studentpress law center

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Vol. 5 No. II Spring �SB4 EDITOR Jennifer A. Fine Un r lty of I( nsa WRITERS Contents Alan Weintraub J. Marc Abrams Amont; n Un,veJ 'tv l!w.· S :::hOOl Slud nI Pre".• Matthew Bolster LAW Cenl Courts...... 3 Yorklown HI h SC hoQI • Minnesota Daily. Regents reach seltlement ...... 3 Mlnglon. Ve ART • Iowa St. Daily appeals decision ...... 3 Aaron B. Cole • State Coun rulescolleges not liable ...... 4 COVER Bob Staake • Editor, school officials settle out-of-court ...... 4 Bob Staake Bruce Young

director Censorsh ip ...... J Marc Abrams 5

• Judge rules yearbook 'public fo rum'...... S Corpora te Board of Dire ctors • Censored ed ilorial printed after dispute ...... S .J.Marc Abrams • Hazelwood case goes to court...... SPLC censorship ...... 6 Or. Dorothy 8Qwles • Survey reveals censorship ...... 6 Wdiam Allen 1I1Ihi.., Sc , • Board decision stops lawsuit ...... 7 � School .. . r �arrv Q' f(. • Student awaits Board decision on guidelines ...... 8 Or Regis L Boyle • Censored cartoo n spurs guideline proposal s...... 9 C� o;� �v f Maf\.�*'CI • Staff awaits AG opin ions ...... ) 0 Ron Clemmons T","*, -=School ,. �""O II F;HdDmQ" ,,,, Student paper VS. Student government Dr. Dorothy J. Cline o.pr M �1IItd M/JU Lou se On Commt� WQm«II(I Cotnm.n r In - Or is a happy combination possible?...... 10 SourII 0aIccmI 5, U_ II' Tom Rolnick! Steve Oomf Id SoI1I"I� � A$lIIDCIol_. �-R� """"""'" Albert Scroggins FOI: Fighting fo r your right to know ...... 14 Christopher Fager. E Q. �ol� F� " S.O(Jt!I c..w.- Il" ofScovllt CIIroi< �oc Mich801 D. Simpson, ESQ. Nancv Green E� Aa�rIon Administration ...... 18 T_ Studenl �r_ Edmund .,J. Sullivan �qfT. aI A.. 'In • ...... CobnbI&� Paper turns budget over to University ...... 18 ,., David Hec\(en • Paper survi ves budget CUI5...... J 8 Vouth fIbIIcy In ",.,,. Raben Tra ger. ESQ. • A rticles cause new regs fo r rushing ...... 19 Carol Ann Hall P.«tIOtI ..86 Oowd .

Joutflllhsm • ...... SI:ttn(>I of Craig Trygstad Students challenge guidelines ...... 19 Clhoo 5utf U_81ft' Youth CommunQI Dr. Louts E. In lehan Ben Van Zanle DerJr oJ .JourrI

The SPL C Repon SPLC R�port. pubJished thrft llmes each year by the St udenl Libel ...... 21 PIns Law Cenler, ummame!l current onlro erst invo)\,ing • Prof. files $9 million lawsuit ...... 21 IlUCIeol pres� ri&hts. The • PtC R 'POT' is researched. \Hillen ud produced mlilT\)' by Joum ali!>m and law Iud nt inl m.s. • Michigan firmsues paper...... 21

The PLC seek S(udent-prochll-N draWlnp nr ph(u ph" • School Board member sues editor ...... 22 to iDustrale the SPIJ R t'POTT Pkase send copi 0 ur • 'Dog of a suit' continu� ...... 22 malerial 10 the SPlC office. • Dartmo u th editors await decision ...... 22 SludclJl Press law Ce nleT R port. Vol. V. No. 2. Spring 1984. is publi hed bV Ihe . tud nl Pre La,,' CentcT. Suite . • New ad policy results from libel. suit ...... 23 8(lO 181h In:el, N\\'. Washington. DC 20006 (202l 466-S.N:!. Copyri&ln C 11)84, Stud nl � law ('.:-n l r. II righl!> re;served. Yearl) � Sub5cnplion 10 Ihe SPLC' Rrpart I 00. Report Card ...... 24 AD other conlrjbulion� art "'� d duclibJc. wbscnpllon order ro rm appears on page I. SlucicDI Press Law(cnt r \Ii J me �ubmi iOM of 1m I . Ethics drawinp. cartoons II Delli . tiJX PI help !be PL inform the �hota\lJ J umali-m community by (Q nlObull When to print. . . When n01 10 ...... 26 )"Our skills 10 lit PlC Report. The Siud nI Pm w ( enler 1'>0 om CI r e the Ma nual Srudelll E. pro lUll. 111 f IN ,.1m ndfllc'nI fo r . RIght Copyright Law ofIIr lI"h hool Pro fo r SlOO (2-10 (; PI $2.00 c ch. more than 10 COPICS $1 each . The m nual pr nil) SPLC Copyright Pri mer ...... 28 beiDi m' l!CdBnd Ih new dillon buuJ be a".IIabl In 19 .

2 SPLC Report Spring 198. COURTS

Four-year case ends Minnesota Daily, Regents, reach settlement h v�t� �;n���:�:irn�ft1 : nesota Board of Regents ��:have �II I ) reached an out-of-court settlement nnecot a d al -I Y to a lawsuit filed four years ago. Although an apology about the bumor issue was The Board decided in February not to appeal the published, Minnesota residents, legislators and church Eight Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that said the groups we re offended, and in 1980, the Regents said Board acted unconstitutionally when it made the Dai­ that the $2.73 for each enrolled student from the ly's student fee funds refundable instead of mandatory. student activity fee that supplied 15 percent of the The court also denied a' request to review the decision. Daily's budget would be refunded if a student requested The financing change was made after a April 1979 the money.

humor issue was published that included an " exclusive The Daily filed a lawsuit against the Board and the interview with Jesus Christ." University'S President, C. Peter Magrat� alleging that The University agreed not to appeal the decision of the University violated their freedom of the pre1iS right, the Eighth Circuit Court to reinstate the mandatory fee and that the financing change was made to punisb the system and to pay $182,094 to the Daily for litigation paper for the humor issue, costs, In December 1982 the U.S. District Court ruled in Another term of the settlement was the establishment favor of the Regents, saying that the Regent's action did of a $20,000 fund to sponsor conferences, workshops not infringe upon the paper's rights. and programs about First Amendment issues and press The Court of Appeals overturned the decision in responsibility. Ten thousand dollars of that fund will be October 1983, saying that the Regent's action was made

provided by the Daily. The Daily's lawyer's firm, because of the controversial humor issue. Tanick and Heins and the University will each provide Magrath issl!ed a statem ent after the settlement that $5,000 said that the Regents and he did not think that a wrong "As someone once said, it's nice to live in a country had been committed by the optional fee system , but where sometimes the laws are upheld," Daily editor that "there comes a time when such matters should be Victoria Sloan said. put to rest"

child or mentally handicapped. The law does not have Iowa State Daily the word rape in it, but the word rape appears in parentheses under the sexual abuse chapter heading in appeals libel decision the state code. However, because rape was legally defined as forci­ ble, nonconsensual sexual intercourse, it was ruled that is appealing a $9,000 award The Iowa State Daily the word could not be used to describe sexual abuse. against the paper by an Iowa District Court that said an Daily editor Lisa Fung said that although the staff article in the paper was libelous because of an incorrect was upset about the decision, they were happy that use of "rape." the word there would be an appeal. In February, 1982, an article in the paper reported "Obviously there is a question of the newspaper's that a female bartender at the local American Legion credibility whenever a libel suit is brought up, and I Hall had been raped. don't think this is an exception," she said. In the lawsuit, Laurie Hovey. a bartender at the Hall Brooks said that the Daily had a tremendous miscon­ said that because she was the only female banender ception as to what rape meant. He said that Iowa who worked when the attack was reported to have statutes clearly defined rape and sexual abuse, and that occurred, people could identify her as tbe victim. when a Daily reporter called the clerk of court to obtain However, she said that because there was no sexual information for the article, the reporter was told several penetration, she was sexually assaulted, and not raped, times that a rape had not occurred. He said because of Her Jawyer, Patrick Brooks, argued that rape had a this, he thOUght that the jury would also award punitive negative connotation, and that Hovey suffered every­ damages in the appealed case. time she had to relive the incident by explaining to "If I were representing the Daily, I would be glad I people that she was not raped. got offwith $9,000, he said. "It's as clear as a dandelion According to Iowa state statute, sexual abuse is any in the spring." sex act between persons that is against the will of one of He said that rape was often sexual abuse, but sexual the persons, or any sex act where one of the persons is a abuse was not always rape.

Spring 1984 Sf'LC Report 3 COURTS

Louisiana Court rules colleges not liable in suits against student papers

The Louisiana Court of Appeals has ruled that ex.empt fr om lawsuits unless permission is given by the colleges and universities can not be held liable in state. lawsuits against student newspapers if the school ad­ The University was not liable in a lawsuit alleging ministrations did not control the paper. libel in a book published by Memphis State University

In Milliner v. Turner, faculty members of the South­ Press, Inc . ern University of New Orleans filedsu it against student Not only does the Milliner decision have important reportersf or libel. The reporters then sued the college. effects on libel suits against student newspapers, and A state district court ruled against the reporters and the ro le of the school's administration in those suits, the college, and the college administrators appealed to but tbe role of tbe ad ministration in ce nsorship issues tbe state appellate court. as well. The September 1983 ruling stated that because the Robert Trager, a Washington, D.C. m edia lawyer and First Amendment prohibited college administrators author of the books Student Press Rights and College fr om using anything but advisory control, the universi­ Press Law, said that the Milliner decision reinforces the ty could not be considered liable fo r published defama­ idea that since college administrations cannot censor a tion of a. person in the school newspaper. student publication, administrations cannot be liable A concurring opinion stated that the relationship fo r suits against the publications. He said the case was between a student newspaper and the university could not as clear fo r high school students. not be compared to that of a publisher and its newspa­ "We can't necessarily make tbe same assumption fo r per, and that colleges and universities, as with tbe state, high school administrators who have used the excuse could not res trict speech or suppress a publication that they have to do it (censor) to prevent libel suits," merely because its officials did not like its content. he said. In 1973 the Supreme Court of Tennessee ru led in "It's a step in the right direction, and it's something Applewhite v. Memphis Slare Univers ity that Mempbis that those who are fighting fo r the rights of high school State was entitled to sovereign immunity-that is, students can use, " he said .

The Board's reason fo r Cosgrove's dismissal was that �¥ash ington be violated tbe American Society of Newspaper Editors' Code of Ethics. Cosgrove did not ask to be rei nstated as editor, but requested back pay and a change in regulations fo r the Former student editor, publications board. Cosgrove's lawyer, Bernie Russe ll, said that the new school offi cials reach policy created a publication board witb more student members tban fac ulty members, and clearly defined the $5,000 settlement reasons that an editor could be fired. Russell said that the purpose of the policy was so that Polaris editors cou ld be more independent of the PublicatioD Board.

A fo rmer student newspaper editor and community college administrators have reached an out-of-co urt settlement to a lawsuit filed last spring. Michael Cosgrove, former editor of the North Seattle Community College Polaris, was awarded $5,000 fo r wages, damages and attorney fee s in the February Recent set tlement, which also required a new policy fo r the paper's Board of Publications. Court In November 1982, Cosgrove was fired by the Publications Board after a Veteran's Day issue fe atured Decisions an article and illustrations with the headline, "The Horrors of War and Those Wbo Waged It." In the same issue was an editorial cartoon depicting the Polaris ' adviser as a censor.

