News

TEXAS -- A Wichita Falls judge ruled Friday that the Midwestern State University Board of Regents violated the state open-meetings act when it failed to properly notify the public of pending action against former President Henry Moon.

The district judge granted the Times Record News' request for a temporary injunction against the regents, voiding their decision to fire Moon, who was embroiled in controversy and subsequently placed on administrative leave in August 2001.

"I was elated by the outcome," said Carroll Wilson, editor of the paper that filed the suit after the regents met on June 11 to consider Moon's status at the university, including the possibility of ending his administrative leave and pay status.

The suit, filed on June 14, alleged that the board violated the open-meetings act when it retired to executive session along with attorney Roger Lee and Texas Assistant Attorney General James Todd.

WEST VIRGINIA -- Upholding the U.S. Supreme Court's stance on anti-war expression, a jury ruled July 12 that Katie Sierra's attempts to start an anarchy club at Sissonville High School could not be quashed.

CALIFORNIA -- Janet Ewell has her job back -- for now.

The veteran adviser at Rancho Alamitos High School's La Nueva Voz was reinstated July 1, nearly a month after the principal removed her because her students published several editorials critical of the school.

FLORIDA -- Two Miami area teachers were recognized in May for their fight to maintain press freedom, almost four years after they sponsored a protest in front of the Miami-Dade County School Board.

Brenda Feldman, a teacher at Coral Gables Senior High School and Shirley Yaskin, a teacher at Miami Palmetto Senior High School, were honored May 9 by the Celebrate Free Speech project, a program run by the Florida chapter of People For the American Way.

COLORADO -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled June 27 that family and friends of two Columbine High School shooting victims do not have a First Amendment right to display decorative tiles that bear religious symbols as part of a school beautification project.

The three-judge panel overturned the decision of U.S.

WISCONSIN ? In a victory that may lead to easier media accessibility to school admission records, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that University of Wisconsin officials must comply with open-records requests and release information about applicants that does not compromise individual identities.Reversing a state court of appeals, the court ruled that exemptions under federal and state law do not allow the board of regents to deny the release of the information sought by law student J.

TEXAS -- A second year medical student who was expelled from Texas Tech's medical school for writing a newspaper column has been granted a temporary injunction and will be allowed back into school.

Sandeep Rao will be allowed back into classes when they resume on July 8.

OHIO -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today upheld an injunction sought by the U.S.

CALIFORNIA -- The University of California at San Diego has dropped student disciplinary charges against The Koala, an underground humor publication whose editors faced punishment that some say amounted to censorship.

Although the board ruled last week that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the charges against The Koala, the lawsuit filed by the publication against the university alleging repeated attempts to silence the humor publication remains active.

"Obviously, we think that the problems we are having with the university have not disappeared and we are hopeful that our lawsuit may help remedy some of the causes of these issues," said Koala editor George Liddle.

In its decision, the board denied that the proceedings had anything to do with the paper's satirical nature.

"The student complaint and hearing focused exclusively on alleged disruptive behavior by an alleged Koala staff member," the university said in a press release.