The College of Communication, Information, and Media is sponsoring the First Amendment through its open-forum soapbox speeches. The Soapbox will be at the corner of McKinley and Riverside avenues every day this week between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Public relations professor Bob Pritchard tried to rant and rave about the intensity of the Ball State basketball fans at home, but he was unsuccessful.
"My wife told me to shut up," he said.
So "Pritch," as many people call him, took his case to the Scramble Light. More specifically, he appealed to the CCIM soapbox.
"How can Butler University bring 150 students and out-yell the Ball State crowd?" ranted Pritchard. "We have 18,000 students go to this school, but it would take 10,000 to rock Worthen Arena."
The CCIM soapbox is a forum for anyone who has an opinion. The college is using the box to promote CCIM Week, a week dedicated to the media, communications and the First Amendment.
Freshman Adam Wynn discussed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
"We need more T-shirts with cartoons on them," he shouted, while pointing at a friend wearing a "Turtles" T-shirt. "And we need better cartoons."
The First Amendment guarantees the freedoms of speech, religion, assembly and press. Technically, there is nothing stopping students from climbing their proverbial soapbox every day, Pritchard said.
"People may think you are crazy, but there is nothing wrong with it," Pritchard said.
The CCIM soapbox made its debut this year. The idea attempts to emulate Speaker's Corner, a place in London's Hyde Park where people gather to speak their minds or to hear other people speak.
Speaker's Corner was originally an execution ground, where the condemned were allowed a last word before being hanged.
Some topics at the soapbox this week have been Parking Services, Shafer Tower and physics class.
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