4 SPlC Report Spring 1984 CENSORSHIP

Ma/l'le Judge rules yearbook 'public forum'

A federal court has for the first He said that in the settlem ent , time declared that a yearbook is a the school was asked to print the

"public forum," and entitled to the "The executioner will quotation, pay attorney fees, and same First Amendment protections pull this lever four times. waive any punitive damages and e t newspapers. additional costs incurred by the as stud n Each time 2000 volts will The U.S. District Court of Maine lateness of the yearbook. has issued a temporary restraining course through your Editor's note: The Brunswick order on the publication of a high body, making your eye­ School Board in March reversed school yearbook pending a final balls their earlier decision. and aI/owed decision in a lawsuit filed by Joel­ first bulge, then the quote to be printed. For com­ len Stanton, a Brunswick High burst, and then broiling plete story, see next issue. School senior. your brains. n District Judge Gene Carter said in the order, "We need not shrink from the hazards of a free people The phrase was from a Time saying without restraint what they magazine article about the execu­ believe," and tha t the criteria tion of convicted murdered Gary shown to have been actually ap­ G1lmore, and described what hap­ plied as a basis for the rejection for pened in the electric chair as the publication failed to address ad­ switch was pulled. equately any of the constitutional Stanton chose the Quote, she said require men ts. in the filed complaint, to "provoke Stanton claimed that the school's some of my classmates to think a principal and superintendent vio­ tittle more deeply than if I had lated her right of free speech by written a standard butterfly quote," censoring a Quote she chose to and to draw the students' attention accompany ber picture in the to the horror of murder, and what school yearbook. she thought was sometimes an ap­ When Stanton submitted the propriatepunishment. form with her extracurricular activ­ Michael Aseo, one of Stanton's ities., interests and a selected Quota­ lawyers, said that an out-of

WiS(,OIlSi1l He said that Dryer brought the editorial back to him, not revised, but with a paragraph added. McPike said Censored editorial he then suggested that Dryer write an article on the printed after dispute subject, instead of an editorial, following the style of another school paper's article on the subject. After threatening to take his case to the school board, "} felt that research is better than just going in and and if necessary, to court, Jerry Dryer received permis­ shouting," McPike said. sion for his censored editorial to be printed. Dryer said that because the editorial was not libelous, Dryer, then a student at Madison (Wis.) East High obscene or disruptive, he thought that the principal School, wrote an editorial titled "Homophobia: A overstepped his bounds.

Social Disease," about the fear of homosexuals, for the Dryer then appealed to the school system's area school's newspaper Oul! adviser, Glen Boreland, who after meeting with Dryer Although the paper's nine-student editorial board and McPike, decided the editorial could be published. approved the editorial, the article was given to the Boreiand said that because the editorial was the first

school's principal, Milton McPike for his opinion . one that had been given to the principal for review this McPike said that because he had been given the year, McPike assumed that the ed itorial board had not editorial, he assumed that the editorial board had not approved it. approved it He said that he gave the editorial back to Boreland said that the paper's adviser, Donna Cal­ Dryer to rewrite because he did not think some of the vert, did not know that the editorial had been given to language was suitable for East High students. McPike.

SprIng 1984 SPLC Report 5 Hazelwood censorship case goes to trial

A Missouri fed eral judge has denied a request to before they were to be printed, and instructed them not dismiss a lawsuit alleging that a group of high schoo l to be printed with the rest of the paper because of a students rights to free expression were violated when quote by a student about marital probl ems. their principal censored a group of articles fr om the Cathy Kuhlmeier, a Sp ectrum editor, said that the .school newspaper. The trial has been set fo r early April. staffd id not write investigative articles anymore. In his February ruling., District Judge John Nangle urm kind of upset because we put a lot of work into said that the students had sufficient claim to challenge the articles and now it's all gone down the drai n," she the principal's decision . said. The American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of three student editors from Hazelwood East High School in 81. Louis, Mo., filed a lawsuit last August against Hazelwood Board of Education members, the school Survey reveals censorship

district's superintendent, Hazelwood's principal and the paper's substitute adviser, after Hazelwood principal In a survey of student leaders and editors, 38 percent Robert Reynolds censored a two-page special secti on of of the respondents said that the student newspaper at the paper, the Sp ectrum. their institution was screened by non-student personneL Reynolds said that the series of articles on teenage In the yearly survey by National On-Campus Report, marriages and divorces, pregnancies and teenage run­ the number of reported screenings increased fr om last aways were too "sensitive" for high school readers, and year, when fe wer than 30 percent of the respondents could nOt be published. said that the paper was reviewed prior to publication. He said tbat although he did not think the subjects of Of the respondents who reported prior review, 30 the articles were unfitting, and that the articles were percent were editors in private schools and 74 percent well written and well documented, he censored the were editors in two-year colleges. articles to protect the privacy of the persons quoted in The report stated that at many of the private schools, them. the adviser had the power to screen articles fo r the

"I've done the right thing, but maybe not fo r all the paper, but usually did not use that authority. At some right reasons," he said. schools, however, administrators, public relations offi­ He said that many administrators wanted the school cials and professors were allowed to check stories about

newspaper to be a product of good will and a public "touchy " subjects, as one editor described them. relations device fo r the school, and that he was guilty of At fo ur- year public schools, 19 percent of the papers those opinions. were screened. He also said that other administrators and paren ts Five percent of the papers in the survey were dailies, had criticized him fo r the investigative articles that had seven percent were published twice or three times a been published in the paper. week, 48 percent were published weekly and 40 percent He said he did not know about the articles until just were published less than weekly.

6 SPLC Report Sprlng 1984 CENSORSHIP Last minute action School board decision stops lawsuit

An eleventh-hour decision by the The Board also requested the by four students, Alan Hansen, Board of Education to allow a school system's staff to submit pro­ Harris Adams and Jordan Solo­ group of student-paid advertise­ posals for revised guidelines for mon, who are also yearbook staff ments in a yearbook stopped a school publications. members, and senior c1ass president lawsuit against a Montgomery The decision ended a two-month James Robertson. County, Md. high school yearbook dispute between administrators and After publications adviser Susan adviser, principal, superintendent students over whether to and a half Cecil told the staff memben that - and the Board of Education. pages of ads, paid for by students to the ads could not be published, The night before a federal judge help defray publication costs, could Hansen. yearbook business man­ in Baltimore was to hear arguments be allowed in the yearbook.. ager Nicole Schofer and co-editor­ for a temporary restraining order The ads included beer cans, stu­ in-chief Veda Bhatt, enlisted the on the Walter Johnson (Bethesda, dents drinking beer, and a drawing help of the SPLC. Md.) High School yearbook's publi­ of four tombstones, one of which "I do not believe that these ad­ cation, the school board voted four read "Riding that train high on vertisem ents advocated unlawful to one to allow a group of ads with cocaine," a quote from "Casey activity. If anything, a reference to " students drinking beer and a refer­ Jones, a song by the Grateful cocaine on a tombstone is an anti­ ence to cocaine to be published. Dead Another read "Have you drug message. However, that's not "My belief is they detennined gotten on her yet?" the point. The point is that the they did not have a sufficient lega1 The students in the tombstone ad scbool system should not and can­ case," said Edward Shirley, admin­ agreed to replace their controversial not engage in prior review of istrative assistant for the deputy ad with their photograph and the material that is not obscene, libel­ superintendent of schools. words, "Dedicated to the defenders ous or advocates imminent unlaw­ In a three-hour session, Windup of the First Amendment." ful activity," Marc Abrams, staffmembers, and lawyers from the The tombstone advertisement executive director of SPLC said. Student Press Law Center and the was submitted to the yearbook staff continued American Civil Liberties Union argued that the ads did not violate the publication guidelines, and that prohibiting them would be an un­ constitutional restriction of the stu­ dent's right to expression in a public forum. The school district's attorney ar­ gued that because the yearbook was a forum of instruction, censorship was acceptable. After another two-hour voting .. session, the board approved the ads for publication. A decision and order from the school board said that "the adver­ tisements at issue are in poor taste and reflect and promote unlawful behavior," but that "there appear to be sufficient questions as to the vagueness and legal sufficiency of present guidelines governing the inclusion of advertisements... " The board agreed to publish the ads with two stipulations - that a statement at the beginning of the yearbook remind students that the advertisements did not represent the view of Windup editors, Walter Johnson High School or the Board o • of Education, and that all advertise­ • • -"0 ments include a statement on the oQ' page identifying them as paid ad­ vertisements.

SprIng 1984 SPlC Report 7 CENSORSHIP

lawsuit stopped continued

After the student's appeal to the and censoring them would deny tbe "We wanted to show that a prin­ principal also was denied, the stu· students the right to communicate ciple was what we were fighting fo r, dents and SPLC appealed to the their messages to other students not beer cans:' she said. county's area associate superinten­ through the yearbook. Schafer said she was surprised at dent, superintendent, deputy super­ Bhatt said that the admi nistra· all the red tape and uncooperative intendent and the school board. tors were worned about the effects adminstrators. When the ads were still blocked of the ads on the community and Bhatt said that the yearbook ad­ and the students were faci ng the the image of the school, but she viser did not plan on having per­ yearbook's deadline fo r the printer, said that the staff wanted to fight sonal ads in the yearbook next year, the SPLC and the ACLU filed a fo r their right to make their own which would cut 50 percent of the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of decisions, as well as their right to yearbook's total advertising in­ Maryland saying that the ads did give the students a means of ex­ com e. not violate publication guidelines, pressing themselves.

Student editor battles Board to end review

Despite receiving national media for more administrators at Richards Student PressLaw Center, and The­ atte ntion when their principal tried fo r an October issue, she inter­ odo ra Rand, an American Civil to censor the school paper, the viewed Erc k, and later showed him Liberties Union Lawyer, along with student editor and her adviser at the editorial fo r approval, which he some parents and students, asked Richards High School in Oak gave her. members to end the prior review Lawn, Ill., are still waiting, five Five days later , and 30 minutes and restraint of all material to be

months later, fo r the school board before the paper was to be printed, published., agreeing to submit spe­ to consider a proposed publication Guenzler said the page with the cific articles fo r review upon re­ policy that fo rbids administra tors editorial was not to be printed, quest. to review or censor a publication. however, Jason and Gareiss printed The attorneys argued that be.. Robin Gareiss, editor of the the page with the rest of the paper. cause of Fujishima v. Board of

Richard' s Herald. said she is wor­ Gareiss and Jason appealed the Education. a 1972 decision in the ried that board members are stal­ principal's right to review the paper U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Ap­ ling until she graduates in May. to the school board and the district peals, wbich includes lllinois, any "They're pushing it off until superintenden t. prior review was unconstitutional. when no one's around to fight The appeal gained attention from about it," she said. the area media, and resulted in an At the meeting, the school board She said that the board members appearance by Gareiss and Erck on agreed to develop a new policy told her and the paper's adviser, a Donahue show about student within a reaso nable period of time, Robert Jason, in November that press rights. and Erck and Jewell agreed that the they would have the new policy At a November school board newspaper would not be reviewed ready in January. meeting, Gareiss. Jason, Marc while tbe guidelines were being

"They' re trying to push us Abrams, execu tive director of the drafted. aside," Jason said at the end of February. The proposed policy had � been delayed at several board meet­ Ings. District assistan t superintendent Robert Jewell said th at the school board members were in no hurry because they "wanted to do this once and do it righ t." "Haste makes waste," he said. "Nobody's being hurt." The conflict over the current policy began last fa ll when Richards principal Wayne Erck assigned an­ ot her ad ministra tor, Rob ert Guenzler, to review the material fo r

the paper before it was to be print­ ed. Jason said that when Gareiss wrote an editorial about the need

8 SPLC Report Spnng 1984 CENSORSHIP

Wyoming Censored cartoon spurs guideline proposals

Wben Campbell County High example of how people judged "We pointed out in our opinion School editor Dennis Cross wanted books by any violence or profanity the existing publications policy to print a cartoon in the school in them instead of their overall doesn't pass constitutional muster," paper, Camel Tracks. he didn't Ii terary value. Drew said. anticipate any problems. Antrim, however, said that Ca� Students have developed a new But the principal of the Gillette, son thought he was following the policy adapted from the Student

Wyo. high school did. school board's publication policy Press Law Center Model Principal Jay Cason thought that that states that material or innuen­ Guidelines. The new policy would the drawing would otTend some dos that could subject a person to not require a faculty member to review a publication, Gillette residents , so he censored ridicule could not be printed, when and would the cartoon, according to CampbeU he censored the cartoon. define what material would be con­ Couoty superintendent Melvin An­ The policy also states that a sidered libelous, obscene or disrup. trim. faculty member must review each tive. The students would verify all The cartoon, by syndicated car­ issue to insure that the pUblication quotes and facts before going to toonist Don Wright of the Miami guidelines have not been violated. press. News, appeared in newspapers na­ Camel Tracks adviser Judy After the presentation of the pro­ tionally, and twice in Gillette'S Worth said that the students did posed guidelines, Worth said the newspaper, the News-Record, on the not think that publishing the car­ school board members "just sat editorial page in December 1982, toon was still the issue being ques­ there and stared" and then thanked and with an article about the con­ tioned, but that the students were the students for their concern. troversy at CCHS. more concerned with getting the Antrim said that in reviewing the The drawing depicts a church pu blication guidelines revised. policy the school board would with a Moral Majority banner on "The issue is whether we have "blend legality and practicality." t:'1e front, and a voice coming from the right to publish what we want," "Certainly the Campbell County within deducing that Santa Claus is Worth said. school board will be reviewing poli­ i:nmoraL At a Jan. 25 school board meet­ cy and shares with Mr. Drew the Cross said the cartoon was cho­ ing, attorney Paul Drew, represent­ desire to have a policy that's appro­ sen to illustrate the controversy ing Worth, Cross, assistant editor priate," he said. caused by the banning of certain Mark Hester and feature editor He said that the first concern of books from Gillette school libraries. Jennifer Snell criticized the publica­ the school board was to resol ve the He said that the drawing was an tions policy. book banning controversy, then the board would review the publication policy. If a new policy is necessary, it would be instated by September, he said. Cross said that the board could decide whether the proposaJ should be accepted withi'n the year. He said, however, that if the board did not decide soon, Drew would be consulted about the possibility of legal action. Drew said if this happened an injunction could be obtained for­ bidding the Board from using the current publication policy. Cross called the people who ob­ jected to the cartoon a "vocal mi­ nority." "They say students don't have the same rights as adults, but a student paper qualifies for the same rights under the First Amend­ ment," he said. Courtesy Don Wflghl. Miami News

