Newspapers / Winston-Salem State University Student … / April 1, 2006, edition 1 / Page 4
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Read on WSSU committed to being responsive to needs of students and staff. Debate over censorship of school newspapers continues. The News Argus Spring/Summer 2006 OPINION Court blessing of censorship echoes at second lUinois campus By Matthew Chayes KRT WIRE SERVICE The problems, say student journalists at Illinois Central College in East Peoria, began after their longtime adviser retired and a new one unveiled a policy that broke with past practice: He would have final say over the content of the campus newspaper. The Harbinger, but the paper's top editors say he promised never to use the power. In less than two months, adviser Michael Gray began telling the students whom to hire and what to print, they say, and a few weeks ago he ordered the staff to run a biog raphy of himself in the paper. "He pulled a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and started demanding that we run his bio," said Brandon Hagan, 20, The Harbinger's associate editor. Gray said the biography was just a suggestion to introduce him to the college community. He said he also asked the stu dents to print their biographies. Gray also said he has encouraged editors to pursue hard-hitting stories. "I think they should be expected to listen to the adviser," he added, noting he had worked as a professional journalist. Press advocates predict such disputes between student journalists and officials will become more common now that the Supreme Court has upheld a decision by a Chicago-based federal appeals court involv ing Governors State University in Chicago's south suburbs. The Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va., which defends the 1st Amendment rights of student journalists, has seen an upsurge in complaints about administrators trying to control student newspapers' content in the aftermath of the Governors State decision, Hosty vs. Carter. The case began in 2000 when Patricia Harris, a dean at the university, ordered a now-d^efunct student newspaper. The Innovator, not to publish until officials could review each issue. The students, led by man aging editor Margaret Hosty, sued, citing free-speech rights. In its ruling, the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals suggested that colleges could declare their student publications non-public forums and, as at high schools, censor them. In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, a coalition of free-speech groups called the decision "a grave threat to academic free speech" that "endangers the very existence of independent college media." In February, the court declined the case. Legally, the precedent applies only to pub lic colleges in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin — the three states covered by the appellate court. But nationwide, college editors and administrators are tinkering with their papers' policies to prepare for battles over content. The battlefield is on the campuses of pub lic universities that fund student newspa pers. Do 1st Amendment principles mean administrators must keep hands off, or can a school argue that if it's paying, it gets some say over content? Press freedom is well-established in American law, but student-run newspapers operate in a relatively murky area. In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that high schools have significant censorship authori ty, but the court hasn't extended that author ity to colleges. In Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, at least, the answer might depend on whether a paper can convince its school to declare it a public forum. That would grant it editorial freedom and give the school some legal pro tection if someone sues. "Much of the action in student press cases, in the 7th Circuit at least, will now focus on whether the publication is a public forum or a non-public forum," said Gary Feinerman, the solicitor general of Illinois. At Illinois Central, Harbinger editor-in- chief Dawnell Zeine expected to hear soon about the outcome of the school's legal review of the newspaper handbook. Vice President Bruce Budde said the review is pending. The students maintain that in telling them to run his bio. Gray was issuing an order, not making a suggestion. They provided e- mail exchanges with Gray, the authenticity of which was corifirmed by a college spokes woman, to validate the claims. "The new handbook ... makes it clear that I am the final word," Gray wrote to one of the editors on March 1. "Are you in or out?" The Gray bio didn't run after Zeine balked. Seven months before the Supreme Court declined to take up the Hosty case, Christine Helwick, California State University's general counsel, told all 23 campus presi dents in the Cal State system that the appel late court ruling could permit official censor ship when newspapers aren't labeled "pub lic forums." "Censorship is appropriate," she wrote in a memo obtained by the Student Press Law Center, when a school regularly supervises and reviews content. Boone From the Editor: Change, growth and opportunity come from within By Lisa R. Boone The choices we make determine the lives we load. With graduation just around the comer and my term as editor-in-chief of The News Argus quickly coming to an ■«i^d^6o many thoughts flood .my mind. What would life be like if 1 had not attended WSSU? What will the next chapter of my life be like? When I came to WSSU in the fall of 2002, 1 had a plan. Although there have been some changes or adjustments to that plan, I have still stayed true to the main parts of that plan. I believe a decision I made as early as elementary school has carried me to this point and will continue to shape my life. After realizing that my attitude about learning and desire to inform was much different than some of the attitudes of my peers, 1 decided that only I could get myself where I wanted to go, and in order to get there, I needed to step out of the crowd so I could see the way. An excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self- Reliance" explains my conclusion about the deci sion I made early on in life. "What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what people think ... But do your work and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself." As a student at WSSU, I have been afforded many opportunities and have taken advantage of the resources here. Upon graduation, I will partici pate in the Poynter Summer Fellowship for Young Journalists. I have been chosen to interview for the Hearst Newspapers Fellowship and have applied for a Howard Simons Fellowship. A simple deci sion, a piece of paper, a pen and the desire to let my voice be heard has changed my life. WTiat will you choose to do? Dr. Blount leaves post as chairperson