A state bill was introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate on March 23 that, if it becomes law, would allow all students--elementary and high school--to have portraits taken by a photographer of their choosing included in the yearbook, rather than one the school or yearbook staff has chosen.
Tag: Spring 2005
Students’ off-campus Web publications out of schools’ reach, two courts affirm
In separate victories for students? free expression on personal Web sites, judges ruled in two recent cases that school officials acted in violation of students? First Amendment rights when they punished the students for off-campus Web sites they created that were critical of their schools.
N.H. court rejects student's claim that school unfairly banned photo
Londonderry High School student Blake Douglass sued his school district in October in order to force the yearbook to publish his photo, claiming the ban violated his constitutional rights. Douglass’ photo showed him clad in trapshooting clothing, kneeling with a shotgun propped over his shoulder. Douglass said he wanted to express his enthusiasm for his favorite hobby, trapshooting.
H.S. editor fired over article
Troy High School officials wrongfully justified their firing of the editor of the student newspaper with a section of the state education code that requires parental permission before schools question students about their sex lives, according to a legal analyst for the California Department of Education.
Schools block sex-related content
A cartoon showing stick figures in varying sexual positions, an article about sexually transmitted diseases and condoms and an article about the moral issue of virginity were censored by administrators who deemed them “too mature” for high school audiences this year.
Feeling the Squeeze
The voices of students who broadcast from their high school and college radio stations are in danger of being silenced due to a seldom-invoked Federal Communications Commission rule that says stations may have to share their airtime with others if they are on the air less than 12 hours a day.
Off-campus non-profit organizations are using this time-share agreement rule to file for demands to share broadcast time or take over non-commercial school stations.
Colorado passes law to battle secrecy, scandal in public university foundation
Allegations of sexual assault and drug and alcohol abuse during football recruitment plagued the University of Colorado last year, leading lawmakers and state officials to eye the University of Colorado Foundation, which held key documents that would indicate how some funding for recruitment was spent.
Apple alleges student Web publisher misappropriated trade secrets on site
CALIFORNIA ? Harvard University student Nick Ciarelli created ThinkSecret.com in 1998 as a way to showcase his enthusiasm for Apple products. Seven years later, he is fighting to keep the site online.
Court: Cornell records open
In an open-records battle spanning more than four years between the Cornell University School of Agriculture and a radio talk-show host, the highest state court ruled partly in favor of each side in February.
Public university foundation cannot conceal donor records, courts rule
KENTUCKY ? The University of Louisville foundations? records were opened by the state courts for good in December 2004, joining a series of other public universities who were recently dealt similar rulings.
The Louisville Courier-Journal sued the University of Louisville Foundation, the school?s fundraising arm, in May 2003 seeking the names of its 45,000 donors.