Spring 1984 SPLC Report 9 CENSORSHIP So uth Carolina Paper staff awaits AG decision; Adviser quits over ad dispute

The editors of the lohnsonian of Winthrop College in The paper's publication board - three fa culty, three Rock Hill, S.c. are waiting for an opinion from the students and a faculty member chairman voted unani­ state attorney general on whether the president of the mously that the ad was legal and did not violate the coUege or the college Board of Trustees has the authori ­ guidelines. ty to decide whether an advertisement should appear in Stanley then appealed the decision to the school's the paper . president and provost, who told rum to turn the matter over to the state Attorney General, Bristow said. JetT Stanley, the Joh nsonian editor, refused to print Bristow resigned as the paper's adviser because of the an advertisement fo r an abortion cl inic last fa11, because con flict. He said that the thOUght that he had lost the be said that he thought the ad would damage the confid ence of the newspaper staff. credibility of the paper, a criterion in the newspaper's "If the guidelines had any statement that would have advertising guidelines. made refusal of the ad acceptable, then I would have The newspaper's adviser, Robert Bristow, told the gone with it," he said. staff that the ad did not violate the paper's guidelines, "My fe eling was his personal moral conviction as and should be published, but with an editorial by editor, which of course he said it was, was more Stanley expressing his opinion on abortion in the same important than o beying the student publication issue. guidelines. "

STUDENT GOVERNMENT Student paper vs. Student government

Thomas Jefferson once said Or can a happy ernments are not as clear. "Were it left to me to decide wheth­ co-existence A decision that is pending in the er we should have a government Colorado Supreme Court co uld af­ without newspapers or newspapers be attained? fec t this. without a government, I should not Cases clearly fo rbid school ad­ Olson v. State Board oj Co mmu· hesitate a moment to prefer the ministrators fr om cutting off fu nds nity Colleges and Occupation Edu­ latter." to student newspapers. In Antonelli cation began with a suit tha t was However, in this society, both are v. Hammond. 308 F. Supp. 1329 filed in 1979. The suit was a re­ necessary. (1970), the court ruled that admin­ sponse to the Pikes Peak Commu­ Unfortunately, the combination i strators could not influence the nity College student senate's is nut always a smooth one. paper's edi torial content or decide rescinding funds that had been allo­ This year, the professional press whether it com plied with "responsi­ cated to the newspaper. was challenged by the federal go v­ ble freedom of press" by withhold­ The withdrawal of the $12,400 ernment when journalists were pro­ ing funds from student activity fees . cu t the paper's budget by two­ hibited. fr om going to the island of More rece ntly, in Stanley v. Ma­ thirds. Grenada to record the events there. grath. 719 F.2d 279 (8th Cir. 1983), The controversy behind the re­ the court ruled that the Board of straint still lingers. Regents at the University of Min­ Fights fo r control t e nesota acted unconstitutionally over h "The school was in an presses occur in scholastic journa­ when it made the Minnesota Dai­ lism also, often through the power ly 's student fe e allocation refunda­ u phea val . They had no of the purse. In many situations, ble instead of mandatory. (see story legal ground fo r fr eezing the power behind the purse is not p.3). our fu nds. " only the administration, but the Although school administrators student go vernments, and conflicts cann ot exercise control over the between student politicos and stu­ press th rough the power of the dent journalists arise. purse, restrictions on student gov-

1 0 SPlCReport Spring 1 984 STUDENTGOVERNMENT

Eventually the Pikes Peak News Larry Hobbs, Olson's attorney, At Adelphi University in Garden had to stop publication, and the said that if the court decides that City, N.Y., an October issue of the PPCC Fuse, published by the Olson does have standing, the case Delphian had a front page article school's journalism department be­ would probably be remanded to the reporting that the Student Political came the student publication. District Court, where the students Association, Adelphi's student gov­ A Denver District Court granted and their adviser could challenge ernment, had violated its own writ­ summary judgment to the college the constitutionality of the student ten rules by paying for two officials, and said that the News governments actions again. administrators to accompany them staff and Judith Olson, the paper's He said the majority of the stu­ on their retreat to a New York adviser, lacked standing, that is, dent senate members responsible resort ranch. they could not demonstrate that for cutting off the funds now ad­ The following day, the Delphian they bad suffered injury or loss as a mitted that they did SO to retaliate staffwas told that the paper's funds result of the action to which they for the content of the paper and any had been suspended. were complaining. controversy caused by the content, The editor of the Delphian. Lois The Colorado Court of Appeals so the chances were good that the Kosch, said that she thought the overturned the District Court's de­ court would decide in the newspa­ SPA president, Hernan Serra no, cision, ruling that cutting the pa­ pers favor. had decided to shut the paper down pers funds impared Olson's ability This deciSion, however, would because the article placed him and to teach First Amendment ideology only affect state schools. Private other SPA members in an unflatter­ through the loss of the hands-on colleges would not be affected by ing light. The other student senate experience the student newspaper this precedent because of private members, she said, followed his provided, and ruled that unconsti­ instead of state financing. lead in the decision. tutional censorship gave Olson continued standing to chall enge First Amend­ ment violations. The 'decision further stated that coUege officials could not suppress a publication because of dislike of its editorial content, and since the adviser's teaching methods were protected, any negative effects from the' rescision were constitutionally protected. Bruce Pech, the assistant attorney general fOT Colorado who presented arguments in the Olson case, said that he did not expect a decision for five or six months. Pech said that he argued that Olson did not have standing be­ cause the Constitution did not al­ low teachers to use the teaching tool of their choice, and that Olson did not have standing to assert the constitutional rights of the students. •••

Student officers argue that be­ cause they hold the purse strings of the administration's purse that fi­ nances the paper, they should have a right to guide what is printed in the paper. Student journalists, however, have contended that because stu­ dent fees were state funds, actions \ of the student senate were actions of the state, and according the 14th Amendment, the state could not regulate free expression in a public forum.

SprIng 19� SPLC Report 11 STUDENT GOVERNMENT

"The school was in an upheaval. Paul Amundson, editor ' of the They had no legal ground fo r fr eez­ Northern Star at Northern Illinois ing our funds, she said. University in DeKalb, said he was "If anything we wanted a more hoping that the president of the effecti ve student government out of "Students are the university, William Monat, would this whole thing." decide that the paper's budget could SPA finance committee member meanest bunch there are. be based on the number of credit Mark Blaustein said that although They're even more para­ hours being taken at the university, he couldn't speak fo r the entire noid than administra­ and not a specific allocation of organization, he thought that the 3tudent fe es from the student gov­ Delphian had been told that their tors. " ernment. funds were frozen because the arti­ "We're hoping that the president cle made SPA "look like the bad gets so disgusted that he acts on his guy." own," Amundson said. "The basic problem is that they He said that fo r the past two want to function as an independent school cases is as limited as those years, the student government had paper," Blaustein said, and that of student governments. th reatened to cut off the paper's

independence was difficult when ••• funds when stories about student the paper had to depend on the government inefficiencies were student government fo r their funds. Becoming independent of student published. "The best thing would be fo r the governments fo r financing, as school to finance it," he said. Kosch said she wanted the Delphi· Kosch said she contacted various an to do, might be the only way to "Basically, it's taxation media, including Newsday, the New avoid conflicts with student po li­ without representation." Yo rk Ti mes and WNBC- TV in New ticians, according to Louis Ingle­ York. She said that an article in hart, chairman of the First Newsday, ar.d the possibility of Amendment Activities Committee "When they screwed up, we reports in the other two spurred the fo r College Media Advisers. wrote about it and they would get administration into action. "I'd advise not to have student mad," he said. "Anytime we do Within the week administrators publications associated with the something that they don't like, the ordered the SPA to reinstate the student government, he said. money " gets dangled over our paper's semester fu nds of $8,000, "Even under the best of circum­ heads." Kosch said. She said that because stances, a student government Amundson said that when the many of the paper's costs had not comes to think of a publication as paper refused to print "Funded by yet been paid, the entire semester's their publication to support their the Student Association," or budget was at stake. interests and goals. That's not the "Funded by the student activity Kosch said the Delphian staff system in this country - the gov­ fe e," as the student association re­ wanted to become independent of ernment does not control the quested, the governing group sus­ the student government group, and press. " pended the paper's $30,000 budget. was examining alternate financing He said that he also thought An ad hoc committee was methods. problems occurred when new stu­ fo rmed by Monat, that included "It's hard because of the resis­ dent administrations were elected. representatives from the paper and tance from the deans and the pro­ "Students are the meanest bunch the student association. That group vosts. They like knowing that they there are. They're even more para­ agreed to allocate 4. 5 cents fo r each have a little bit of control over us," noid than administrators," he said. enrolled credit hour to the North­ she said. He said that the best solution ern Star, or about $20,000, Amund­ In Bazaar v. Fort une, 476 F.2d would be direct financing fr om the son said. 570 (5th Cir. 1973), the court ruled administration. One way this could Amundson said that except fo r that speech in a state university be done, he said, was by a set the time when the No rthern Sta r could not be stifled by the state allocation based on the paper's in­ was getting no money from the merely because it would perhaps come from circulation. Student Association, the proposed draw adverse reaction from the "If the paper has to beg fo r fu nds amount was the lowest ever allo­ majority of the people, politicians and say 'we'll be good boys', they'll cated to the paper. In the past, he or ordinary citizens and newspa­ have problems. Chances are better said the paper had received as pers. The newspaper staff, then, with the administration," he said. much as $80,000 fr om the student must prove that fu nds were re­ Inglehart said that while not all government. scinded beca use of potential adver­ student governments were bad, and The president did decide - but sity. not all administrations were good, he decided that because the Student In the case of the Delphian, how­ public school officials could not Association did not approve the ad ever, a private institution, not a control the content of the newspa­ hoc committee proposal of 4.5 public state university, was in­ per. cents per credit hour, the proposal volved . The history of private ••• could not be considered. The

12 SPLC Report Spring 1984 STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Northern Star currently receives any representation of the students," Jll101stratOrs fa ir, wru le 15 percent $7,800 in faculty subscriptions and he said. ratedstuden t governments poor. has use of a uDiversity building, but Gallagher said that a possible Forty-four percen t of the student

does not receive any student funds. solution to the problem would be to leaders, however, rated the perfor­ Ed Gallagher. student associati on create a publication board com­ mance of the student newspaper as president said that the paper was posed only of students, who would good. not included in the budget fo r stu� be responsible fo r screening appli­ Perhaps these conflicts are the dent organizations because the staff cants fo r editor, as well as firing basis of situations, such as those would not state in the paper tbat it editors. described above, that are occurring received student activity fee s. But, ••• in universities and community col­ he said that the real reason fo r leges across the country. denying funds was that the newspa­ Conflicts between st udent editors But, until a legal precedent is per was a self-appointed group with and student officials are apparent in detennined in the relationship be­ little politicalbase. a recent series of polls conducted by tween student government financ­ Na tional On�Campus Report. which ing and student newspapers, as long "Basically, it's taxation without showed that student politicos and as newspapers are dependent on representation," he said. "It's sim­ student journalists were critical of student governments fOT funds and ply a business. It's not a student each other, but sympathetic of their as long as student governments organization. administrators' budget problems. think they should control the "What we would be doi ng would In evaluating the student govern­ presses to keep them from biti ng be giving student activity money to ment's performance, 36 percent of the hand that fe eds them, the prob­ an organization that does not give the student editors called their ad- lems will continue.

