万花筒 Kaleidoscope2007-10-01&10-02, 哥伦比亚大学“迎接”伊朗总统（在线收听）

We are here in Columbia University where hundreds of students have gathered, most of them to protest the appearance and speech of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, uh, who is speaking at the Columbia University World Leaders Forum today. For about six hours, a program of students that includes groups ranging from the College Democrats to the Campus Republicans, the Columbia Queer Alliance to the Columbia Chapters of the ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union) and Hallel are speaking and the majority of the groups are opposed to Mr. Ahmadinejad's appearance. Many of them have criticized the University's administration for allowing Mr. Ahmadinejad to speak and for inviting him to speak here today.

I don't think this is a matter of free speech, this is hate speech. And if someone if some one from the like the KKK wanted to come speak at Columbia. I'm not sure we would open up the doors and create a forum for him or her to speak.

Student groups have gathered in the main campus of Columbia outside Low Library for a series of speeches and they have planned to interrupt the speeches for about an hour and a half, to actually listen to an audio cast of Mr. Ahmadinejad which will be broadcast right here outdoors in the campus.

I'm really curious to see what's gonna go on and I support him coming here because you know what. He is a president of a nation, he is allowed to talk, you know we are not endorsed seeing him. Free speech is, is obvious supreme as since, and therefore he should be allowed to speak as long as he's.. as long as we can engage him in dialogue. So I’m not convinced that it will actually be all too engagement dialogue because again there are just questions that he will be able to prescreen and respond to at that time.

Mr. Ahmadinejad is scheduled to speak on Tuesday before the United Nations General Assembly where many many world leaders obviously are speaking this week. He is expected to face considerable, um, protest out the UN as well. In fact, today at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, um, a large, a contingent of protestors, many of them organized by pro-Israeli organizations, have gathered to protest Mr. Ahmadinejad’s visit and they planned to do so again on Tuesday when Mr. Ahmadinejad will actually be speaking before the UN.