Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Nov. 11, 2009, edition 1 / Page 23
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009 {The Blue Banner Page 23 The Blue Banner’s View Butler University foolishly stifles freedom of speech Recently, Butler University filed a lawsuit against one of its students for making allegedly li belous and defamatory statements ^bout administrators on a blog. Jess Zimmerman, a junior and editor of the campus newspaper, Maintains he accurately described conditions on his campus and said fije opinions he expressed on his blog are protected by the First Amendment. Wisely, the university dropped the lawsuit, but significant dam age had already been done. Not only did the litigation fail quiet Zimmerman’s criticism, was intended, but it also cre- ^^od a national public relations Nightmare for the university when Mainstream media outlets picked t“P the story. Zimmerman’s case raises sev eral interesting points. First, it highlights that.the best '''ay for administrators to deal "'fih dissident students and fac- JJfiy is, as the old adage goes, to keep your friends close, and your Cracking down on critics creates a tension that never realty goes away. enemies closer.” Blackballing or cracking down on critics creates a tension that never goes away and exacerbates an already bad situation. Take UNC Asheville for in stance. Here at The Blue Banner, we are sometimes critical of ad ministrators, not because we have a personal vendetta to fulfill, but because we think they are not living up the expectations of this unique, diverse campus. UNCA’s administration, to their credit, has not interfered in any way and continues to support an unfettered student press, unlike Butler. Some administrators undoubt edly would say criticism of uni versity leadership, whether at Butler or UNCA, harms the uni versity. It is similar to the argu ment the Bush administration used to silence critics following 9/11. What those who raise such complaints fail to see is that it is possible to love an institution but disagree with its leadership. If students like Zimmerman cannot challenge authority when they see something wrong on campus, then how can anything improve? Butler administrators attempted to kill the messenger rather than solve the problems he pointed out, and it backfired on them. Even though Butler dropped the lawsuit, the university is still pursuing other disciplinary ac tion, according to an e-mail from Zimmerman. The Blue Banner stands with Zimmerman and is proud he is ac tively taking on Butler. Wishing for things to work out instead of working them out is irresponsible, and Zimmerman demonstrated courage by speak ing out on what, undoubtedly, countless other Butler students and employees already knew. Zimmerman’s case highlights the sad fact that, at universities across the country, the student press is often alone in publicly highlighting failures of school leadership. As we have shown this semes ter, too many cases exist on this campus of faculty anonymously complaining about serious prob lems rather than publicly airing them so that creative and produc tive solutions can be found. Sadly, some of the same faculty who encourage student expres sion and political involvement are themselves silent. But for those who truly cannot speak out for fear of losing their jobs, we will be your voice. The Karpen Hall 019 (826) 251- Jonathan Walczak, £c//for-/n-Cfi/ef horinMallorie, Managing Editor Cassady Sharp, News Editor Sam Hunt, Arts & Features Editor GregHicks, Sports Editor Smm Israel, Photography Editor Tom McLean, Co-Campus Voice Editor Patrick Zarcone, Co-Campus Voice Editor Matt Starkey, Web Editor Editorial Board 6586 www.thebluebanner.net JesseMichel, Design Editor David Milton, Assistant News Editor Erin McWhorter, Assistant Arts & Features Editor lanShannun, Assistant Photography Editor Anna Kiser, Business Manager Patricia Furnish, Copy Desk Cfi/ef Jason Howell, Promof/ons D/rector AiyssaSpmcer, Distribution Director Michael Gouge, Faculty Adviser Have a tip? Jonathan Walczak Editor-in-Chief jmwalcza® unca.edu The Blue Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each Wednesday except during summer ses sions, finals week and holiday breaks Our office is located in Karpen Hall 019. The Blue Banner is a designated fo rum for fi*ee speech and welcomes let ters to the editor, considering them on basis of interest, space and timeliness. Letters and articles should be e-mailed to banner@unca.edu. They should be signed with the writer’s name, fol lowed by year in school, major or other relationship to UNCA. Include a tele phone number to aid in verification ..All articles are subject to editing.
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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Nov. 11, 2009, edition 1
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