News

CALIFORNIA ' Starting in 2004, colleges and universities in the Golden State will be more likely to be caught if they underreport campus crime statistics.

Gov.

NEW YORK ' A New York state trial court judge has ruled that a group that runs a campus food service and bookstore at the State University of New York at Albany is in violation of the open-meetings law and must open future meetings to the public.

It was a partial victory for Tony Gray, a SUNY student, who sued University Auxiliary Services in February 2002 after being denied access to board meetings.

MINNESOTA ' A university president can be a school's most important asset, so some schools do not want candidates known to the public until the deal is clinched.

When Tom Koutsos, a running back for the Southern Illinois University football team, injured his wrist during a game against Murray State, he never thought that disclosure of his injury could violate federal law.

CALIFORNIA ' The California Supreme Court ruled in November that a company could not sue an Indiana college student in a California court for copyright infringement.

Congress has given college radio stations that broadcast on the Internet like Cayuga Community College's WDWN in Auburn, N.Y., a new lease on life.

As high school students grow more Internet savvy, the Web is playing a bigger role as an avenue for student free expression.

Administrators are striving to be more watchful for criticism or threats posted online by their students, disciplining those who may cross the line and sometimes ending up in court (See COURTS, page 17).

A number of incidents around the country indicate trends in student Web activities and how administrators are reacting.

'Although courts have given school officials broad authority to regulate and punish students' expression while they are in school, teachers and administrators need to recognize that the First Amendment limits their authority to play parent when the students are home,' said Kim Watterson, an attorney working for the American Civil Liberties Union of greater Pittsburgh.

Timm Pilcher, adviser of The Challenger student newspaper at Hoover High School in Des Moines, Iowa, wants to know why he should let an outside party limit what his students report on.

TEXAS ' A student who sued his school district after he was scolded for writing a letter to the editor of the local paper has agreed to an out-of-court settlement.

An agreement was reached after Crosbyton High School student Justin Latimer, his parents, school officials and their lawyers met in December.

VIRGINIA ' The principal at Middlesex High School has halted the insertion of the high school newspaper into a local daily, drastically cutting circulation and leaving students to question his reasoning.

Principal David Bridges said the Big Blue Review should not be considered a public forum for the whole community because it is a learning tool for students.