Prometheus 6

In his own statement, Mr. McSwane said he was pleased with the decision. “I am proud to be a student at a university that respects students’ First Amendment rights,” he said.

As well you should be.

Student Editor Keeps His Job, but Is Warned About Ethics
By BRIAN STELTER

A headline in Friday’s Rocky Mountain Collegian hit especially close to home for the writers and editors of the college newspaper at Colorado State University.

“Collegian Editor Will Keep His Job,” it said, reporting that an independent review board that oversees The Collegian had decided to admonish, but not fire, the editor who had approved a vulgar, four-word editorial about President Bush in a space that would usually run to hundreds of words.

The unusual editorial, published on Sept. 21 in an extra-large font, contained a four-letter expletive in front of Mr. Bush’s name. The Collegian, led by editor in chief J. David McSwane, said the message was an exercise of free speech; some students on the Fort Collins campus said it was immature and insulting.

Calls for Mr. McSwane’s removal were immediate, and the board responsible for the newspaper called a hearing to determine his fate.

After several hours of deliberations on Thursday, the board determined that Mr. McSwane had violated the newspaper’s code of ethics (which states that “profane and vulgar words are not acceptable for opinion writing”) but said that the editorial was an expression of opinion protected by the First Amendment. In a statement, the board called Mr. McSwane’s decision to publish the editorial “unethical and unprofessional.”