to teach Dear WSSU Community: Being asked by The News Argus to provide this letter of transitional notice to you gives me great honor. For the past 14 years, I have had the pleasure and privilege to serve as the ci\airpers6n for the Department of Mass Commun ications. On July 1, 2006, another phase of my professional life will begin. For personal reasons, in the capaci ty as a tenured Associate Professor, I will enter the classroom on a full-time basis. With much excitement Dr. Brian Blount and anticipation, I will join a team of dedicated educators and researchers who possess great passion and pride for their discipline. As I make this transition from the position as an administrator of the departmervt into role as a hull-time teacher, I feel obli gated to take this opportunity to thank the many individuals who collaborated for the purpose of con tributing to the overall success that our pro gram has experienced through out its existence. Approximately five years before I first assumed the lead ership responsibilities of the unit in 1992, the program was considered relatively new. Visionary planning and effec tive leadership before I arrived positioned the department to accomplish many significant ^oals and objectives. Throughout the years, we have grown to become one of the largest departments at the university. As a result of the current WSSU administration's strategic efforts, the number of high-achieving students increased also. Unquestionably, the unit will continue to ascend to greater levels of achievement in all aspects. With perpetual hard work and anticipated successes by a comprehensive assembled team that is dedicated to pro viding a high caliber of educa tional services, without any doubt, the students who enter the Department of Mass Communications to genuinely learn the essential tenets of the Fourth Estate will depart to e^ecti vely^ sScv.e tV\e ircvpeTaNfwe: media needs for all citizens. Again, thank you very much for the distinct honor and pleasure that I have been afforded while serving as the chairperson of the Department of Mass Communications, Sincerely, Brian C. Blount, Ed.D Chairperson HeAfZtfJe i^Ofze pkofanitv '' ^ look! THevA«2e TH^Y MUSr THIMfi it'5 STlut-.,,, What's on your mind? The News Argus welcomes letters to the editor. Please send letters to newzargus@yahoo. com, with the subject line "Letter to the Editor." Include your full name, including mid dle initial, classification at the university (i.e., freshman, sophomore, junior or senior), and the name of your home city and state. All let ters are subject to editing and should be limit ed to 200 words. Strategic Issues drive WSSU’s committed to excellence As we continue to develop pro grams and best business practices around the WSSU Strategic Issues, we must enhance our understand ing of these Issues as driving our commitment to excellent. As I have discussed Curricular and Non- curricular modifications to pro duce high demand graduates and Branding, I would like to share insight regarding Effectiveness and Efficiency. As one of the university's five Strategic Issues, the Effectiveness and Efficiency Strategic Issue guides us in continuing to be more customer focused. This prac tice of customer focus attempts to address the needs of our primary customers, the students, but also the needs of faculty, staff, and external partners as we interact within our university environ ment. In this effort, we have iden tified the following seven strategic areas for enhancing our customer cliancellor's C comer with Dr. Harold L Martin focus; assess business practices, staff development, performance management, adult and distance learners, policies and procedures, safety and security, and informa tion technology. Assessment of business practices as a strategic area has been an on-going focus and has led to new initiatives. One example has been our need to streamline our hiring process. We recognized the need to put a system in place that would create a higher level of electronic track ing of applications from start to finish, continued connectivity between Human Resources and the EEO Office, and a reduced- paper process, all delivered through a system that is user- friendly and adaptable to chang ing needs. With these needs in mind, we selected the People Admin Program as the system to meet our needs in an efficient manner. This program will streamline our hiring process while maintaining a user-friendly interface for hiring managers. Another strategic area is that of policies and procedures. In recog nizing the need to update our policies and procedures, we moved forward to develop a com prehensive document that will be available for viewing on our web site. Yet, we were also cognizant of the need to provide an effective sharing site to update the policies and procedures on a regular and to provide training for faculty and staff regarding policies and proce dures in their respective areas. Through the use of a specially designed software program, this management and training module will have an efficient delivery sys tem that will assist faculty and staff in better understanding and updating policies and procedures that affect daily operation. We have also continued to focus on safety and security. If we are to maintain effective operations, we must feel that we are maintaining a safe and secure environment. This is an area of concern expressed by you, the students, as an important consideration regarding your college experience. In an effort to address this con cern, we have continued to assess your concerns and develop strate gies for implementation. This includes adding four additional police-officer positions, maintain ing our bike patrols, working closely with city officials to address potential safety threats, continuing to address emergency preparedness needs, obtaining feedback from the campus com munity regarding safety and secu rity concerns, and conducting reg ular assessment of the department to ensure that best practices are maintained.If we are to continue to succeed, we must embrace the perspective that maintaining best practices is representative of our continued commitment to excel lence. This commitment is increas ingly important as we challenge ourselves to be innovative, insightful, and intrigued by new opportunities. As well, this com mitment will drive us to deter mine new strategic areas as our needs change, to use our resources to address those strate gic areas, and to maintain a sys tem of self-assessment that pro vides a vehicle for identifying new concerns. This must continue to be our commitment as we provide a quality environment for members of our campus community.
Winston-Salem State University Student Newspaper
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April 1, 2006, edition 1
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