Editor faces hearing for profane editorial

Erika Gonzalez, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 28, 2007 at midnight

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The board overseeing Colorado State University's student newspaper voted Thursday to proceed with a formal hearing for an editor who published an obscenity in an editorial.

After reviewing complaints filed against The Rocky Mountain Collegian, CSU's Board of Student Communications set an Oct. 4 hearing to consider whether the editorial violated the code of ethics for both CSU's Student Media and The Collegian.

The codes state that "profane or vulgar words are not acceptable for opinion writing."

The editorial, which ran in Friday's Collegian, simply read: "Taser this . . . F--- Bush," with the expletive spelled out. The four-word piece was credited to the Collegian's editorial board. But in a letter to J. David -McSwane, the communications board said: "As editor in chief of The Collegian, you are ultimately responsible for publication."

At next week's hearing, the board could decide to fire, suspend, reprimand or admonish -McSwane. The board, which includes six students and three faculty members, may also dismiss the complaints.

Professor James Landers, interim president of the communications board, said Wednesday that the governing body would review roughly 300 e-mails and about a dozen letters concerning the editorial. A summary of the complaints was sent to McSwane.

Whatever action the board takes, McSwane may appeal the decision to the school's vice president of student affairs within 20 days of receiving the panel's written ruling. The Arvada West High School graduate must attend the hearing, which will be closed to the public.

Staffers of The Collegian, reached Thursday, said -McSwane wasn't making any public statements on the issue. At a packed board hearing Wednesday night, the junior journalism major said he and his editorial board felt their use of the F-word was protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

"We felt that it was acceptable in this instance," McSwane said.

The editorial was written in response to an incident at the University of Florida, where a student was shocked with a Taser after disrupting a forum featuring U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

McSwane has said that the editorial was intended to promote discussion about free speech, not capture headlines.

The editorial could also potentially cost the paper more than $50,000 in advertising, if the businesses that have threatened to pull their ads follow through.

Pros and cons

The Rocky Mountain Collegian received more than 1,000 e-mails responding to the editorial. A sampling:

• Is the word f--- profanity? Really? Profanity is the apathy of Americans who don't give a damn that we are in an illegal war of choice and over 1 million innocent civilians have been killed in Iraq since March of 2003.

Kelly Walters

• It's telling that there are actually people saying that the editorial shouldn't have been run due to loss of advertising for the paper. That is the very thing that F--- BUSH is about.

• To me, what the editorial represents is what at least (if not more) half the country is thinking anyway. Good luck to the editor. As a former alumnus, he has my support!

Daniel

• Sure he can say what he wants, but there are consequences. I am beyond words. I attended CSU and have supported the school and the Rams since the 1960s. If he represents the student body at CSU, I certainly must rethink my support and allegiance.

Bob Larive

• If the government came in and censored the paper, or if someone were arrested by the state for the words they said or wrote, then things would be different. . . . Now, under the editor in chief's watch, CSU has also gained a great deal of national attention in a very negative light.

Chris

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