Censorship in a college newspaper?

[Sneakiecat]

An article written for Flagler College’s publication, The Gargoyle, then edited by the administration, has students, faculty and the president’s office at odds over the role and future of the newspaper.
President William Abare said the college has the right to control the content of the paper, but students and faculty are demanding a free voice.
The situation has The Gargoyle in an identity crisis, with Abare seeing it as a promotional newspaper and the students hoping to have it a free and independent newspaper.
It started with an article from senior writer Julia Redemske, 22, about the process of students trying to start a Club Unity, a reincarnation of the Gay-Straight Alliance, which the administration denied in October 2004. Club organizers submitted their application, including a petition with more than 160 signatures, on Feb. 7. A decision had yet to come down, the article said.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041207/met_paper.shtml

And the students later protested.

staugustine.com: the oldest city's home on the Net

To give you an idea of the environment there, it's a small, liberal arts school in a small, Southern town.

So, what do you think. Was the president right in doing this or do the students have a right to print an article like the one in question?

 

[IntruderLS1]

I don't think you're going to like my answer, so consider yourself warned.

I think culture and society have the right to defend themselves. This issue is not a gay rights issue. I see it as far larger, and it's something that is happening on a national scale.

If people disagree with your lifestyle, they should not be forced to accept it on a daily basis. There is a this idea that religious people should in no way, shape, or form, express their lifestyle in public, but gay/lesbian/others have some sort of devine right to be open, expressive, and received with open arms by everybody. It's an enormous double standard.

What is your idea of a society, culture, or national identity? What are your views on the United States of America specifically?

It's extreemly easy to fall into the trap of we're all free, and I can do whatever I want, say whatever I want, print whatever I want, etc..., but only at the cost of our culture. There is a list a mile long of ideas, lifestyles, hobbies, morals, etc that we would never in a million years allow to be a part of everyday public life. (animal love, child porn, murder for fun, torture of living things, and on and on forever) Where is the line drawn, and who gets to make that choice?

I personally feel that this country is one of the greatest places in the world, and I feel so proud of what our forefathers have accomplished. In my view, we should continue in the direction that made us great, not constantly redefine our culture to cater to special interests. There is no end to that road. There will ALWAYS be small groups of people who want things changed for them.

 

[Sneakiecat]

I haven't decided how I feel about this yet because I can see both sides of this. But to clarify something, the school is not religious, though we have quite a few religious clubs. There were several reasons why the Gay-Straight Alliance wasn't allowed to form (the college didn't find it needed, there was a limit on club that had already been met, a few more I can't remember). The administration doesn't deny we have a fairly large gay population for a school our size (about 2000 students). But the real problem seems to be if the administration had a right to censor the article because they found "inaccuracies" (I have heard what they were).

 

[IntruderLS1]

Yeah, it's a hard question. I'm in no place to make a judgment for weather they should have done what they did or not, all I can do is hope they did what they felt was the right thing at the time.

FWIW, I wasn't trying to turn your question into a religious or homosexual debate. My main point is the survival of a particular culture.

What were the inaccuracies that they described? If there were patently false or misleading items building into the foundation of the club / magazine, I think that would add a large amount of creadance to what the administration did.

 

[Sneakiecat]

I didn't mean to imply that you were turning it into a religious debate or anything. A lot of people start thinking "religious school" when I say it's small and private. I was just clarifying.

From what I understand, the article implied that the president was stalling in dealing with the club when he claimed that the petition for the club hadn't gone through the right people before him and he had never seen the actual paperwork. He did change a direct quote and take out about 200 words from the article.