Originator: kadie@eff.org
Organization: The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.sganet
Apparently-To: eff-mail-sganet@eff.org
Date:         Wed, 9 Sep 1992 20:07:23 GMT
Comments:     Warning -- original Sender: tag was usenet@EFF.ORG
From:         "Carl M. Kadie" <kadie@EFF.ORG>
Subject:      Re: School Newspaper

It is very important that a campus have at least one student newspaper
that is indendent of both the administration and the student
government. If the SG wants to put out another newspaper/newsletter,
that is fine, but it should not try to replace the independent paper.

Here is the section of the "Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of
Students" about newspapers:
(access information follows)

== excerpt from ftp.eff.org:pub/academic/academic/student.freedoms.aaup ====
D. Student Publications

  Student publications and the student press are a valuable aid in
establishing and maintaining an atmosphere of free and responsible
discussion and of intellectual exploration on the campus. They are a
means of bringing student concerns to the attention of the faculty and
the institutional authorities and of formulating student opinion on
various issues on the campus and in the world at large.

  Whenever possible the student newspaper should be an
independent corporation financially and legally separate
from the university. Where financial and legal autonomy
is not possible, the institution, as the publisher of student
publications, may have to bear the legal responsibility for
the contents of the publications. In the delegation of
editorial responsibility to students, the institution must
provide sufficient editorial freedom and financial autonomy
for the student publications to maintain their integrity of
purpose as vehicles for free inquiry and free expression
in an academic community.

  Institutional authorities, in consultation with students and
faculty, have a responsibility to provide written clarification of the
role of the student publications, the standards to be used in their
evaluation, and the limitations on external control of their
operation. At the same time, the editorial freedom of student editors
and managers entails corollary responsibilities to be governed by the
canons of responsible journalism, such as the avoidance of libel,
indecency, undocumented allegations, attacks on personal integrity,
and the techniques of harassment and innuendo. As safeguards for the
editorial freedom of student publications the following provisions are
necessary.

  1. The student press should be free of censorship and advance
approval of copy, and its editors and managers should be free to
develop their own editorial policies and news coverage.

  2. Editors and managers of student publications should be protected
from arbitrary suspension and removal because of student, faculty,
administrative, or public disapproval of editorial policy or content.
Only for proper and stated causes should editors and managers be
subject to removal and then by orderly and prescribed procedures. The
agency responsible for the appointment of editors and managers should
be the agency responsible for their removal.

  3. All university published and financed student publications should
explicitly state on the editorial page that the opinions there
expressed are not necessarily those of the college, university, or
student body.
==================

- Carl

ANNOTATED REFERENCES

(All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.)

=================
academic/student.freedoms.aaup
=================
Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students -- This is the main
U.S. statement on student academic freedom.

=================
academic/speech-codes.aaup
=================
On Freedom of Expression and Campus Speech Codes Expression - An
official statement of the American Association of University
Professors (AAUP)

It says in part: "On a campus that is free and open, no idea can be
banned or forbidden.  No viewpoint or message may be deemed so hateful
or disturbing that it may not be expressed."

=================
academic/artistic.freedom.aaup
=================
Academic Freedom and Artistic Expression - An official statement of
the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)

It says in part: "In our judgment academic freedom in the creation and
presentation of works in the visual and performing arts, by ensuring
greater opportunity for imaginative exploration and expression, best
serves the public and the academy."

=================
caf
=================
A description to the comp-academic-freedom-talk mailing list. It is a
free-forum for the discussion of questions such as: How should general
principles of academic freedom (such as freedom of expression, freedom
to read, due process, and privacy) be applied to university computers
and networks? How are these principles actually being applied? How can
the principles of academic freedom as applied to computers and
networks be defended?

=================
=================

These document(s) are available by anonymous ftp (the preferred
method) and by email. To get the file(s) via ftp, do an anonymous ftp
to ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4), and get file(s):

  pub/academic/academic/student.freedoms.aaup
  pub/academic/academic/speech-codes.aaup
  pub/academic/academic/artistic.freedom.aaup
  pub/academic/caf

To get the file(s) by email, send email to archive-server@eff.org.
Include the line(s) (be sure to include the space before the file
name):

send acad-freedom/academic student.freedoms.aaup
send acad-freedom/academic speech-codes.aaup
send acad-freedom/academic artistic.freedom.aaup
send acad-freedom caf
--
Carl Kadie -- I do not represent EFF; this is just me.
 =kadie@eff.org, kadie@cs.uiuc.edu =
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU