A student paper in New Jersey is unable to print its first issue of the semester because the student government that funds the paper freezes its entire budget. Three editors of the student paper at a private university in Illinois resign when officials tell them they cannot publish controversial content without prior approval. A student paper in Colorado is kept in the dark about a media giant's attempt to buy it. All these events happened this year at colleges where the student papers are still under the watchful eye of the university administration.
Tag: Spring 2008
Campus Press under pressure
Journalism faculty met with Campus Press staffers on April 2 to discuss the possibility of separating the publication from the journalism department. The meeting, which was taped and posted on the Campus Press Web site, quickly became tense as Herdy commented on a lack of faculty support for an independent Campus Press.
From freeze to freedom
After years of struggling to be released from the financial reins of the Student Government Association, the student paper at Montclair State University finally gained independence from the SGA ' but it was no easy feat.
Despite April spike, theft rate steady
The Student Press Law Center received reports of 13 newspaper thefts from January through April. Six thefts took place in April, including four in one week. But the total number of thefts reported for the school year so far --19 -- is on par with the rate of thefts in recent years. Some student papers were able to reprint and redistribute to make up for what had been lost, but some could not afford to reprint. Five of the largest thefts this year involved more than 2,000 copies of student papers stolen.
Voices no longer 'captive'
Almost none of the area high schools had newspapers in 1984 when two Bristol Press reporters started a community newspaper written for and by teens.
SMOKE THIS: School pulls papers, objecting to article on hookah health effects
Globe High School's student newspaper The Papoose was not under prior review when the 2007-08 school year began. But that changed on Dec. 7, when school officials confiscated 700 papers.
Risque business
S-E-X -- if you are a high school journalist the three-letter word often can be a quick ticket to administrative criticism.
OPEN SEASON: Private police facing greater public scrutiny
An attorney's frustrating quest to obtain documents needed to defend her client has highlighted the difficulty that many across the nation experience in accessing police records at private universities and colleges.
Congress might mandate more campus crime data
Academia represents a special subset of society where, for a short time, collegians are allowed to flourish in knowledge, free expression and self-discovery, relatively free from "real world" worries and stresses. The idealistic promises of college, however, have been marred in recent years with spurts of violence.
Looks like government — open like government?
Twice this year, Student Government Association members at Western Illinois University used secret ballots to vote on important campus issues, an athletic fee increase and implementation of a plus and minus grading system. The SGA had been using the method for some time with seemingly good intentions -- to expedite and simplify the voting process. Little did members know it was potentially illegal and a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.