Who owns a student newspaper?

"Timely help for student speech", The Oregonian, March 29.

This editorial, among other things, says "And there's no bright line between teenage speech that's clearly out of line and speech that's simply juvenile, inspired or uncomfortably true. "

Actually, I think there is a bright line. To quote:

Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one. ~Abbott
Joseph Liebling, "Do You Belong in Journalism?" New Yorker, 4 May 1960

Who owns a high school student newspaper? That is, after all, the ultimate question isn't it? If I am a reporter for the Oregonian, and I turn in a story that is unacceptably biased, and my editor chooses not to run it, are they engaging in censorship? Of course not...the owners of a press (and their representatives) have every right to exercise editorial control over the entity they own.

Do students own the student paper? My thought is that they don't...it is ultimately the newspaper of the school, and is owned by the school (and, ultimately, the state of Oregon). Certainly there should be significant deference given to freedom of expression. After all, a school paper is supposed to be an educational endeavor. But if a faculty member exercises their editorial control over a paper they ultimately own is not an infringement on freedom from speech, but is rather an editor/publisher...well, editing. If the students truily want something they completely control, they should do as I did in my subversive youth...and start their own paper, independent of the school.

To pause and think

I was musing tonight about polarization - about the continuing divide in this country between groups of people. I heard a commentator talk about "red states" and "blue states" as if we were two different countries. It struck me that it's possible different states have not been divided up into two factions in such stark terms since the civil war.

And then I read Robert F. Kennedy's talk the night Martin Luther King was shot. (Here is a link to it if you are curious.And I was struck by something...perhaps we don't always realize the danger of attacking the motives of good, honest people who we disagree with. Because the road isn't necessarily long between vilifiying and subsequently dehumanizing our political opponents, and sticking a rifle to the head of a fellow American citizen and pulling the trigger.

It's interesting to note that with all the wars we've fought, it's still true that the one where the most life was lost...was the one we fought against ourselves.

Student's Public Praying - Legitimate Expression or Dangerous Activity?

Where two or more students are gathered in God's name . . . there is controversy

This article in the Oregonian today piqued my interest. The basic facts are:

• Some students gathered to pray regularly in a “commons” area of the school.
• The principal, feeling it was blocking the way of students and teachers, asked them to move to a classroom to pray.
• They refused.

Of course, both sides are lining up for the show. Here’s an excerpt:

"The case has already been seized upon by national figures and advocacy groups.
The Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based conservative legal advocacy group aligned with The Rev. Jerry Falwell, has thrown its support behind the students, threatening to sue the district over the principal's suspensions. School officials received numerous complaints Thursday from radio listeners in Wisconsin, and a Christian radio station in Florida plans to air a discussion of the incident and issue, and area churches have phoned in solidarity.
On the other side is Heritage High and Evergreen Public Schools, whose administrators say they were just trying to get students to class safely and on time, and evenhandedly apply rules about student gatherings. The school, just north of east Vancouver, is nestled in a working-class neighborhood of modest homes. "

Not all the folks in the religious community in the area are lining up behind the students, however. Here is what Roger D. Miller, principal of Vancouver Christian High School, had to say:

Do I think students should follow policies for how to organize a group? Yes. Do I think sometimes religious groups in schools get unfair treatment? I'd probably agree with that, too. Whether this is one of those cases, I don't know.

My take

To me, it boils down to one basic question…were the students actually blocking reasonable access to areas of the school for other students and teachers? If so, it’s a no-brainer…they have to pray somewhere else. If the reverse is true, then this is clearly a case of an attempt to deny freedom of expression.

"The Barack I Knew"

This article on townhall.com by Carol Platt Liebau, who worked with Obama many years ago on the Harvard Law Review, is fascinating. She is a strong conservative who doesn't agree with Obama on much of anything policy-wise...yet she has many complimentary things to say about him.

She said he is:

• intelligent
• colorblind
• self-confident
• a good listener
• has a great sense of humor

As Obama is my choice (at least early on), this sounds pretty encouraging, coming from a conservative.