CSU paper draws heat for editorial

Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 22, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

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.

Featured

• Broncos Game Action

  

  Click for more game action photos from Invesco field.

• 2008 Race for the Cure

  

  The 16th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on today's events.

• A dream fulfilled

  

  A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production

• Presidential Elections

  

  See how Colorado counties have voted through the years.

• County election profiles

  

  A look at how residents in each Colorado county may vote.

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  Connie Willis is the featured author this week in 'A Dozen on Denver'

• Rocky Truth Patrol

  

  Reporters Laura Frank and Katie Kerwin McCrimmon hunt for truth in politics.

• Peak Picks

  

  Submit your fall foliage photos to our contest and vote on other submissions.