CALIFORNIA— Students at the University of California at San Diego voted on Friday toreverse a ban on nudity and graphic sex on their student-run television station.Regardless of the vote, however, administrators have said they are not flippingthe station’s switch back on.
University officials have refusedto allow the station back on the air since the student government shut it downlast November. University officials and members of the Student-Run Televisiontask force met for the first time Monday, but no official agreements were maderegarding the station’s return to the air, according to an article in thestudent newspaper, TheGuardian.
The special election came about as a result of apetition signed by more than 2,600 students to reverse a ban put in place by thestudent government, referred to as the Associated Students.
Studentgovernment leaders stepped in to control the station, called SRTV, afterexplicit sexual content appeared repeatedly on one of its shows, promptingoutrage from some students. Explicit material was permissible under the studentgovernment charter, but student leaders attempted to ban sex and nudity on thestation after a television show, “Koala TV,” broadcast sex betweenits host, Steve York, and an adult film actress.
In spite of thevote, the station will remain shut off unless the demands set forth by theuniversity are met and agreed to or some other compromise is reached, SRTVCo-manager Andy Tess said.
The university and the station disagreeon two points: a ban on nudity and graphic sexual content, and a prior reviewboard to review and approve new programs, Tess said.
A 53 percentmajority voted to overturn the ban with 45 percent voting against, according tothe election results from the student government’s Web site. A ban thatbarred York from entering SRTV studios and barred “Koala TV” fromairing on the station was also lifted with 50 percent voting to overturn, and 47percent voting not to.
“We are disappointed that the studentswho participated in the election voted — albeit by a very slimmargin–to repeal the AS legislation prohibiting indecent, sexuallyexplicit programming,” according to a statement university officialse-mailed to the Student Press Law Center. “We remain confident that thevast majority of UCSD students support the values that uphold the integrity ofthe university.”
In order for the election results to be valid,at least 15 percent of the student body has to vote, according to rules for thespecial election. Sixteen percent of the student body voted in the specialelection. Tess said the last full election for the Associated Students hadaround a 20 percent turnout, so to get that many people to vote in the electionwas remarkable, he said.
When the Associated Students originallypassed its ban, York and SRTV staff balked at what they saw as the studentgovernment overstepping its bounds, and a debate ensued. The station was thenordered to shut down on Nov. 4 by the Associated Students because it did notbelieve that the station managers at SRTV would comply with their ban, accordingto an article in the student paper.
But on Nov. 7, universityofficials refused to turn the station back on after the student governmentleaders asked them to.
“They were given false information bythe university,” Tess said. “They were given the ability to turn itoff, but not back on.”
After the shutdown, York and SRTVsupporters immediately began gathering the necessary signatures to have aspecial election to overturn the student government ban. Within six days,students had gathered the necessary amount of signatures, Yorksaid.
The fact that they were able to get more than 2,000 signatureswithin five days for the petition for the special election showed the AssociatedStudents that there were students who thought that “Koala TV” andSRTV were worth fighting for and that they were “pissed off”, Yorksaid.
The main point that the station and its staff stress is theability to allow students to say what they want without administrativecensorship, Tess said.
“Free speech is paramount to everythingfor all of us,” he said.
University officials have said theyare concerned about SRTV damaging the reputation of the university by airingmore pornographic content.
“The purpose of SRTV is to providelegitimate programming relating to campus life and student issues,”according to the university statement. “We do not believe that the TritonCable network should be a forum for airingpornography.”
Officials would not comment beyond the statementat this time, according to a spokeswoman for the university.
Not allstudents may have appreciated York’s brand of pornography, but it hasstirred people on campus into thought provoking discussions, Tesssaid.
“Nothing has touched this many people, had this muchdiscussion, [or] created this much dialogue,” Tess said.
SRTVtask force member Harry Khanna was optimistic about future meetings withadministrators, he told the student newspaper.
“I feel really good that we’ll have thestation back in the next couple of weeks,” Khanna told the paper.
If internal processes fail then the station wouldexplore their legal options, Tesssaid.
–by Ricky Ribeiro SPLCstaff writer
- Administrators shut down campus TV station indefinitely News Flash, 11/17/2005
- Student government bans nudity on campus TV after station airs sex show News Flash, 10/28/2005