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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                Chris Elliott                        Zach Lee                  Christian Palmer
                Geronimo Rodriguez       Blake Whitaker       Kristen Young

College press should not be intimidated

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt another blow to college journalism Tuesday when it refused to hear a case questioning the authority of college administrators to shut down student newspapers that run articles critical of the administration.

That ruling lets stand an earlier decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that extended rules previously only applied to elementary and high school students and teachers to apply to college and university newspapers, as well. Simply put, college students in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin (the three states in the 7th Circuit) are restricted in the same way as some first-graders. 

This is a long way from the 7th Circuit.

Like all student newspapers, The Daily Cougar has a duty to inform its readers, and a problem with the University is something they should hear about.

That said, we don't anticipate any trouble.

On the other hand, a student newspaper that does have to deal with resistance from the administration should not fall silent on the issue. If they do, whatever corruption there may be will be allowed to fester.

If a university fills some positions on political merits instead of real qualifications, it should be reported. If student groups are supported using unfair criteria, it should be reported. If an official dangles his power or threatens a reporter -- even vaguely -- it should be reported.

In the past, even on campuses where the administration has no say in the content of a newspaper, student journalists have turned away from uncovering corruption because of the risks they would have taken in standing up to officials.

Giving the administration official power over editorial content is taking another step in the march toward censorship of the collegiate press that began earlier this month when two editors of an Illinois college newspaper were suspended after publishing six of the 12 controversial Muhammad cartoons.

That's two steps too many.