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FEDS Disclaimer

FEDS DISCLAIMER: For a while during 2003/2004 FEDS insisted that all our (and other clubs') posters must include a disclaimer saying that FEDS does not support us. The reason was because of troubles with a political club that brought in a guest speaker who was either pro- or anti-Israel (I forget which), and then the people on the other side of that issue complained that he was a hatemonger, and there was a big fight. That incident was probably also the reason that the FEDS Event Form now demands that UW Police Services sign off on any events which include a guest speaker, and although Rick Theis denies this part, it may possibly also have had something to do with the original wording of the form which would have allowed FEDS to unilaterally cancel club events. The disclaimer may also have been associated with ongoing fights between pro- and anti-abortion groups on campus, neither of whom want the other side to be allowed to put up posters at all, let alone posters that in any way suggest FEDS support for their views. The wording of the disclaimer was silly in that instead of saying that FEDS doesn't take sides, it actually seemed to say that FEDS actively disagreed with each club's activities. But as of Summer 2004, FEDS changed their minds about the disclaimer and decided to stop requiring it anyway; and even when it was required, it was just a silly but harmless formality, important to FEDS but not important to us.