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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

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

It's been a bad week, y'all

Cougar Pride: F

We don't want to jinx it, but the men's basketball team has won in its last eight games to pull out of a midseason funk and have a legitimate shot at making the NCAA Tournament. 

That's pretty big, but a look at fan attendance is a little disappointing: We average only 4,404 fans at each game. That's only barely more than Rice's 3,907, and we should blow Rice out of the water when it comes to sports attendance.

Getting up to Memphis' 11,440 seems more than a little optimistic, but even East Carolina averages substantially more than we do, with the turnstiles counting an average of 4,967 fans at each game.

The three remaining games on the regular-season schedule are crucial, and when Rice comes to Hofheinz Pavilion on Wednesday, we should let their fans know just how much better we are by crushing them with the weight of our spirit.

We can't let them beat us twice in the same season.

Press Censorship: F

It's been a bad week for freedom of the press, especially the collegiate press. Two editors were suspended for their parts in publishing the Danish Muhammad cartoons, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on a ruling that says college administrations can shut down student newspapers for printing critical articles.

Both of the decisions happened in the Midwest, so we at The Daily Cougar don't face any immediate threats, but the implications of the decisions are that college press really isn't as free as it is often assumed to be. 

Even more than professional newspapers, college newspapers need the freedom to publish what they deem appropriate material -- even if it is critical of the administration.

College journalists need the room to learn, or they are not getting the experience they should from working at a student newspaper. 

Those who wish to curtail the ability of college journalists to learn ensure that tomorrow's professional journalists will make more mistakes.