letting Ms. Muzaffar fly her flag, they will have to accommodate similar requests to fly the flags of say Texas, Quebec, etc. If this is indeed one of the motivations behind the decision, then it is truly disturbing because, at the most basic level, such an argument ignores the morality and legality of the Palestinian question. In addition, it ignores the uniqueness of the Palestinian situation.

The administration may truly believe that Palestine is not a country and so, “no country, no flag.” I object to such an argument: Palestine is a country with all this word implies except that it does not have an independence day yet.

So, if Macalester believes that an occupied country is not a country until it gains independence, then I am really sorry. Even Israel acknowledges that the Palestinians have their own country, for otherwise they would not have signed a peace treaty with them.

Macalester has a policy based on United Nations rules and since Palestine is not a member state or a state with a permanent observer mission, then the Palestinian flag will not be flown at graduation. End of story. Macalester is not a proxy for the UN in Minnesota and it is not obliged to follow UN rules. Such an argument ignores a central aspect of the controversy; namely, that Ms. Muzaffar does not represent the permanent observer mission of the “entity” Palestine, but that she represents a people with a well-defined culture and distinct identity. The Palestinian flag is not that of the permanent observer mission but that of Palestine.

At any rate, my reading of Macalester’s flag policy did not necessarily imply that the Palestinian flag should not be flown. It is only if one chooses an intentionally strict interpretation of the policy that one may reach the same conclusion as the administration’s.

Ghaith Hiary ’02

Student organizations must complete charters by deadline

To the Editor:

Currently, the Student Services Committee of MCSG is in the midst of a rechartering process for all of the student organizations on campus. Each campus organization begins with a charter, which is a document that explains the organization’s mission and the various guidelines they will be run by. Charters are essential to the campus in that they provide students with an understanding of what each organization is about, as well as establishing continuity necessary for both the organizations as they change over the years and complying with the constitutional guidelines of MCSG.

Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that many of the student organizations on campus have expired charters or do not have charters at all (some even expired in 1996-97 and were never renewed). Therefore, last semester the SSC initiated a process in order to make sure that every organization on campus is chartered. By now every campus organization has been contacted by phone or via email. A deadline was set for March 15 to have charters for all of the student organizations. If an organization does not complete a finished charter by that deadline it will be placed on probation and will be unable to receive funds through MCSG next semester. This deadline is fast approaching and the SSC needs the Macalester Community to encourage the student organizations on campus to carry out the rechartering process for the benefit of the community as a whole.

Student Services Committee of MCSG
Clark Wohlferd, Sarah Keiser (Chair), Masha Marchevsky, Milla Vidina,
Michael Rieser, and Tyson O. Connell