Respectfully submitted to the Graduate Assembly of the University of
California, Berkeley Fall 2002

A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF POLITICAL FREEDOM IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING

Authored and Sponsored by: Delegates Joseph Hall and Catherine Ahn

Whereas, Che' Cafe' is a student run cooperative and cafe' located on
the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) premises both
physically and virtually through their access to the UCSD server
(burn.uscd.edu);

Whereas, Che' Cafe' has been served a cease and desist order by the
UCSD administration to remove links to the "Armed Revolutionary Forces
of Colombia" (FARC) and the "Kurdistan Workers Party" (PPK) that have
been placed on a website they sponsor on the UCSD server;

Whereas, the basis of this cease and desist order is the U.S. Patriot
Act, that renders the provision of "material support or resources to a
Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization" (FTO) and the linking of
the FARC and PPK websites allegedly constitutes provision of
"communications equipment";

Whereas, the UCSD server does not actually hold the FARC and PPK
websites but merely links to them as a reference in the same manner
that the US Department of State references these alleged FTOs for the
purpose of publicity and information; 

Whereas, one of the stated purposes of this federal legislation is to
"heighte(n) public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations"
as Che' Cafe' has done;

Whereas, the reading of the legislation in the extremely broad manner
the UCSD administration has done would render sites such as the US
Department of State, Google, and other types of information service
providers in violation of federallaw;

Whereas, the provision of "material support" should be read as
Congress intended, to refer to physical support rather than the mere
intellectual discussion of them as to do the latter would render even
academic discussion of these organizations illegal (considering
dissertations housed on the internet, papers widely available through
UC servers, and other potential sources of violation as UCSD alleges);

Resolved, that the Graduate Assembly of the University of California,
Berkeley (Graduate Assembly) affirms that the action taken by the UCSD
administration is in violation of the academic right to engage in
political dialogue;

Resolved, that the Graduate Assembly affirms that the reading of the
U.S. Patriot Act by the UCSD administration is overly broad and would
encompass restrictions in areas of public free speech in a manner that
violates civil liberties that was not intended by the U.S. Congress;

Resolved, the Graduate Assembly hereby order President Jessica Quindel
or the equivalent executive officer to write a letter to the
appropriate University and public officials to communicate the
opposition of the Graduate Assembly to the actions taken by the UCSD
administration as outlined above.

Enclosures:
1. Copy of "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" US Dept. of State
   (http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/2002/12389.htm)
2. Copy of Cease and Desist Letter from UCSD administration to Che'
   Cafe' regarding the removal of the FTO links
3. Copy of CNET news.com article, "University Bans Controversial
   Links" by Declan McCullagh