.. e

ALL STUDENT PRESS LA WCENTER SERVICESARE PROVIDED COST-FREE TO MEMBERS OF THE STUDENT PRESSAND THEIR ADVISERS.

The Student Press law Center is dependent upon interested organizations and individuals for its financial 8Upport. Tax deductible contributions may be made to:

STUDENT PRESS lAW CENTER 800 18th Street. N.W. Washington, D.C. 21)0()6

Spring 1984 SPLC Report 13 Fighting fo r your FOI: right to know

Whether they like it or not-and cause the local police said the stu­ lie i nsti tutions. Pennsylvania's law most times they don't---carnpus dents were not members of a explicitly states that boards of trust­ and municipal police departments legitimate newspaper, and that they ees, school authorities and schoof now must open their records to would need a written release from governing groups of state financed more student newspaper reporters. the persons involved. After this oral learning institutions are public Student journalists are aggressively refusal, the students filed a fo nnal agencies. Other state legislatures asserting their newsgathering rights complaint pursuant to the open have left it to the courts to deter­ through state freedom of informa� records lAw, stating that the statute mine that records maintained by tion (FOI) statutes. clearly permitted "any person" to schools were subject to public scru­ Currently, every state has some seek access to records, and that the tiny under local FOI laws. fo nn of open record s law which basic incident reports they de­ For example, a Wisconsin uia1 provides public access to most doc­ manded were covered by the law. court, in April 1983, ordered the uments compiled by state and mu­ The Canton police again denied University of Wisconsin-Madison nicipal agencies fo r official the request, this time citing privacy to make public fa culty records out­ business. About one-fifth of the exemptions. Finally, after the stu­ lining profitable outside activities. states designate public records as dents retained an attorney and Although the administration only those that are required to be threatened legal action to fo rce dis­ claimed the documents were confi­ kept by law, but this is the most closure, both sides sat down at the dential persOnnel records and if restrictive definition. negotiating table. Eventually the disclosed would violate fa culty Although many state statute s fo l­ department agreed to make the members' privacy rights, the court low the basic contours of the feder­ police blotter public. ruled that the school's arguments al Freedom of Information Act, -In determ ining whether a cer­ were outweighed by the public's each is different. Therefore, records tain agency fa lls under a particular interest in tbe nature and extent of that can be disclosed by state open locality's FOJ law, students wanting the fa CUlty's outside activities. records legislation cannot be gener­ access must realize that the state Judge Robert Pe kowksy wrote, alized. Nevertheless, some underly­ acts apply only to "public agencies" "Thepublic has a right to know if ing legislative patterns exist affiliated with either the state or enough time is being allocated to • Most state statutes provide that municipal governments, (federal the fa culty's primary educational "any person " may request docu­ agencies are covered by the fe deral function ." ments fo r disclosure, although one­ FOIA). Most state laws define agen­ While oonfidential personnel re­ third of the states require that the cy similarly, stating that a public cords are commonly exempt from person asking fo r the document be body within the meaningof the act the Wisconsin open records law, a citizen of the state. includes any state or municipal Judge Pekowsky noted that the Despite the presence of such a department, council, bureau, board, reports were used only once in provision in the Michigan FOI act, commission or committee. making a personnel decision and high school reporters from the Ply­ Some states, such as Arizona and mouth-Canton Perspective initially Arkansas, expand the reach of their were denied an accident report be- FOI statues to include any institu­ tions that receive at least a limited amount of public financing. Arizo­ ' na s law, fOf example, states that any agency "supported in whole or in part by funds fr om the state or any poliitical subdivision thereof, or expending funds provided by the state or any political subdivision thereof," comes within the open reco rds law. As a whole, state colleges and universities, along with public sch ools, have been considered pub-

1 4 SPLC Report Sprtng 1984 FOI cont. Bob Getz, a former student at One such law that may restrict Colorado State University, was disclosure of info rmation is the that "the mere use of said records concerned about sanitary condi­ Family Educational Rights and Pri­ 1974, in conjunction with a personnel tions in some of the local restau­ vacy Act of better known as evaluation should not make the rants, and decided to write an the Buckley Amendment. This stat­ record nonpublic. " article for a class assignment using ute states that agencies must deny By fa r the most common request inspection reports compiled by the access to students' school records, students make under the state open Larimer County Health Depart­ unless the person wanting the records laws is fo r blotter, or inci­ ment. Although he never expected materials has written pe rmission dent reports of both local and cam­ to run into a brick wall, Getz re­ fr om the student or parent in­ pus law enforcement agencies. quested the records and was repeat­ volved. "Directory information," The long-standing tradition is edly denied access by the agency. such as the name, address and that these reports be open to the Although the Colorado Code of telephone number of the student, public, so that citizens can decide Regulations explicitly said that the may be supplied to the press and how effectively the police perform inspection reports were public re­ public, but only if the school gives their duties. Many state FOI statues cords, the health department re­ public notice of the types of infor­ adopt this tradition. In states where fused Getz's request, claiming that mation it discloses, the persons in the statute does not specificaHy the restaurant inspection files were charge of that information and pro­ allow disclosure of incident reports, "not in public interest." cedures fo r objecting to the disclo­ or as in Virginia, even appear to When Getz took · his case to a sure. (See SPLC Report, Winter give police discretion to withhold Colorado trial court in April 1983, 1977-78). such material, student journalists Judge John-David Sullivan ruled in Whether the Buckley Amend­ can argue that they possess a "com­ fa vor of the Colorado student. The ment applies to campus police re­ mon law" right of access, developed court dismissed the Health Depart­ cords is still questionable, but at over time, to police blotters. ment's argument that the records least one court has refused to rule This common law privilege also remain closed because some of the that fo rced disclosure of blotter has been developed in the area of reports could have been used fo r reports would violate a student's court records, and in cases where fu ture criminal investigations. Al­ statutory right to privacy. records are not explicitly men­ though the ag ency claimed that In the Boston College case, tioned in state statutes, persons access should have been restricted school trustees argued that the re­ may still inspect docu ments be­ under the state cri minal records act, leasing police info rmation would be cause of this right. the judge fo und that the reports illegal, but the court ruled that the • The question of whether cam­ involved only "routine" inspec­ fe deral law had "minimal relevance pus police departments should be tions, and said that any cri minal in construing" Massachusetts Pub­ considered public agencies has been re ports would be compiled at the lic Records Law. Judge Samuel the subject of much controversy, district attorney's office, and not Adams did add a proviso, however, but two recent court decisions sug­ the Health Department. that all "personally identifiable" gest that the university police fo rces Health Department officials said information be omitted fr om the are public bodies as defined by state afterward that they would comply released records. open records laws. with the ruling, and Getz still plans In contrast, student journalists at A landmark ruling by the Ohio to write his investigative article. the University of Cincinnati News Supreme Court in December 1980 Despite the fa ct that the state Record were granted access to cam­ said that routine fa ctual reports on open records laws have opened a pus police blotter reports with the the rape-murder of a student com­ vast amount of information about names of students included. Re­ piled by the University of Akron state and local government, several porters at the paper fo r many years campus police were considered statutory limitations may curtail had been receiving delayed reports public records, and subject to dis­ the usefulness of these acts. Some fr om the University's public rela­ closure. Akron Beacon Journal v. of these restrictions on access are tions office with names and loca­ University of Akron. 415 N. E.2d built into the For laws themselves, tions deleted. Administrators cited 310 (Ohio S.Ct. 1980). while others are the result of sepa­ the Buckley Amendment as the More recently, a Massachusetts rate statutes. reason fo r keeping certain informa­ trial court agreed that reporters Virtually every jurisdiction per­ tion confidential. from Boston College's the Heights mits withholding certain types of The students made a formal re­ could inspect campus police logs, information fr om disclosure. Some quest in March 1983 fo r unedited and that the college police were a of the most common exemptions incident reports, threatening to file "special state police" fo rce and thus include juvenile records, school a lawsuit if they were denied access. a public agency, instead of a private files and adoption documents. The The sta ff of the News Record met security company. majority of the FOr laws are also with University officials, and with Although students are usually limited in scope by either privacy the help of the Cincinnati profes­ interested in police department and exemptions or statutes. sional press, as well as a number of school records, students may re­ While each state has its own set press advocacy groups, they a greed quest documents fr om almost every of exclusions that may preclude a to post daily offense reports with­ state and municipal body to gain student journalist fr om obtaining a out deletions. insight into local govern ment's ef­ particular record, numerous fe deral fe cts on their daily lives. statutes may also apply. continued

Spring 1984 SPLC Report 15 FO! continued Meanwhile, the Florida state leg­ The ACLU appealed to have the fe e islature is considering broadening waived or reduced . In August, the • State privacy provisions. which its public records law to permit the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruJed may or may not be made part of disclosure of files on school teach­ that the police department had to

the FOI acts themselves , may also ers' performance. The amendments, tum over the records fo r a reasona­ be used to prevent reporters fr om which were passed by a House ble copying fee , however, Moore obtaining records by the open re­ com mittee in April 1983, would and ACL U attorneys are consid­ cords laws. Most FOT exemptions also make documents on internal ering fi ling a contempt of court suit closely parallel the fe deral FOIA police investigations available. because they think that some re­ pro vision that closes "any person­ In addition to state and fe deral cords could have been destroyed nel and medical files and similar privacy restrictions, other exemp­ while the case was pending.

files the disclosure of which would tions may limit the access because • In some states fees may be constitute a clearly unwarranted legislators decide that confidentiali­ wa ived by a public agency if the invasion of personal privacy." ty is necessary in oertain situations agency determines that disclosure is In determini ng the reach of fe d­ fo r the effective government opera� in the "public interest." A member eral and state privacy limitations. tion. of student news organization may the courts traditionally have bal­ In law enforcement, fo r example, request a waiver if the costs seem anced the public's need to know investigative records are closed in prohibitive, And, every state exce pt against the harm to the person if many states if disclosure would Indiana aUows fo r free public in­ the records were disclosed. impede an ongoing investigation. spection of record s.

Ruling that fa culty evaluation • When miling a request, it is Although it may take some time information at the University of important fo r student journalists to and effort, state FO! statutes can Massachusetts was exempt fr om realize that they may be required to give student journalists access to a the open records law as "personnel pay search and copying fees . Nearly storehouse of information about the

records," a Massachusetts appellate all state FOI acts specify, however, activities of public agencies. Stu­ court said that disclosure may have that these costs must be "actual" or dent journalists take on a dual role constituted "an unwarranted inva­ ('reasonable. " to inform their peers and to lay the

sion" of the teachers' rights to pri­ Liz Moore, editor of the Rake. an foundation fo r a fu ture gen eration vacy . underground newspaper at Brown of knowledgeable citizens. In the On the other hand, the state University, recently learned that other words of fo rmer Congressman court in the University of Wiscon­ opinions can differ on what is in John Moss: sin case used the same balancing fa ct "reasonable." (O)ur System of government is t�t to decide that records describ­ The loca l ACLU filed suit on based on the participation of the ing fa cu lty members' outside activ­ Moore's behal f in early 1983 to gain governed... We must remove every ities should have been opened access to police brutality files. The barrier to information about-and

because the public 's right to know court ordered disclosure of the re­ the understanding of-Government outweighed the teachers' privacy cords, but said that names of the activities consistent with our securi­

rights. officer's could be deleted . Respond­ ty if the American public is to be ing to the order, the Providence adequately eq uipped to fulfill the police levied a $500 charge to cover ever more demanding role of re­ the cost of scratching the names. sponsible citizenship.

