CSU paper draws heat for editorial
Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News
Published September 22, 2007 at midnight
Colorado State University's student newspaper drew national criticism Friday for an editorial containing a profane reference to President Bush.
Friday's edition of the Rocky Mountain Collegian featured a four-word editorial that read: "Taser this . . . F--- Bush," with the expletive spelled out. The statement, said Editor David McSwane, was a response to the Tasering of a University of Florida student Monday who disrupted a forum with Sen. John Kerry. The incident sparked debate about free speech.
McSwane said the editorial was approved by the seven student editors who make up the paper's editorial board.
"This isn't something we took lightly," he said. "It's an unpopular thing to do, but free speech is sometimes."
The editorial garnered a slew of negative comments on the paper's Web site and the ire of conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. CSU officials say they got 12 to 15 complaints.
"There were not as many as I expected," McSwane said of the complaints he personally received. "I think there are a lot of students who see what happened and support that because they understand what we do as a college newspaper and the importance of being able to do that."
While the university is prohibited by law from censoring content of student media, CSU officials said Friday they did not support the Collegian's editorial and plan to conduct an investigation.
The school's Board of Student Communications, made up of students and faculty members, could discuss firing McSwane at its meeting Tuesday.
McSwane is no stranger to the national spotlight. As a senior at Arvada High School, he posed as a pot-smoking, high school dropout trying to enlist in the Army for an investigative story on unethical recruitment practices. He taped conversations with a recruiter who encouraged him to manufacture a high school diploma and buy a detox kit to lick his drug habit.
The story attracted attention from national media as well as U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, who called for an investigation into the matter.
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