The Weekly would like to clarify a few things about the Feb. 26, 2010 issue, specifically the article on Case Day.
First of all, it was not our intent to be inflammatory or malicious in publishing the Case Day article. We firmly believe that Case Day and the larger issue of binge drinking are important issues that affect this campus.
In publishing the story, we intended to expose the hidden concern and spark discussion about binge drinking in general. It was not our intent to endorse either viewpoint—for or against Case Day—rather, to give both sides equal voice.
Secondly, the timing of the article was not purposely planned for Scholarship Day. This day happened to fall the week after Case Day occurred, so the article was published at that time by pure coincidence. We did not want to publish an article before Case Day took place because students might have felt encouraged to participate in the problem we wished to expose. We do not aim to tarnish the College’s image for prospective students, but rather to talk about unspoken issues that face our campus.
In addition, we want to address the theft of our newspapers last weekend. We pay quite a bit of money so students have access to one free newspaper each week. When members of our campus steal and throw away these papers, they are depriving other students and community members of the opportunity to read the paper. The news paper the campus saw on the stands was the product of a collaboration between 31 people last week, so it is frustrating when campus community members have so little respect for that work.
Finally, whether community members agree or disagree with the issues we talk about, or our decision to publish an article on a specific topic, it is important to respect our right as a press organization to talk about these difficult topics. Throwing away newspapers is censorship of The Weekly, and hence the students’ voice on campus. When people choose to censor the students’ voice on important issues like binge drinking, it silences a problem and does not allow us to discuss productively, which is what we, as an educational institution, need to do.
Further questions or comments can be either posted in the comments section, or sent via e-mail to weekly@gustavus.edu.
Very well said. Not only is it unfair to the entire staff, but also those that wrote or edited their own articles for the Weekly that never get read or discussed because the focus is entirely on the Case Day and censorship. I know the majority of campus opposes the timing of this article (like last year’s as well), but I think it’s perfectly fine.
i cannot believe you would go to the judicial board over a student taking more than one paper. selective prosection. unbelieveable. i will be throwing away at least 20 papers next week…
But there’s a huge difference between taking more than one (like 2-4) and removing about 200 papers.