FOI How 10 .•. Getting the records you Jre entitled to Gaining access to public records is not difficult, bUl does require persistence. First info rmally request the doc­ uments. Usuallv this involves a phone call or visit to the particular agency to specify the informati on requested. If an informal oral request i.) denied, a fo rmal request can be made with a letter legaUy notifying the age ncy of the requested rec ords pursuant to the state Freedom of Info rmation law. This letter should mention the citation of the statute in question. fo r example, Oh io Rev. Code Ann. sections 149.43. 143.99 (Page Supp. 1980). continued

16 SPLC Report Spril'lg 1984 If denied disclosure, student jour­ If all negott3tlon attempts fai l, Ho w to conllnued nalists can often gain access with­ one last step before takingyour case out judicial intervention. Many to court is obtaining an attorney In addition , the request should times, negotiation with the agency general's opinion of your case. specify as much as possible the is helpful. Getting the professional These opinions are not legally bind­ exact record or document sought, press in the area to exert additional ing, but the attorney general is the as well as dates, descriptions and pressure is also helpful, as well as state's chief prosecutor and his categories. Newspaper articles or the support of press advocacy judgement carries much weight other pertinent documents can be groups such as the Student Press with government agencies. AJ­ included in the request fo r clarifica­ Law Center, the Society of Profes­ though an assistant attorney general tiOD. If possible, quote the sections sional Journalists. Sigma Delta Chi, can issue an infonnal opinion, of the FOI statute that apply to the the Journalism Educators Associa­ usually a state legislator must ob­ types of records requested to re­ tion and Women in Communica­ tain a fo rmal opinion from the inforce your legal position. tions, Inc. An attorney also can attorney general. Many states have time limits assist in mediation. In New York and Connecticut, within which the agency must re­ Negotiation was successful for official ombudsmen wOTk in the spond to an FOI demand. These high school journalists in Canton, attorneys general offices to resolve limits vary from three days in Ken­ Mich., as wen as for college report­ access problems. tucky, to 15 days in South Carolina. ers at the University of Cincinnati. You should get an opinion only The agency with the requested in­ Georgia State University and the if you think the attorney general fo onati on should respond within University of North Carolina-Wil­ will decide in your fa vor, otherwise those statutory limits. lrnington. you risk. building up laws that are Finally, inform the agency that At UNC Willmington, the earn· against your position. You also you are willing to pay reasonable pus law enforcement agency now should be advised that it will take

search and copying fe es, but that regularly sends copies of incident time fo r an opinion to be given, you should be contacted if the total reports to the student newspaper. and you should take no other ac­ is more than a specified limit. Noti­ While some government bodies tion until it is issued. fication will allow you to authorize may tbink: they are threatened by If at this point you are still paying more if necessary. an FOI request and resist the order, denied access, you must obtain You can attempt to obtain a fee other agencies may not even be judicial intervention. Currently. waiver by claiming that disclosure aware of, or understand what is about one-third of all state open to a student journalist for newga­ required by state open records laws. records statutes lack. built-i n provi� thering is in the public interest. Be patient, but firm. Explain in sions fo r court review, al though Usually, no charge is assessed for your request what the state statute persons can acquire remedies fo r

simply inspecting documents . demands . violations of the FOl law. The majority of state statutes, however, spell out judicial proce­ dures and what rights of appeal are available, specifying the court that deals with FO I claims. Some of these laws even give public records cases priority a ver other lawsuits on the court dockets. If you win your case, the agency will be ordered to disclose the � quested records. Most states also impose penalties when an agency has refused to comply with the FO I law. Approximately one-third of the jurisdictions have provisions fo r criminal sanctions, while others levy fines. Some states expressly provide for an award of attorney's fees to ao individual who bas been wrongfully denied access. The best advice to student jour­ nalists wanting disclosure of agency records is to Icnow the law before

making a request, assert statutory rights clearly and remember that patience, determination and a sys­ tematic approach can pay off in rich infonnational rewards.

Spring 1984 SPLC Report 1 7 ADMINISTRATION

Indiana Student paper turns budget over to University's control

After much "screaming and hol­ which included having an outside any interference on editorial posi­ lering," the Notre Dame Observer. accountant audit the paper's budget tions. an independent newspaper fo r annually, having staff members pre­ Father Tyson said that with the Notre Dame University and St. pare monthly statements and opera­ Observer's budget under the admin­ Mary's College, early this year tional rules and procedures and istration's auspices, the paper joined the University's budget pro­ establishing a board of directors. would have some accountability fo r gram. The adm inistration, however, the student fe e money in the budget Notre Dam e administrators told still req uired that the paper's bud­ and some protection against accusa­ the Observer staff that they would get be a part of the University's tions of misappropriation of funds, have to tum their budget over to budget. "It was a painful thing for them the University, or have the approxi­ "They don't want after the fa ct in the beginning when they didn't mately $70,000 in student yearly accounting. They want to see where think they were getting any support activity fee s rescinded. that money goes before it goes fr om the students," Tyson said. "It's better to exist like this than to not have anything at all," editor David Dziedzic said. - - - .&'�Y-""-=. . = ===Ibe- _. ---Obse-- �� Dziedzic said he spent most of 'Dl XVlII. NO. 40 . llft;RSOAY, OCTOfIU 191 20, last year arguing with the student government, but in late December, there. What it comes down to is He said that he understood their the staff agreed to join the Univer­ they want control," Dziedzic said. fight against relinquishing their sity's system. The budget was fo r­ "The fight we've put up has been budget, and that the administration mally turned over to the University worth it because we've got a lot of would not interfere with the paper's in early February. concessions. " editorial policy. When the staff requested an in­ One of those concessions is hav­ Dziedzic said that he did not crease in their student fe e allotment ing a payroll separate from the think the current administratior; from the student government, the University's. would affect the paper's editorial University audited the paper and stance, but he could not be sure Dziedzic said that being a part of revealed a $7,200 deficit. about fu ture administrators. the school's payroll could affect Dziedzic said that although the "If a problem does occur, the financial aid that a staff member paper's accounting "lacked continu­ only thing that I can hope fo r is received. ity," he was afraid that joining the that someone remembers what hap­ University's budget would take He said that while the adm inis­ pened with us. away the paper's independence and tration would not agree to a written "Even if there is an agreement, I integrity. set of terms, he had written a letter suppose they could do whatever The Observer staff submitted a to the director of student affairs, the want. In the long run, I suppose list of proposals to avoid turning Father John Tyson, outl ining the we're going to be better off fo r it," the budget over to the University, ad ministration's control to avoid he said. California Paper survives budget cuts

The Harbor Tides newspaper of Harbor College, back to only 10 percent of their offered hourly classes Palos Verdes, Calif., has survived after administrators - classes taught by part-time hourly instructors. said that budget cutbacks would not only fo rce the Heinselman said that because only eight students newspaper to shut down, but close the entire journalism were in the journalism program, directed and taught by department a part-time instructor, he thought the program would Royce Osborne, fo rmer editor of the Tides. said that have to be cut. Last full, the administration announced an article describing the paper's plight in the Los that all journalism classes were cancelled. Angeles Times was a fa ctor in the paper's survival. "Under these conditions, I decided, 'Hey, it's just not "That article reallysh owed that what they were doing worth it,' " he said. was violating the free speech of the college," he said. Soon after, a journalism instructor was hired as "a The newspaper budget is the same as it was before full-time long term substitute."

the threatened cutoff - $800.00 a month fo r the Jim Smith, the new journalism instructor and news­ adviser's salary and $700.00a month printing costs. paper adviser, said that he was hired to teach fo r the James Heinselman, president of Harbor College, said semester, but did not know if he would be asked to that budget problems had fo rced the university to cut remain.

18 SPLC Report Spring 1984 Ao'MINISTRATION

The Daily Mississippian staff at the University of Mississippi Mississippi has reason to believe in the watchdog function of the press after an article in the paper New regulations resulted in poticy changes for the school's fraternity rushing rushing practices. fo r frat Sally Read. the Mississippian editor, said that the result fr om article story's effect would not be known until the fall when rush began again, but that the Intrafraternity Council Read said the obscenities were left in the story to bad adopted a stricter role in rush procedures, and had illustrate the intensity of the abuse. Although the paper developed new regulations for Greek organization fu nc­ -received several leners supporting the story, the paper tions. published letters of apology. "We accomplished what we set out to do. which was She said that an investigation by the administration, change these wrongdoings," Read said. with tbe belp of the rushees who had complained The story, which was originally criticized, had obsce­ revealed "evidence substantially serious." nities in quotes from students who accused the fraterni­ Some of the new rules for rushing include limiting ties of verbal and physical abuse to rushees. socia}, fu nctions to a certain day of the week and The st ry not y students, facu lty and area IProbibiling parties on weekends. o onl caused , residents to complain, but caused some advertisers to Read said that although the story and resulting rules withdraw their support. A group of professors requested had not made her a popular person on campus, she was an evaluation, which -was never conducted, of the pleased with the outcome, and the advertisers who had newspaper's guidelines. withdrawn their ads returned.

Texas Students challenge guidelines

Last October at the Texas Asso­ the newspaper the paper was print­ ciation of J oumatism Directors ed, including an editorial criticizing Convention, Kat DeWees, Lubbock the guidelines. High School yearbook editor, and "We just fe lt lilc:e it was illegal Shannon Kemp, Lubbock High censorship - our rights were being newspaper editor attempted to violated," Kemp said. "They want learn what they could do about the paper to reflect what they think what they called the school system's we should be." arbitrary publication guidelines, Kemp said that when the school and were i nspired to challenge board was threatened with a law­ them. suit, a committee made up of jour­ They fIrst learned of those arbi­ nalism teachers from each of trary guidelines a year ago when an Lubbock's five high schools was advertisement fo r a church caused created to develop a new policy. administrators to distribute publi­ Jennifer Tomlinson, publications cation guidelines that not only fo rM adviser at Dunbar-Stroggs High bid ads fo r religious activities, but School in Lubbock � said the pro-. also ads fo r any school ring man­ posed policy had to be approved by ufacturer besides the one that de­ school and district administrators signed the school's standardized before it could be presented to the ring. school board fo r adoption. The guidelines also said that She said the new guidelines de­ "positive suggestions may be made fined potential problems such as in editorial columns," that editori­ libel and obscenity, instead of defi­ als should be signed, and that they ning types of articles and editorials. "must not hold up to ridicule, cen­ Bill o K pf, Lubbock High School sure, or criticism any group or yearbook adviser, said that the new individual." The guidelines said the guidelines were developed from principal had final authority of other school's guidelines, and the school publications. Student Press Law Center Model Kemp said that school adminis­ Guidelines. trators often detennined what arti­ MAlly DRISCOl l Administrators declined to com­ cles could be published, and that ment on the original and proposed several articles were removed fr om guidelines.

Spring 1984 SPLC Report 19 LEGAL ANALYSIS

Student's right Shield laws: to protect sources

The ability of the press to expose ble alternatives, that the informa­ In Branzburg v. Hayes, the Su­ corruption in public affairs is often tion was relevant to his defense and preme Court ruled that a newspaper related to the confidentiality of that a reasonable probability reporter could be required to re­ communication between source and existed that the infonnation would spond to a grand jury subpoena- in reporter. Shield laws are state stat­ affect the verdict. to a criminal investigat,ion. The utes that allow a reporter to protect maj ority recognized. nevertheless, that confidentiality by refusing to that newsgatbering qualifies for answer questions about information First Amendment prot.ectjon, and and sources obtained and utilized that without some protection in while writing a story. newsgatherlns, freedom of the press In Branzburg v. Hayes, 1 a land­ could be severely dimjnjshed.7 mark case on shield laws, the Su­ Determining privilqe � be preme Court said that while there done by balancing the facts in the Another important case involv­ was nothing in the United States particular situation. In deciding ing the student media was Silkwood Constitution that gave reporters a whether to compel disclosure of a v. Kerr-McGee Corp.) In that ruling, righ t to refuse to answer questions reporter's confidential source,o f ur the U.S. Court of Appeals fo r the before a criminal grand jury, state fa ctors are important8 Tenth Ci rcuit recognized a qual­ legislatures could enact laws gjving • Whether the party wanting the ified privilege fo r a student reporters such a right. information has in�ndentJ y at­ filmmaker researching events sur­ Twenty five states currentl y have tempted to obtain tbe information rounding the death of Karen Silk­ shield laws. Another state, New elsewhere and was unsuccessful. wood, who discovered she had been Mexico, had its origjnal shield law • Whether the information is nec­ contaminated by plutoni um while declared unconstitutional, but the essary to the heart of the matter. working at a Kerr-McGee plant. state Supreme Court issued a rule • Whether the info rmation is of The court said that because the which restored confidentiality to certain relevance. student was not a salaried newspa­ reporters. The question of whether • What the type of controversy is per reporter, he did not have a right student journalists are protected by involved. to shield law protection. The va­ shield laws rarely has been tested in These criteria have been the basis rious state shield laws have many the courts. Of the 25 jurisdictions fo r preventing courts fr.o m issuing definitions of the persons and activ- that do not have press shield laws, arbitrary orders requiring disclo­ . ities they protect. Of the 25 shield 17 have recognized a qualified priv­ sure. Jaws, 16 contain language that ilege fo r journalists, to varying ex­ Shield laws prevail in civil cases could provide protection fo r stu­ tents, through court decisions. Only more than in crimi na l proceedings. dent journalists. States with those one of the states that recognizes a In civil cases, the dispute over laws are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, qualified privilege has done so in a disclosure is between the press and Arkansas, California, Kentucky, case involving student journalists. a private litigant. In criminal mat­ Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Eight states have neither passed a ters , however, the press and the Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, shiel d law nor recognized a qual­ government are the parties in­ Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and ified privilege, but, of those eight volved. Tennessee. states, all but Idaho andHawaii are Justice White's opinion in Branz­ within the jurisdiction of U.S. The shield laws that do not expli­ burg foc used on the traditional im­ Courts of Appeals, which allow citly include student journalists are portance of grand juries and the some qualified privilege. Del aware, IUinoi!>. Indiana. louisia­ strong public interest in effective In New Hampshire Y. Siel ,2 a na, Nevada, New Jersey, New enforcement of the criminal law. In criminal case, the New Hampshire York, Oklahoma and Rhode Island. addition, the need of the defendant Supreme Court ruled in fa vor of the Some shield lawscan deny cover­ fo r the identity of the news source University of New Hampshire age to student journalists. Dela­ or information has been balanced newspaper, granti� student report­ ware's shield la� requires that a against the privilege of the news ers a qualified privilege against dis­ journalist spend at least 20 hours a reporter.9 closure of confidential. sources of week newsgatbering. Indiana's The Supreme Court has also lim­ info rmation in criminal actions. shield Jaws specifies that a reporter ited the reporter's privilege in libel The court stated that the privilege must be paid to be eligible fo r the lawsuits. could be ove rc ome if the defendant statute's protection. The shield law showed that the infonnation sought in JIlinois6 protects only newspa­ ('olJl/nUt'd was unavailable using all reasona- pers with a paid general circulation.

