Provocative Painting Puts Pressure on Politicians

On Wednesday, March 21st, students from first-year Professor Eric Hongisto's second semester painting class took on the task of painting a mural in the space reserved for such artistic projects outside Crossroads Café. The artwork began with classroom brainstorming on the heady topic of political and social unrest in the United States, and what could be represented symbolically on a canvas to convey the students' sense of the current political climate. The mural now displayed on the first floor of the University Center is a first for many of the students involved, and the first time Hongisto, 33, has worked on a mural at USF.

The mural is a collaborative effort to visually arrest onlookers with striking words and images, like the bloodied head of Vice President Dick Cheney under the words, "These Colors Don't Run. But They Bleed." Other students chose to highlight the connection between war and the relentless drive of consumer capitalism represented by hamburgers and Hummers. Students on one side of the hallway painted a young child in a tank running over other children, possibly symbolizing the way young people are taught to glorify the same violence that can ultimately kill them.

One member of the artistic troupe, Fiamma Giger, found the group effort both interesting and challenging. Giger, a 21 year-old Visual Arts major, said she was looking forward to seeing what other students will do with the mural. Professor Sharon Siskin's second semester drawing class will take over the mural and do work in response to the initial painting her class has done. Giger spent her mural time painting an assembly line of t-shirts reminiscent of a sweatshop.

These forms of artistic expression provide students with a chance to exercise their first amendment rights to free speech, however provocative. It will be interesting to see in the current climate of fear and repression whether the students will come under criticism, or even legal pressure, for depicting the Vice President with a gaping, mortal head wound. With the opportunity to speak one's mind fast diminishing, protest murals like this might soon become a thing of the past, unless the idealism of student activism can be met with the full support of those in a position to end the march toward tyranny. That spark of idealistic fervor is at the heart of American culture, ingrained from the founding of a rebellious and free nation, through the abolitionist movement and the horrific war it ignited, on up to the present day, when concerned citizens throughout this nation are banding together against the installation of a police state on our own shores.

E-mails and Blogs End Lott's Reign

In late 2002, then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott made a startling comment at the 100th birthday celebration of the late Senator Strom Thurmond. Lott praised Thurmond's service in the Senate, and said, "When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over the years, either." Because Thurmond ran as a Dixiecrat, and explicitly endorsed segregation as a major part of his run for the presidency, Lott's comments later drew much criticism, ultimately leading to his resignation as Majority Leader.

The interesting point in terms of the burgeoning field of digital journalism is that Lott's comments were not picked up by the mainstream media. It was the blogosphere that truly kept the story alive when the mainstream media ignored it.

But more than bloggers, e-mail conversations may have played a huge role in ousting Lott. Blogger Mickey Kaus points especially to Democratic strategist and former Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal, who sent out a mass e-mail that reached the offices of the influential online daily, Slate. Slate editor Jacob Weisberg then forwarded the e-mail to blogger Tim Noah, who went on to write a number of blogs on the subject. In this way, it was e-mail, an older form of digital communication than the blog, that led directly to Lott's downfall.

Unlike blogs, e-mails do not typically become public. Short of a willing sender or recipient, a court order or an enterprising hacker, this form of communication will always remain in the shadows. When these e-mails contain information important to the public, however, it may only be a matter of time before they land in the inboxes of individuals willing to post the information for all to see. The days of the corporate media burying a story may be numbered.