Maroon

              THE LOYOLA MAROON VOLUME 67, NO. 15 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70118 JANUARY 27,1989 Private school journalists test boundaries of vague restraints By Andrea Leßoeuf Staff writer Student Press? When John first heard of the scandal, he was dumbfounded. Faculty members taking bribes from students? At his university? Impossible. So he dug around — and discovered it was true. Determined not to let it continue, the print journalism senior wrote a story for his school newspaper. He had studied constitutional law, and he understood the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment But what John did not realize was that he was different: as a student in a private university, his freedom was limited. And so his story was killed. Defining free speech What John failed to understand was exactly how the First Amendment has been applied to students in public and private universities. Public universities have remained largely untouched by free speech restrictions because their administrators, as state officials, cannot censor free speech. But on private campuses, the rules are different. At schools like Loyola and Tulane, an administration can restrict free spcech by making a publication part of a school-sponsored laboratory or by tightening purse strings. The only protection afforded the private university publication is a legal contract, signed by both parties, which then becomes official school policy. According to policy outlined in a 1980 University Board of Communications report, The Loyola Maroon is published by the University. The department appoints an adviser, who has the right to review all material in his capacity as publisher's representative. The university president, as publisher, gives the adviser the right to intervene in editorial decisions when the university's interests are compelling. And one begins to wonder — exactly where does control and freedom lie? Editor and publisher "Freedom of the press is freedom of the publisher," Dr. WilliamHammel, associate professor of communications, said. Dr. Larry Lorenz, communications department chairman, agreed. "I think sometimes student journalists do not understand the restrictions under wnich professional journalists operate," he said. "The editor and publisher have control over what goes into a newspaper. There is no reporter out there today who has complete free reign," Lorenz said. "I don't think The Maroon writers are in any more of a controlled environment than any other journal- Photo by Nancy Hairston SGA confronts trustees about tuition increase By Tim Watson Staff writer The Student Government Association voted Tuesday night to "peacefully voice" its opposition to next year's possible 19.5 percent tuition increase at the Board of Trustees meeting held yesterday. The Board was scheduled to approve next year's operating budget after hearing recommendations presented by the Rev. James C. Carter, S.J., university president, from the University Budget Committee. Although the details of the budget were not made public, figures announced Jan. 5 by Carter point to a probable tuition increase of about 16 percent. Michael Belle, law president, said Tuesday it was "very frustrating" and "very disappointing" that the congress was not taking a more vocal stance in trying to prevent the proposed tuition increase. "I don't think a statement or a letter is going to make any difference to [the administration or the Board of Trustees]," he said. Amy Young, Arts and Sciences representative, said that the SGA has "been on top" of the tuition situation, has "gone through proper channels" in making its recommendations, bnt that nothing it has done has worked. One of the SGA's biggest complaints was that it had not been given all of the information necessary to make an informed decision and recommend what it feels is a fair increase. Belle said he hoped that the scheduled protest would Carter asks staff to change title of LU econ journal By John Delavan Assistant News Editor The Loyola Journal of Economics will undergo an administratively mandated name change prior to publication in Spring 1989. The Rev. James C. Carter, S.J., university president, requested the change in a meeting last Friday with Dr. Deborah Walker, assistant professor of economics and faculty adviser to the Journal, and Eric Eckholdt, economics/finance senior and Journal editor in chicf. According to Walker, Carter's grievance involves the use of the word "journal" in the publication's title. Normally, when a publication is called a journal, the nomenclature specifically refers to a scholarly, rcfcrccd publication rather than a student one, Walker said. Because the Journal is a student publication, Walker said that Carter wants "journal" removed from the title See SGA Protest/page 6 See Economics Journal/page 5 See College News/page 6 rfsidqpi#felsl  See Ljfe and