20 SPLC Report Spring 1984 LEGAL ANALYSIS

Shield law

In Herbert v. Lando. lo a libel has more of a chance to discover rights as professional journalists in plaintiff attempted to obtain infor­ information of interest to the public. many states when students assert mation about how a story about Potential sources of information the right not to ctisclose. him had been prepared. The de­ will often fe el less inhibited about Footnotes fe ndant resisted discovery and the talking to a reporter if they know 1. Branzburg v. Hayes. 408 U.S. court held an editorial privilege that their identities will not be 665 (1972). could be successfully asserted when disclosed. 2. New Ha mpshire v. Siel. 444 A.2d a plaintiff was seeking legitimate Many people argue that when 499 (N.H. Sup. Ct. 1982). evidence to prove malice. journalists are not allowed to pro­ 3. Silkwood v. Kerr McGee Corp.. Some language in press shield teet their souces, the public is the 563 F.2d 433 (10th Cir. 1977.) statutes supports the rights of stu­ victim. In the long run, the free 4. Del. Code, title 10, Sections dent journalists. Words and phrases flow of information is less likely to 4320-4326 (1974). that refer to reporters in newspaper occur when informants cannot 5. Ind. Code Section 34-35 (Supp. work or connected with a newspa­ speak in confidence. 1978) per would include student journal­ The argument against giving 6. S.H.A. ch. 110, par 8.901-8.909 ists. The shield law in Nebraska, II news reporters a privlege also is (1983). in referring to the types of news based on the public interest. 7. Branzburg. 408 U.S. at 681. media that are protected, states Although freedom of the press is 8. Garland v. Torre, 259 F.2d "any newspaper." Without refer­ basic to a free society, the courts, 545(2d Cir. 1958), cert denied, ences to requirements of a paid with their truth-seeking function, 358 U.S. 910 (1958), Silkwood v. general circulation, or paid employ­ are equally fundamental. People Kerr Mc Gee Corp.. 563 F. 2d 433 ment or other language denoting advocating the negation of shield (10th CU. 1977). professional newsgathering, it is jus­ laws conclude that the public inter­ 9. State v. Sandstrom. 224. Kan. tifiable fo r student journalists to est through the fa ir administration 573, 581, P.2d 812 (1978). think the state legislature intended of justice is paramount. 10. Herbert v. Lando. 44 U.S. 153 that they be protected by the shield The uncertainty of the law in ( 1979). law. many jurisdictions makes it diffi­ 11. Neb. Rev. Stat. Section 49.275 Shield laws and qualified priv­ cult to summarize the right of a (1977). ileges are important tools fo r pre­ student journalists to protect their serving the fr eedom of the press. A sources. The state of the law is reporter who can guarantee confi­ uncertain, and we will determine dentiality to sources of information whether students have the same LIBEL

Jo urnalism prof fe ssor was "the most disgusting, and were defamatory. files $9 million hard-headed and stingy professor I Current Harbinger ectitor Chuck know," and ended, "as the saying Riggle said that because of com­ libel lawsuit goes, if you can't; teach." plete turnover of staff, he ctid not In his filed complaint, Roepken think that the suit had imposed a Last spring, a graduating student said that readers understood "chilling effect" on the paper, or at William Rainey Harper College statements in the ectitorial to mean that the current staff was affected in Palatine, Ill. wrote an editorial he was an incompetent professor, by the suit. fo r Harper's student newspaper, the Ha rbinger. describing changes at the school that had occurred while he was a student and his grievances about certain situations and a par­ ticular professor. Michigan firm sues paper As a result the criticized instruc­ tor, Henry Roepken, a professor of journalism, is requesting more that $9. 1 million dollars in damages in a libel lawsuit against the student Eco-Tech, Inc., an East Lansing, yer said that a motion fo r summary who wrote the editorial, the paper's Mich. firm is suing the Michigan judgment would be submitted in editors and adviser, two school State News of Michigan State Uni­ early March. administrators and the college versity fo r libel as a result of inves­ He said that the articles did not Board of Trustees. tigative articles that reported that clarify that onJy a percentage of the Included in the editorial, written part of the company's $227,000 money used to pay fo r overhead by Mike McCarthy - who was not university con tract was being used costs, such as travel and other ex­ a member of the Harbinger staff, to pay fo r "beer and munchies." penses, would be paid fo r by the was a paragraph that said the pro- Noah Yanich, a State News law- See Michigan. p. 23

Spring 1984 SPLC Report 21 UBEl

Rhode Island

School board member sues editor

A member of the Cumberland, R.I. school board has absentee rate of Cumberland teachers. The editorial filed a libel lawsuit aaainst a high school editor, his included a percentage rate of O'Coin's Board meeting adviser and the school department attendance. William O'COin, a Cumberland attorney and school Murphy said that he was shocked that O'Coin filed board member has alleged libel and 8C1ual malice in an the suit, but that he thought the court would not hear editorial written by Colin Mwphy. co-editor in chief of the case, which he said was similar to New Yo rk Times the Clipper Courier of Cumberland HiJh School in v. Sullivan, because O'Coin was a public figure. Cumberland. "I think.t i 's kind of silly. I think. it's kind of O'Coin is asking fo r a total of $1 million in compen­ unfortunate too," Murphy said. satory and punitive damap fo r injuries to his profes­ James Stanton, the adviser fo r the Clipper Courier, sional reputation in the editorial that said that he said that he thought that the lawsuit had caused a "speaks in public in a very negative manner without chilling effect on the other newspaper staffmembers, as fully realizing what the real facts are," and that his students were afraid of legal action. He said that attendance to school board meetings was low, and parents, also fea ring lawsuits, bad called him and asked couldn't compare to the attendance rates of teachers. rum to give their son or daughter "something easy to Murphy said he wro te the editorial after an article in write." a local paper reported statements by O'Coin about the

Georgia Vermont "Dog of a suit" continues Dartmouth editors Three student editors and their adviser at the Medi­ cal College of Georgia are waiting for a decision from await decision the Georgia Court of Appeals on a libel suit brought against them a year ago. on libel suit Susan Brooks a graduate nursing student appealed. a Georgia state court's grant of summary judgment to the editors which said that the published response to her The u.s. District Court fo r Vermont is currently letter of complaint to the editor was satirical, and deciding whether an anicle in the Dartmouth Review protected speech under the First and o F urteenth describing a professor's teaching methods was libelous. Amendment. William Cole, music professor and chairman of the Brooks letter asked the editors to upgrade their music department at Dartmouth College in Hanover, humor presented in the paper. The reply said that their N.H., in a lawsuit against the paper and three staff "style of humor is really out of our control," and "We members alleged libel and actual malice in the article, have backgrounds different from the rest of you. Our which both criticized and praised his teaching habits. mothers were German Shepards, our fathers were He also claimed that the paper used a photograph of camels, so naturally we love to hump bitches in heat. him without permission. Say, Ms. Brooks, when do you come in seasonr' The article described events during one of Cole's David Hudson, attorney fo r John Jarman, one of the classes with a headline, "Prof. Bill Cole's Song and student editors, said that although he thousht the law Dance Routine," was on the student editors' side, he was unsure of the The article told about Cole's "pop philosophy" of judges reaction to the arguments that were presented teaching - to "Read little, think deeply - and much," last December. but also said that, "Nothing worries Bill Cole. Not "The court was not very receptive to us because they students, not regulations. not teaching. Nothing.'" thought the material presented was 10 offensive," Cole is asking fo r $2.4 million in punitive and Hudson said. compensatory damages. Brooks is asking fo r $150,000 in damages along with Michael Collene, president of the R(!'Jiew. said that a right to reply in the paper. Cole's complaints did not specify any inaccuracies in The editors, Brian Stone, Stuart Caplan and Jarman the story. filed a countersuit, claiming that the conflict diverted Collette said he did not know yet if the Review would them from their studies, and each requested $10,000 in file a countersuit for damages to compensate fo r legal damages. costs.

22 SPlC Report Spf1ng 1984 LIBEl

Michigan continued he bad been unjustly singled out in Although two other Michigan contract, but that statements were the articles, and becaUSI,: he thought newspapers printed the articles, re­ no libelous. statements in them were false and tractions were printed. Yanich said Yanich said that Eco-Tech presi­ misleading. that if the State News bad printed a dent Robert Boling, Jr. was suing "He may have a case, but not for retraction, Boling" who is asking for the paper because he thought that this kind of libel action," he said. $10,000 in damages, would proba­ bly stop the lawsuit.

Penn State Gerry Hamilton, general manager of Collegian, Inc. said that the paper's staff bad said that they did not want to pay an out of court cash settlement, and would appl y for a jury trial if necessary. He said Sweitzer had asked for more than $50,000 in New ad policy results damages, but the paper badnot been required to pay. "We stated we didn't believe the ad should have run from libel suit and that the ad violated our own standard of excel­ lence, but we didn't believe the ad violated any law, nor was there any negligence," he said Sharer, however, was required to pay $2,000 for Collegian, Inc., publisher of the Daily Collegian at fraud. Pennsylvania State University has settled a libel suit Because of this case and a rash of other charges, out of court by agreeing to write a private letter of which Hamiliton said were a result of the Carol apology to the student who filed the suit. Burnett-National Enquirer case, the paper has changed Vicki Sweitzer alleged libel and negligence after a its advertising procedures. classified ad that appeared in a 1980 issue had her first Now, a perron placing an ad must have identification name and phone number accompanying a request of a and sign an agreement that states the limits of the homosexual woman seeking companionship. paper's liability. Hamilton said he hoped the stricter The ad was placed by Dorlene Sharer, who fa lsely policies would be helpful in future lawsuits and discour­ identified herselfas Vicki Longe. age advertisers from ,pving false information.

