The text message to students read: "From Public Safety. Male was found on campus with rifle. Please stay in your buildings until further notice. He is in custody, but please wait until the all clear."

Frank Daniel LoMonte will be the Student Press Law Center's next executive director, officially joining the SPLC on Jan. 2, 2008.

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As many Report readers know, at the end of 2007 I am leaving the Student Press Law Center to become the Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University. After 22 years as executive director, I can say what a wonderful experience this has been.

? The story "Students, adviser reach agreements with college," in the Fall 2007 SPLC Report, should have noted that the student paper at Ocean County College did receive the right to choose its own Web site as part of its settlement with the school.

When criticism and scrutiny hit the newsroom, it is the editor who absorbs much of the flak. Keeping a cool head -- and having a little media savvy -- is important when hoards of protesters are calling for your removal, collegiate press experts say. But having a good understanding of school speech policies, your publication board's bylaws and the law might help more when fighting to keep your job.

It happened after hours, in the dark, when the reporters and editors had all gone home.

For many journalists, the passage of the Free Flow of Information Act through the House of Representatives was an important step in creating the first federal shield law, which would protect journalists from being compelled by federal prosecutors to disclose their sources and other unpublished material in most circumstances.