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St. Cloud State University
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Prof accused of assault
Published:
Monday, January 20, 2003
An SCSU student filed assault charges against a faculty member in mid-December after a heated debate resulted in physical confrontation.
College Republicans member Zach Spoehr filed reports against Rona Karasik with both SCSU's Public Safety Department (PSD) and the St. Cloud Police Department. Investigation by the SCPD is pending the completion of PSD's investigation.
An informal meeting held last Friday by Provost Michael Spitzer failed to resolve the issue.
On Dec. 11, Karasik was offended by material that the College Republicans had at a kiosk in Atwood Memorial Center. The College Republicans were showing support for Israel.
"We thought we'd show a different side of the conflict," said College Republican President Justin Byma.
The kiosk had an Israeli flag above the booth, profiles and pictures of terrorist groups and a list of victims of terrorism. There was material relating to the Holocaust as well.
"There was one piece of literature that we used that had depictions of a holocaust victim and it said 'Brothers, never put down your guns,'" Byma said.
Karasik is Jewish and interpreted the material as anti-Semetic. She and another professor approached the kiosk to discuss it with several members of College Republicans.
Karasik asked Theresia Fisher, faculty association president elect, to speak to the University Chronicle on her behalf.
"When she saw the Star of David, she saw some issues," Fisher said. "That, to her, is a religious symbol and she wanted them to realize the significance of it."
While this discussion was going on, College Republicans member Zach Spoehr was taking photographs of the College Republicans members and kiosk for club records.
Karasik told him that she didn't want her picture taken in front of anti-Semetic material. When Spoehr insisted that she wasn't in the pictures, Karasik demanded to see his camera.
Karasik, who is 5 foot 4 inches tall, lunged toward 6 foot 2 inches tall Spoehr for the camera and missed.
This is where their stories split.
Karasik claims that she reached for the camera again, lost her balance and tripped, falling into Spoehr. He was, incidentally, pushed into the nearby wall.
Spoehr claims that she did not trip and fall, but deliberately reached for his neck to push him against the wall.
The two were quickly separated with the incident lasting only a few seconds.
Spoehr filed complaints the next day.
Karasik immediately spoke with Nathan Church about her concerns regarding the Israeli flag. He asked the College Republicans to remove the flag from their kiosk.
"We were told that because we weren't Jewish we shouldn't be able to display that flag," Byma said.
College Republicans removed the flag, even though they felt it impeded their freedom of speech. Church later wrote a formal written apology and the issue has been resolved.
"He reaffirmed his commitment to students' right to free political speech," Byma said.
The informal meeting held by Provost Spitzer was not part of the regular protocol for an investigation.
"It was an effort on the Provost's part to bring the parties together to work things out," Fisher said.
Both Spoehr and Karasik arrived with support; Spoehr with Byma, College Republican advisor Dick Andzenge with three other club members, Karasik with Fisher and Inter Faculty Organization representative Patrice Arseneault.
The meeting did not last long because of a misunderstanding; Arseneault has a law degree, but was attending as IFO equity advocate.
Spoehr had been told not to bring legal council to the meeting. When he realized Arseneault had a legal background, he no longer wished continue the meeting.
"I didn't say anything because there was a lawyer present and I definitely didn't want to incriminate myself," Spoehr said.
Spoehr and the other College Republicans walked out of the meeting.
Provost Spitzer said the investigation will continue.
"We'd like to see the university resolve this completely," Byma said, "and to set a precedent to state clearly that this type of behavior is not appropriate for a professor."
"I expect that they will handle it in a respectable manner, but we will see," Spoehr said.
Spoehr had been told not to bring legal council to the meeting. When he realized Arseneault had a legal background, he no longer wished to continue the meeting.
"I didn't say anything because there was a lawyer present and I definitely didn't want to incriminate myself," Spoehr said.
Spoehr and the other College Republicans walked out of the meeting.
Provost Spitzer said the investigation will continue.
"We'd like to see the university resolve this completely," Byma said, "and to set a precedent to state clearly that this type of behavior is not appropriate for a professor."
"I expect that they will handle it in a respectable manner, but we will see," Spoehr said.
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