AWARD

Announcing Scholastic Press Freedom Award

The National Scholastic Press should include samples support­ Associationj Associated Colle­ ing the nominee, such as clip­ giate Press and the Student Press pings, tapes and reports of their law Center will honor the stu­ efforts in other media. dent or student medium that The executive dirtctor of the best supports the First Amend­ Student Press law Center will ment with the Scholastic Press select the winner, and pre5enta· Freedom Award. tion of the award will be at the Nominees for the award NSPAjJEA convention if the should be a responsible represen­ winner is a high school journal­ tation of press freedom through ist, or at the ACPjCMA conven­ writing or actions and the ability tion if the winner is a college to raise difficult and necessary journalist. issues in news coverage. Nominations must be received Nominations of any person, by August 1 of each year to be student newspaper, student mag­ considered for that year's award. azine, yearbook or student radio Send nominations to: or television station will be ac­ Scholastic Press Freedom A waN cepted. Nominees should clearly Student Pres, Law Center explain why the nominee de­ 800 18th Street, N. W. serves the Scholastic Press Free­ Room 300 dom Award. The nomination WubJllIfoo, D.C. 20006

$pOng 1984 SPl C Report 23 REPORT CARD or c

In fa ct., about the only thing that can be said fo r the 1983- 1984 Sp okesman is that it does not tibel anyone. The editorial policy, printed in the first issue of the

school year, Slated that the staff reserves "all of the First Amendment rights." Nothing this paper prints would make anyone want to bother taking those rights away. D The Bridge, of West Chicago Community High School is sca nt miles away from Wheeling, but the distance between the Sp okesman and the Bridge ap­ proaches the astronomical. The Bridge is far from perfect. It is pasted up with seemingly indifference and the headline writing is weak. When the staff doesn't have enough copy, they simply lay out a twa.page spread in 12-point type. The story selection, however, shows a good balance Defending the rights o f the scholastic press means of school news and national issues. Topics that are h that in t e co urse of our work at SPLC, we get to read a important to a teenage audience are handled with lot of student newspapers. Some are quite good, but sophistication, induding one short story about locker some are 50 bad that no self-respecting atio na N l En­ searches being legal in the state of Illinois , and an quirer reporter would associate himself with the "fin· editorial on the shooting down of Korean Airlines jet ished products." Therefore, we at SPLC decided to 007. revive our Report Card, a time-honored, irreverent Students were given a two-page spread on how to get look at the newspapers you all produce. involved in interscholastic academic competitions (al­ though one column did suggest that these were a great way to get a fr ee vacation to some place neat), and even tol d how their teachers stacked up in a comparison of The Spokesman. of Wbeeling, lJJ. High School was an pay and benefit packages fo r teachers in DuPage Coun­ "A" when SPLC first looked at it years ago. Alas, paper ty. such is no lo nger the case. The Sp okesman is not only The Bridge also contains sports and fea ture articles an insipid news paper, it is a sloppy one. Clauses dangle which are written in fairly crisp style, and retain reader like ornaments fr om a Christmas tree, and verbs lack interest All in all , a pretty good effort. obj ects. Stories fa il to ask "why?", and instead deal only with surfa ce facts. "Why?" is probably the question that should be asked about story .selectio n. Homecoming, holidays and sports dominated the fo ur issues we B inspected. When the Spokesman did look at a real issue

- the school board election - it was by printing the Two college papers which fo Uow the "alternative" results of a questionnaire that was'sent to candidates. fo nnat offer a fine contrast. One is a good example of Mere compilation. an alternative to the regular hard news fo rmat while the Story selection may look as if the principal is in other is a fine example of what to avoid. charge of the paper, but the writing is SO weak that even The City on a Hill. published by students at the he would not want to take credit fo r this public Uni versity of California at Santa Cruz. is virtually relations sheet. Leads lack penetration and stories ready to turn pro. Heck, scratch that virtually. City on a wander aimlessly. Even if these writing problems were Hill is a superbly wri tten and designed tabloid, fi lled corrected, however. students stiU would have to survive with intensively researched articles on campus and city the lack of information conveyed, the technically poo r politics. well thought-out editorials and colum ns with layout and the blurry photography. headings like WomensClips and Kaleidoscope, which

24 SPLC Report SpOng 1984 REPORT CARD

keep readers informed of goi ngs-on in this culturally As a fo rmer professor on the UO campus, I know the rich city. Avowedly liberal-left in orientation, City on a students are capable of producing a paper with a grade Hill still does a fine job of handli ng rough issues such higher than as child abuse, voter fraud and the expansion of the local arm of the Silicon Valley, without getting trapped in the pedantic style that typifies too many examples of D both left and right of center publications. The editorials are crisp and to the point, and even the letters to the Back in the high school ranks are two newspapers editor have style. The staff of this paper could be with fo ur colors - the Black and White of Walt moved to New York or Washington and instantly Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md., and the Green compete with the alternative papers of those cities. But and Gold of Frem ont High School in Oakland, Calif. with all tha t seems to be going on in Santa Cruz, why Both papers come from areas on the edge of an urban would tbey want to? center, and the sophistication of the students shows in both. The Green and Gold is limited by its fo ur-page fo rmat, but it squeezes qui te a bit into those fo ur pages, although the layout suffers somewhat as a result. You A+ know where to look fo r your fa vorite subject in the Green and Gold. Page one is the news, page two is commentary. Pages three and fo ur fill you in on entertainment and sports. While the rigidity leaves little Farther up the Pacific coast, in Eugene, Ore., is a new space fo r in-depth looks at problems and major iss ues, alterna tive paper operating out of the University of the copie$ we looked at contained relevant commentary Oregon. Unlike the City on a Hill. however, the Oregon on democracy in the home and post-high school career Co mmentator has a long way to go. planning, and editorials on the system of scheduling The Commentator was fo unded as a more conserva­ classes and the narcotics trade. News stories dealt well tive alternative to the University's traditional student with the Presidential candidacy of Jesse Jackson, the newspaper, the Emerald. Unfortunately, the Commen­ financial crunch of the school yearbook and the Oak­ ' tator has made the mistake many campuses second land teachers' strike. newspapers make - it has developed a marked hostili­ The Green and Gold is a good paper, which could be ty to the older paper. As a result, it reacts more than it a great one if they had more space to discuss the things acts, it is snide where it should be logical, it calls names they seem to want to talk about. Keep at it, fo lks! and is catty where it should be offering a viable alternative fo r the intelligent readers. Part of the Commentator's problem seems to be that B it simply started out with goals too ambitious to fulfill. The issues we looked at seemed to be based upon flUing a given number of pages first and fo remost. When In fac t, if tbe Green. and Gold got more space, they enough material was not produced, editing was lax. could be the Black and Wh ite, which must be read all Most pieces ran on long after their information ran out. over (sorry, couldn't resist). The Black and Wh ite has Others were re produced fr om outside sources. the benefit of being in a fine high school and in an Maybe outside sources should be encouraged to affluent school district, but that should not detract fr om submit to the Commentator, fo r the home-grown writ­ thefantastic j ob done by these reporters and editors. Of ing is, fo r the most part) long-winded and very, very all the papers I've seen on the high school level, this gra y. (Layout is very) very gray as well.) PerhapS the one offers the best layout, graphics and balance of news, staff is simply not that fa r along in their training. fea tures and analy$is that I've seen. Home 'gJ'own art is Whatever the reason, the Commentator does not sh ow reasonably good. and it relates well to the stories. With a skilled hand taking controL few exceptions., those stories are well written, well­ researched and well-ed.ited. Just one issue contained In only one area does the Co mmentator attempt to stories on student gambling, tutoring struggling students show that it is not stuffy. At the bottom of many pages and the pressures on part-time fa culty, along with appears a heading called "Spew," in which informal editorials or columns on the failure of a county-wide and light short bits appear. Here the staff goes too far. testingp�m, the lack of computer instruction in th e Most of these bits are bitchy and irrelevant attacks on school and the over-emphasis on the number of Merit their competition and the more outspoken liberal finalists the school produced, which, by the way, is professors . Spew, indeed, does. extremely high, and thus to WWHS's benefit. Finally, the Commentator commits the ulti mate sin of The Black and Wh ite keeps to standard style and college journalists - that of con fusing writing the news standard layout. That's fine. Getting something right is with making the news. A page two article in one issue a hard enough task; wh y tamper wi th success? announced the awarding of a rather small gra nt to the paper. In it, the "publisher" (who ever heard of a student calling himself the publisher?) proclaims that the Co mmentator "has not been bought in any sense of A the word." Of course not - who would pay for it?

Spring 1964 SPLC Report 25 ETHICS

In search of guidelines

Adopting ethical standards

by Deoi Elliot stayed during each visi t. She knew The following are sugestions biah enough parental utra e would Consider: The high school news­ o g school journalists can use to devel­ cause the to lose his paper staff that published with glee administrator op an ethical point of view for their ' a gossip note that said a student s job. staffs. fa ther had been arrested and Consider: Another news editor If it can be both unethical to decided n leads she charged with extortion. The arrest ot to pursue the publish too much and to publish had drug use by had nothing to do with the school, been given about too little, you might question just but the staff knew the item would the foo tball team. She knew that how ethical behavior can be ideo­ be upset if they give students something to talk parents would tified Journalists have no absolute about. fo und out that the champion fo ot· list of ethical rules. And. while ball players were snorting coke be­ m ost illegal behavior is decldely Consider. Another newspaper fore the games. unethical, the category of ethical staff decided not to publish a story These situations have one com­ wrongs is fa r greater than those about the treasurer of the student mon element. In each case, one actions that do not conform with council being suspended for stealing may question the ethics of the high minimumlegal sta ndards. money from the student activities school journalists portrayed. When The development of an ethical fund. The student council member journalistic behavior is called un­ guideline requires an understa�iD8 was on the newspaper staff as well; ethical, the accuser is often referring of the function of the publication the staff didn't wa nt to cause him to an item that should not have and attention by the newspaper further embarrassment. been pu blished or to an action staff as to what sort of individual Consider: A high school news which should not have been taken, journalistic behavior conforms to editor researched and wrote a story such as the first and third examples. that function. detailing how often a disliked ad­ But, suppression of information, First, consider the function of the ministrator went into a l ocal bar as illustrated in the other two ex­ publication. What is the purpose of during the week, and how long h e amples, may be unethical as wel l. your high school newspaper? In rPRlM1 IT. �-

26 SPLC Report ETHICS most schools, the newspaper serves In seeking to promote the good newspaper's purposes. And, as illus­ a dual purpose - to provide of the community, then. 8 logicaJ trated above. ethical guidelines for hands-on experience to students inference is that the school newspa­ the newspaper easily follow an un­ learning journalistic theory and per should not use its awesome derstanding of the newspaper's skills, and to provide students and power to intentionally harm an function within the school commu­ faculty with the information they individual. Sometimes, however, nity. need to be active members of the the obligation to help the commu­ But this is still not enough. Each school community, a forum for nity and the obligation to refrain journalist writing for the publica­ editorial expression and entertain­ from harming individuals conflict. tion must evaluate his actions in ing features interesting to the audi­ Exposing the student council light of the newspaper's guidelines, ence. member who stole money from the and must strive to make individual The first function implies that treasury will result in further hann actions consistent with the function student journalists are apprentices, of that individual. Is that in the of the pUblication. learning their rights and responsibi­ best interest of the community? If a journalist fabricates a quote lities and how to bandle the unde­ Considering that such exposure will or a source, he is acting dishonestly niable power of the press, even as detail guidelines of how to prevent and in a way inconsistent with the they first use that power. such a situation from developing newspaper's aim to provide accu­ This "still learning" aspect of the again, and will warn other students rate informati on. If a journalist high school journalism trade sug­ not to engage in such activity, the covers up an important story be­ gests that there is a unique obliga­ obligation to the community here cause a friend is involved. or mali­ tion for student journalists to use might outweigh the obligation to ciously subjects an individual to their powerful mass communica­ protect the individual. ridicule through a story he writes, tion tool with much careful The same case can be made for he is acting inconsistently with the thought. As with the driver with a the drugs and sports story. A likely publication's goal of promoting the brand new license or the apprentice result of the story is that the foot­ good of the community and avoid­ chemist mixing volatile chemicals, ball team will suffer through the ing hann to an individual. student journalists should approach publicity of the drug use. On the Developing ethical guidelines is research and writing realizing that other hand, exposure of this prob­ not like setting up legal standards. they lack the responsible news lem would likely force parents and No matter now much attention a judgment that develops through administrators to cope with the newspaper staff pays to ethical many years of on-the-job experi­ serious issue of drug abuse in Questions, the Questions will contin­ ence. school. Again, the good for the ue. The second function of the community as a whole could out­ The staff will never have a fin­ school paper means that the paper weigh the harm to the individual ished product - an ethical rule­ should mirror a larger community using drugs. book that works in all situations. paper in many important ways. The The good of the community, like a legal code. paper should provide readers with however, will not always override The result from dealing with com plete, accurate information. By the hann done to an individual. such matter is far more important this statement of function, the ex­ Consider the other two examples. than a list of rules. As the newspa­ amples of the father's arrest and of The publication of the father's ar­ per staff understands and clarifies the drinking administrator might be rest will cause embarrassm ent to the purpose of their high school stories that sh ould be included. But the student involved. What good paper for the community. and as we need to go one step further here will that do for the scbool commu­ each staff member strives to keep and consider the purpose of provid­ nity? The crime is not related tothe the individual gathering and report­ ing readers with infonnation. school. The need to know such ing methods consistent with that The purpose of a free press in a information does not override the stated purpose, the newspaper and democratic society is funda mentally harm it would cause the student in the staff develop a responsible pro­ to infonn and educate citizens so a tightly-knit school community. fessional character. It becomes evi­ that they may best participate in And what about the administra­ dent to the school community that democratic action. Certainly, a high tor who frequents the local bar? a group of student journalists are school is not a democracy, but There is no reason to believe that working to execute their rights and students do have a voice in many the administrator is an alcoholic or responsibilities in the best possible issues and do have the constitution­ that he has ever shown up on the way. al right to express their opinions on job after drinking. If the adminstra­ Developing a journalistic charac­ any subject they choose. tor's personal habits do not inter­ ter of a professional wielding a great Information that the school fere with his job - if habits do not deal of power is at least as impor­ newspaper should necessarily pro­ interfere with the good of the tant in this apprentice journalist vide, then, is information which school community, there is no ethi· phase as developing technical fi­ will help students form educated cal reason to cause him personal nesse. opinions about important issues of hann or embarrassment by expos­ Editor's 1U)le: Deni Emoll has the school community and the ing his private life in the school taught journalism and journalistic community they live in. Such infor­ newspaper. ethics at the high school and univer­ mation is good for the entire school It is important for high school sity levels, and is a doctoral candi­ community. newspaper staff to clearly state the dJJte at Harvard University.

