News

FLORIDA -- When Nicole Youngblood asked to trade in her scoop-neck drape for a tuxedo, Robinson High School administrators drew the line.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- College radio webcasters face financial burden and possible shutdown from the new royalty rates presented by Librarian of Congress James Billington on Thursday.

The rates are less than those originally proposed by the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel, charging seven-hundredths of a cent per song per listener for web-only and commercial radio simulcasts and two-hundredths of a cent for non-commercial simulcasts.

KENTUCKY -- Kentucky State University's board of regents fired President George W. Reid late last week, rescinding on the three-year contract extension that it had given him in November. Reid was put on paid leave until his contract ends on June 30.

Reid has already contested the decision in state circuit court. A judge refused to halt the dismissal on Monday.

NEW YORK -- Whitesboro High School senior Kathleen Sullivan will not walk with the rest of her class Saturday at graduation after a controversy surrounding questionable content in art she drew for her student yearbook.

Senior Kathleen Sullivan was suspended five days and not allowed to attend graduation for the yearbook cover she drew that includes subtle references to drugs and alcohol.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a ruling that could mean easier access to campus crime information, the U.S.

Student commencement addresses may be a thing of the past at two high schools after controversial speeches at this year's graduations caused legal battles and media frenzy.

CALIFORNIA -- In a decision that recognizes student free-expression rights, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge threw out a $4.35 million sexual harassment verdict June 7 against the Los Angeles Unified School District that resulted from comments published in an underground newspaper distributed on campus.

Judge Kenneth Freeman granted the school district's motion for a new trial, citing excessive damages, prejudicial jury instructions and improper evidence in the case filed by a former Palisades Charter High School teacher.

Janis Adams alleged that students had sexually harassed her in the 10th issue of the Occasional Blow Job. After the paper called Adams a porn star and superimposed her head on a photo of a nude model, the administration banned the publication's distribution and suspended and transferred five of its publishers. Six other students were also suspended for the satirical publication, and a 300-student protest ensued, criticizing the administration for coming down on the students with "an iron fist."

While Adams never pursued a libel claim against the students, she sued the district for failing to take immediate corrective action to address the students' conduct.

WYOMING -- Editors of the Branding Iron are considering suing the University of Wyoming for withholding the details of two on-campus sexual assaults.

Editors are seeking the release of locations and witness names under the state open-records law after limited information about the incidents was released on April 5.

ILLINOIS -- The threat of having no greater press freedom than that of high school students has college editors, advisers and professors on edge in the Midwest.

MONTANA -- It's tough to hear a high school student express hopelessness against "the powers that be." But hopeless is how senior Kenny Volk feels after trying to fight the Great Falls school board for his First Amendment rights.

Volk was expelled from Great Falls High School when the school punished him for posting photographs of female classmates on his personal Web site under the heading "10 Hottest Freshman Girls." A district court had originally granted an injunction in Volk's favor, but an oversight ended the injunction before Volk's appeal process had finished.

The injunction that attorney Ron Bissell had filed for Volk only extended until the board's March 11 meeting, and ran out as soon as the meeting convened.