Parents' Web site prompts defamation lawsuit, restraining order

The fate of a Web site critical of Hargrave Military Academy and its president, Col. Wheeler M. Baker, has turned into a waiting game. The site's creators, Jerry and Melissa Guyles, have been waiting a little over 20 days to find out whether or not they will be allowed to resume operating their site after a federal district court issued a temporary restraining order requiring them to shut it down.

Access granted

Lawmakers in Massachusetts and Georgia have pushed recently for greater access to campus crime information. A bill before the Massachusetts Legislature would make police departments at private schools in the state that have law enforcement authority subject to open records laws. A Senate vote on the Massachusetts bill has been postponed repeatedly.

Freedom fighters honored by SPLC

A student newspaper at a Virginia college and four student newspaper editors at an Ohio high school that battled efforts by school administrators to control the content of their publications have been named the winners of student press freedom awards co-sponsored by the Student Press Law Center.

The staff of The Script at Hampton University received the 2004 College Press Freedom award on Saturday, Nov.

Calls to SPLC legal help hotline jump in 2003

A total of 355 high school and college student journalists contacted the Center for help on freedom of information-related matters last year, up from just 262 calls during the previous year. The Center's finding echoes reports by commercial news media and citizen groups nationwide that, in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, government agencies have tightened control over previously available government information.