Thanks to national news, Valentine's Day this year will commemorate one of the most torrid love affairs in the history of modern American youth. I'm speaking, of course, about college students' perpetual romance with their right to free speech.

The New York Times recently reported that the district attorney of Orange County, Calif. has pressed charges against a number of students at the University of California, Irvine for disrupting a speech given by Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren last February. The 11 students, all members of the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine, used Oren's speech as an opportunity to protest what they saw as Israel's criminal actions against the Palestinian people and now face criminal sentences for their actions. The "Irvine 11," as they have come to be known, have rallied the sympathy of much of the faculty at UC Irvine, including 100 professors and administrators who have called for the dismissal of the charges against the students. Supporters of the protesters claim that the university's decision to suspend the Muslim Student Union for one half-semester was punishment enough.

This case raises several important issues regarding political life on college campuses and conflict between state and university authority. Even more interesting is the debate over the extent of students' rights to free speech and the university's obligation to protect them. In my opinion, students certainly have the right to object to statements made by speakers, but the Irvine 11 chose to express themselves in a manner that did not lead to any productive dialogue. This incident calls for a more thorough conversation on the exact nature of the right to free speech at the university in order to protect the best interests of students. I think it is helpful to compare the demonstration by the Irvine 11 to a recent protest here at Brandeis. When Noam Chomsky spoke at Brandeis last November, a group of students staged a silent walk-out in response to his comments. This sort of protest would have been a preferable alternative to the UC Irvine students' disruptive and disrespectful demonstration.