The AU magazine, American Way of Life, hung an upside-down flag on the Bender parking garage in response to the “dire distress” the United States currently faces, according to AWOL Editor-in-Chief Chris Lewis.
The upside-down flag was hung on one previous occasion, was placed back up on Sept. 20 and removed by 10 a.m. on Sept. 21, Lewis said. The flag was also tampered with, making AWOL wonder if students or the university took the flag down due to its controversial nature.
“AWOL stands in solidarity with the Americans who have been laid-off, left unable to support themselves or their families,” AWOL stated on its Web site. “The thousands of Washingtonians who sleep on the streets each night. The millions who struggle with illness and disease without access to health care. The countless families that have been destroyed by violence and war — in Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Palestine or elsewhere.”
The United States Flag Code reads, “The flag should never be displayed with the Union down, except as s signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property,” under Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8a.
However, AWOL states this action is consistent with the code’s outlines. “It is a time of dire distress,” according to the Web site.
The Code, while providing an outline for civilian use, cannot be legally enforced, according to a 2008 Congressional Research Service Report for Congress. As a result, “different interpretations of various provisions of the Code may continue to be made,” said the report, permitting AWOL’s demonstration of Title 4.
AWOL recognizes that the upside-down flag may appear “jarring” to some students, but Lewis, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said its purpose was to broadcast a message.
“[We] wanted to make a symbolic statement calling attention to the dire distress that exists all over the world,” he said. “Our tax dollars pay for guns that kill innocent people ... We throw tons of uneaten food in the trash at [Terrace Dining Room], while people in this city are malnourished. As students of a mostly affluent university, we are complicit in many of these injustices.”
AWOL was founded in the spring 2008 semester by Bobby Allyn, a senior in CAS, according to Lewis. After many attempts to gain campus recognition, AWOL finally received the Media Board’s approval in the spring 2009 semester, allowing it to receive financial support from AU and to distribute the magazines around campus. AWOL publishes one issue per semester, Romo said.
The goal of the student-run magazine is to put newsworthy issues into focus that have been buried under mainstream news media, said Amberly Romo, an AWOL contributor and sophomore in the School of Communication. AWOL, while focusing on issues the staff finds relevant to the AU community, has a particular political perspective, according to Romo.
“It would be dishonest to say we weren’t left,” Romo said.
Alex Grabowski, a senior in SOC, said he also believes our country is experiencing hardship.
“I agree that our country is in a state of distress because there have been several protests in response the new Obama health care proposal,” he said. “And in several states, such as Michigan, Swine Flu rates have been ridiculously high.”
However, the distress should not be expressed through the flag, he said. “It’s national symbol that should be respected.”
No university officials reported the incident to Public Safety, according to AU’s Communications Specialist Johntice Milton.
The flag gesture is not meant to be offensive, but rather be a symbol for what AWOL aspires to be according to its mission statement — a “progressive magazine that seeks to ignite political and cultural discussions on campus,” Lewis said.
“By hanging the flag upside-down, AWOL doesn’t mean any disrespect to the flag or those who hold it dear,” he said. “We’re not trying to offend. We’re simply trying to send a message.”
You can reach this staff writer at srudnick@theeagleonline.com.