Spring 1984 SPLC Report 27 COPYRIGHT LAW SPL C Copyright primer

Imagine a high school senior's The laws provide protection to work, as well as what the work is surprise when she discovered that creators of original works of used fo r. not only had portions of her fiction authorship, including literary. dra­ The copyright owner's exclusive been printed in Women 's World matic, musical and artistic works. rights are limited in three ways: magazine, but that the article had The liberal pro tection of the revised • Since a copyright only protects been submitted by a teacher from Copyright Law of 1976 fa vors the against copying a copyrighted work, her own school. copyright holder because the work it does not prohibit another author belongs the creator upon creation, if from independently producing the When Brenda Way. a Montgom­ it is in fixed fo rm. The new act, same or similar work. ery County Maryland student, dis­ unlike the old. applies to unpub­ • Anyone can copy id eas from a covered this a year ago, many lished an published works - SO copyrighted work; copyright pro­ student journalists and their advis­ long as they are fixed. tects onJy the particular expression ers became keenly aware of two of ideas. issues. First, that copyrighting and Rightsof Copyrigbt • A copyright extends neither to protecting materials could be a ne­ systems explained io a work, nor to cessity and second, that using copy­ Copyright protection does not discrete facts in a work. righted materials correctly was also extend to ideas, procedures and important. processes - the law protects only Duration of a Copyright The basis of copyright protection the specific type of expression of is established in Article I, Section I, ideas. Section 106of the Copyright Tbe duration of a copyright is clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution Act gives the copyright owner the limited. Copyrights fo r works cre­ and in the Copyright Act of 1976. exclusive right to control the use, ated after January 1, 1918 extend (Title 16 of the U.S. Code). reproduction and distribution of a fo r the life of the author plus fifty years. Works "made for hire," sucb as a work prepared by an employee fo r a job, and copyrights fo r anony­ mous and pseudonymouso w rks extend 75 years from publication or 100years from creation, whichever is shorter. Rules fo r copyright .dura­ tions fo r works created before Jan­ uary 1, 1978 are more complicated, and can be obtained at the Copy­ right Office.

Obtaining Copyright Protection

Whh the copyright law, copyright is gained automatically when the work is "created," that is, when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. Unlike the previous law, the 1976 statute does not re­ quire publication or registration in the Copyright Office to insure copy­ right protection. According to the Public Info rma­ tion division of the O>pyright Of­ fice, registration offers specific advantages;

• Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim.

• Registration is usually necessa:ry before any infringement suit can be filed in court.

, 28 SPLC Report SpMo 19s.4 COPYRIGHT LAW

• If registration is made within The exclusi ve ownership rights fo r purposes of ill ustration or com­ three months after the pu blication that a copyrigh t guarantees are ment; summary of an address or of the work, or prior to infringe­ worth the minimal effort that regis­ article with brief q uotations, in a ment, statutory damages and attor· tration requires. Depending on the news report and use in a parody of ney's fees will be available to the particular case, copyrighting may be some of the work parodied" are co pyri gh t owner. Otherwise, only worth the effort and cost of register­ considered protected items. Use of actual damage awards, profits and ing a copyright to possess the exclu­ a photo accompanying a review and possibly injunctive relief will be sive rights. inclusion of short quota tions that available to tbe copyright owner. would not be commercially damag­ • Although registration may be Using Copyrighted Material ing to the original author would made anytime within the life of the also be acceptable fa ir use excep­ copyright, if it is made within five The second problem of copy­ tions. years of publication, it establishes rights that student journalists en­ The Co pyright Office recom­ prima facie, or presumed, evidence counter is knowing how to use mended procedures indicate that in court of the validity of the copy­ material that is already copyrighted. the safest course is getting permis­ right and of the facts stated in the If the use would be so extensive as sion from the copyright owner be­ certificate. to cause corp.mercial loss to the fore using protected material. When There are many different applica­ copyright owner, then the owner deadlines made this impossible, tion forms for copyright, and their and publisher must give consent. however, the fo remost consider­ specific use depends on the works The courts have recognized that ation is fa irness to the owner and to be registered. certain acts of copying are allowed creator of the work. The two fo rms that student jour­ if they constitute tair use. When the Student journalists should also nalists would use most often fo r Copyright Act was revised in the be aware that acknowledging the original works would be Form TX 19705, it codified this judicially source of material is not a substi­ and Form SE. Form TX is for the created exemption to the law of tute fo r obtaining consent. registration of published and non­ intellectual property. Under the To determine whether a work is dramatic literary works. This form Act, certain limite d uses of copy­ under copyright protection, exam­ would be used to copyright an righted works are not an infringe­ ine a copy of the work or have the individual article. Form SE is used \ment of protected rights if they are Copyright Office search it fo r you. to register individual issues of a Osed fo r criticism, comment, news With a few exceptions, absence of serial. This fo rm would apply to , reporting or teaching purposes. notice on works prior to 1978 will specific editions of newspapers or To determ ine whether a partic­ not affect the validity of a copy­ yearbooks, because they are works ular use is fair use, the statute in right. If the Copyright Office does a that are issued in successive parts Section 107 of the Copyright Act search, the fe e is $10.00an hour, so and intended to be continued indef­ comprises fo ur fa ctors: providing as much information as initely. possible can lower costs. • The purpose of the use - The Copyright Office does not The Public Information Special­ whether it is commercial or non­ charge a fe e fo r applicati on fo rms. ists at the Copyright Office are profit education. Pho tocopies of application fo rms willing to answer questions and • The nature of the copyrighted are not acceptable fo r registration. provide infonnation on any copy­ work. Copyright regist ration becomes ef­ right issue, bu t the Copyright Office • The amount of the work used fe cti ve the date of the receipt of the does have limitations. The Office relative to the entire copyrighted req uired materials in the Copyright cannot grant permissions for use, work. Office. determine if certain uses would be • The effect of the use on the When a work is publ ished, all considered fa ir, advise of possible value of the copyrighted work - published copies should bear a no­ copyright violations .or give legal whether the copyright owner cou ld tice of copyright that is placed in a advice. Ifthere is any doubt on any have financial loss. position that gives reasonable no­ of these issues, an attorney should The line between fair and infring­ tice. An additional change in the be consulted. ing use under the copyright law is a J 976 Act grants five years of full While some ramifications of the difficult one to draw today. To protection, even if notice was Copyright Law need to be devel­ date, there has been little judicial omitted and corrected. oped, with some m in imal effort, clarification fo r the new law since it Copyrighting a written work is a st udent journalists can avoid find­ bega n in 1978. The statute itself simple procedure and a good idea ing out about copyright law in the does not specify a certain number fo r student journalists wanting their difficult manner that Brenda Way of word s or lines that may be taken work protected. If a paper is operat­ did. Taking ti me to develop a little without permission. ing on a marginal budget, staff savvy about the ins and outs of members may not want to go to the The 196 t report of the Register copyrighting material and the use of expense of copyrighting each issue, of Copyrights on the General Revi­ copyrighted material is a small but if a copy right may be necessary sion of the U.s. Copyright Law price to pay for student journalists fo r later use, the formality of ob­ cites some activities that the old wa nting to take ad vantage of the taining a copyright would be help­ law regards as fa ir use. " Quotation benefits and protections 10 be de­ ful. of excerpts in a review or criticism rived.

Spring 1984 SPlC R&port 2Q COPYRIGHT LAW Us ing copyright law ...

• Give notice of the copyright of the work with the son. word "copyright," the symbol © or the abbreviation The Ameri can Association of Publishers, (AAP), "copr." Give the year of the first publication of the suggests the foll owing procedure for using copyrighted work and the name of the owner of the copyright. (© material:

1984 SPLC Report) • Obtain the copyright holder's consent in writing. The notice should be in place on the work that will Few publishers can give verbal permissions. A letter to give reasonable notice of the claim of copyright. A title the copyright holder should be addressed to the pub­ page or masthead would be logical places in student lisher's perm ission department. Also, wben requesting pu blications. permission, plan for the time necessary fo r respOnse. • Although regi stration is not necessary fo r a copy· While publishers say that requests in proper order are right, registeri ng has advantages. To register the work, granted quickly, in reality, requests can take six to eight send to the Register of Co pyrights: an appropriate weeks, especially requests to syndicates. . application fo rm, written in black ink or typewritten; a • In asking for reprint permission, include the title, $10 filing fe e, by a money order, check or bank draft ­ author and edition of the material, the page numbers of not cash -- and two copies of the work being registered the material, the number of copies wanted, the intended in the same envelope or package . use of the material, the method of printing and distribu­ • If you need more information or advice about the tion and whether or not the material will be sold. When fo nn to file, contact: requesting use of copyrighted materials, students should Register of Copyrights ask fo r a waiver of any fees because their publicationis Library of Congress noncommerical wi th limited circulation. Washington, D.C. 20559 • Blanket penn issions - consent fo r materials fo r (202) 287-8700 multiple use, should be avoided if possible. These tend

If the correct application fo rm is known, the Copy­ to complicate the request, and sometimes cause the right Office has a telephone hotline number to caB and request to be denied. It is best to be specific about why leave a recorded message of a request. These orders are the material is sought. filled and mailed promptly. The hotline number is • Enclose a return address with the request and senda (202) 287·9100. copy of the copyright page, as well as the page or pages When a work is protected by copyright, this does not fo r which permission is to be granted. Fin ally, give mean that the material cannot be used, it simply means credit when conse nt has been granted. (Reprinted by that if the use extends past certain limits, consent to pennission of the Student Press Law Center). repUblish must be obtained from the appropriate per- ...to avoid litigation A recent case that might have drew their action when the Univer­ be more than nine instances of offered jUcllcial clarification of the sity agreed to adopt specific multi ple copying for one course fa ir use provision as set fo rth in the procedures fo r the photocopying of during a semester. 1976 fed eral copyright statute was copyrighted works by the fa culty, The problem with the fa ir use settled out of court last April. and the faculty agreed to comply exception is that it allows use fo r Nine publishers, coordinated by with thesepoli cies. educati onal purposes, as well as for

the Association of American Pub­ The new procedures al low teach · journalists, but tbe statute fails to lishers, (AAP), filed a suit against ers to make single copies fo r thei r clarity what the limitati ons and New York University and eight of scholarly research oro f r teaching standards are. the university faculty fo r copyright preparation. Multiple copies may While the NYU agreement has infringement, unauthorized and un­ be made if they are not more than no legal precedent, it does demon­ lawful reproduction, anthologizing one copy per pupil in a course, and strate tha.t brevity, spontanei ty and and distribution and sales of the they meet specified tests fo r brevity, cumulative effect win be fo refront publisher's copyrighted work. spontaneity and cumulative effect issues in determining whether the At the heart of the action, which Certain word counts limit the use of the materials is fa ir. was the first time that individual parameters of brevity. A poem of Since the NYU case involves professors had been named in a 250 words or less, for example, is massive copying fo r classroom use, i su t, was the alleged wholesale safe for reprinting without pennis­ the specifics of the suit may have copying fo r classroom use of pro­ sion. The spontaneity of the copy­ limited applicability to student tected materials. ing must be at the inspiration of the journalists. Nevertheless, the action Although NYU faculty members teacher and the use must be so soon indicates that publishers are not were not the only teachers unlaw� after that it would be unreasonable necessarily looking fo r lucrative fu lly reprod ucing copyrighted to expect a timely reply to a per­ damage awards, but fo r test cases works, the school could have been mission request. Some of the cumu­ tha t will serve as wami ngs to other chosen as a litigant because of its lative effect standards are th at uses of copyrighted work. visibility to other sch ools. copying material may be fo r only The publishers, however, with- one course , and that there may not

30 SPLC «aport Spong 1984 It's 10:00. Do you kll0W where your student's rights are?

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