News

Minnesota Supreme Court rules against college student in off-campus speech case

Update: The Court has ruled against Amanda Tatro, holding that "a university may regulate student speech on Facebook that violates established professional conduct standards," where the restrictions on speech are "narrowly tailored and directly related to established professional conduct standards." They declined to apply either Hazelwood or TinkerSEE OUR NEWS FLASH FOR DETAILS ON THE DECISION-------------------We're expecting a significant court decision tomorrow morning (Wednesday) on the First Amendment rights of college and university students, particularly when posting about their schools on social media.The case involves Amanda Tatro, a former mortuary sciences student at the University of Minnesota who posted comments on Facebook about "playing" with a cadaver in her anatomy class and wanting to stab someone with an embalming tool.

Seattle college paper returns to print four years after censorship controversy

Four years after its print edition was canceled, The New City Collegian is back in business — for one day, at least.On Tuesday, the student newspaper at Seattle Central Community College published its first print edition since 2008, when it found itself at the center of a national censorship debate that resulted in the elimination of all funding for the newspaper and the resignation of the faculty adviser.The newspaper has been operating as an online-only publication since that time.

Using corporate records to check up on campus contractors

Colleges spend billions annually contracting with private vendors to supply everything from staplers to stadiums. At times, colleges have been caught steering their purchases to politically connected vendors, or those with ties to campus insiders, instead of going after the best quality and price. And at times, colleges have failed to do their homework on vendors that turned out to be unsavory. That’s where you – and public records – come in.