Tag: Spring 2009

When the box finally arrived, Falcon editors knew it was more than the server they needed to get their Web site back online. It was a victory.

Parents and educators trying to crack down on "cyberbullying" tell painful stories about students harassing their classmates with text messages and posting hurtful rumors online ' but as many students are finding out, laws and policies against cyberbullying could open new routes to attack substantive student speech.

As mainstream student media across the country fight censorship battleswith their school administrations, alternative publications are popping up insteady numbers in response to their own disfavored symbols of authority 'official student newspapers.

Late last year, Gerian Steven Moore was terminated from his position as adviser to Chicago State University's student newspaper, following what he describes as administrative retaliation for his unwillingness to censor the paper's content.

On Dec. 1 of last year, the University of Washington's Daily doubled the usual size of its Monday edition, but none of the extra column inches included staff-member bylines. Instead, seven full pages were dedicated to reader letters in response to a column printed the prior week.

Constant staff turnover may be a fact of life at student publications, but it puts student journalists at a disadvantage when facing censorship and other conflicts.

To recognize "Sunshine Week," a national commemoration of the vital importance of transparency in government, the journalism interns at the Student Press Law Center conduct an annual "compliance audit" to test whether schools and colleges truly honor their duty to disclose public records.

Journalism professor, adviser loses tenure

WASHINGTON -- The sole journalism professor at Clark College inVancouver, Wash., was denied tenure in March by the school's Board ofTrustees, effectively firing her by June.

Christina Kopinski received a faculty committee recommendation for tenureby a vote of 3-0 with one abstention, but was then denied her job security byboard members who, she said, have yet to provide her with a reason fordenial.

Kopinski suspects board members are unhappy with the investigative approachshe teaches in her journalism classes and encourages at the student newspapershe advises.

Young journalists with help from legislators, propose anti-Hazelwood bills to restore free press rights.

For the handful of college newspapers able to attain it, financial independence from the university is often considered the highest guarantee of editorial freedom.