It's a Sign of the Times at UC Irvine

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

-"Signs" by the 5-Man Electrical Band

Remember that big to do about a sign put up last quarter by the UC Irvine Fire Marshall in an area used by the Muslim Student Union to pray?

"Uhhhh...................yeaaaaaah."

Last quarter, the UCI Fire Marsall put up a sign in that patio area adjacent to the Cross Cultural Center that ordered the area to be left clear.


Photo courtesy of Jihad Watch


Since the sign was being ignored, and this was publicly pointed out, the sign was suddenly removed near the end of the last quarter.

Well guess what. A new sign is now up. Here it is.

What do you think? I like the new color, bright blue as opposed to black. Apparently, the Fire Marshall has decided that people are OK, but storing items is not. Does that include prayer rugs because when I saw it today, there was nobody present, but a couple of prayer rugs were lying around unattended.

When someone from the community called the Fire Marshall's office last quarter to inquire, said person was told that the (original) sign had been put up four years previous and that similar signs were all over the campus, both statements being factually incorrect.

I now have to wonder if they have put up similar blue signs all over campus just on account of little ol' me. I hope not. Personally, I don't recall ever seeing similar signs before at UCI.

What a joke!