RonPaulVolunteer
03-31-2009, 08:52 PM
Published just an hour ago in the Colorado Daily...
http://boulderyal.org/blog/files/cu_censorship_yal.html
original here (http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/mar/31/cu-email-censored-young-americans-liberty/), but link to OUR site so we get the hits...
This is my team, and I am so proud of them!!
Young Americans for Liberty's event announcement had been edited
By Lance Vaillancourt
BOULDER, CO — The University of Colorado diffused a First Amendment face-off this week by agreeing to re-send a student group's campus-wide e-mail without censoring its contents.
http://boulderyal.org/blog/files/cu_censorship_yal.jpg
Members of CU's newly launched chapter of Young Americans for Liberty said they were shocked when campus officials took issue with criticisms of Washington and the Congressional bailout in an event announcement they paid to have placed in the campus' e-mailed Buff Bulletin last week.
An edited version of the message was sent to CU's student body Thursday.
"When I asked for an explanation, they said that the university was very concerned about causing controversy -- what with the Ward Churchill issue going on -- and that they censored our ad because it promoted a political viewpoint," said CU senior Erin Recca, a member of the "trans-partisan" political activist group.
The group paid $60 to have an e-mail sent to the entire student body detailing the group's debut event, a campus visit Friday by Thomas E. Woods, author of "Meltdown: Why the Economy Collapsed and How the Bailouts Will Make Things Worse."
The students submitted text that read, "In an exclusive lecture for CU students and the community, best-selling author Thomas E. Woods will explain how the current economic collapse was predicted and ignored, why Washington and the Federal Reserve are to blame, why the bailouts will ultimately make things worse and how we can put our economy on a path to recovery."
When CU officials sent out the e-mail Thursday, the references to Washington, the Federal Reserve and the bailouts were gone.
CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard acknowledged Tuesday that the university's guidelines clearly state that the school is allowed to edit any messages going into the Buff Bulletin, both for length and content.
Yet he said he didn't understand why this particular e-mail was altered.
"We're going to re-send their original message this week -- just as it was written -- as a way to make amends with the organization," Hilliard said.
Understanding how to properly edit messages for content is a fine line to walk, Hilliard said, noting that while students are more than welcome to create ads that neutrally describe politically oriented events, they are barred from advocating a distinctly political or partisan viewpoint.
"We're going to try to use this scenario as a means to generate a new conversation and arrive at new guidelines to communicate more effectively to our student users," Hilliard said. "All student groups have my commitment that we are going to try to improve this process.
"It's unfortunate that this happened, but we're trying to turn it into a teachable moment for our organization."
Woods, the author speaking on campus Friday, said he is very gracious CU is hosting his appearance, and "glad they are promoting it in the first place."
Students who attend the event can expect an engaging discussion regarding the past, present and future of the economy that they simply won't hear in the mainstream media, Woods said.
"The so-called 'experts' have no idea what they are doing," Woods said. "Maybe instead we should be listening to the people who saw this economic crisis coming and understand what to do to get us out of it."
http://boulderyal.org/blog/files/cu_censorship_yal.html
original here (http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/mar/31/cu-email-censored-young-americans-liberty/), but link to OUR site so we get the hits...
This is my team, and I am so proud of them!!
Young Americans for Liberty's event announcement had been edited
By Lance Vaillancourt
BOULDER, CO — The University of Colorado diffused a First Amendment face-off this week by agreeing to re-send a student group's campus-wide e-mail without censoring its contents.
http://boulderyal.org/blog/files/cu_censorship_yal.jpg
Members of CU's newly launched chapter of Young Americans for Liberty said they were shocked when campus officials took issue with criticisms of Washington and the Congressional bailout in an event announcement they paid to have placed in the campus' e-mailed Buff Bulletin last week.
An edited version of the message was sent to CU's student body Thursday.
"When I asked for an explanation, they said that the university was very concerned about causing controversy -- what with the Ward Churchill issue going on -- and that they censored our ad because it promoted a political viewpoint," said CU senior Erin Recca, a member of the "trans-partisan" political activist group.
The group paid $60 to have an e-mail sent to the entire student body detailing the group's debut event, a campus visit Friday by Thomas E. Woods, author of "Meltdown: Why the Economy Collapsed and How the Bailouts Will Make Things Worse."
The students submitted text that read, "In an exclusive lecture for CU students and the community, best-selling author Thomas E. Woods will explain how the current economic collapse was predicted and ignored, why Washington and the Federal Reserve are to blame, why the bailouts will ultimately make things worse and how we can put our economy on a path to recovery."
When CU officials sent out the e-mail Thursday, the references to Washington, the Federal Reserve and the bailouts were gone.
CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard acknowledged Tuesday that the university's guidelines clearly state that the school is allowed to edit any messages going into the Buff Bulletin, both for length and content.
Yet he said he didn't understand why this particular e-mail was altered.
"We're going to re-send their original message this week -- just as it was written -- as a way to make amends with the organization," Hilliard said.
Understanding how to properly edit messages for content is a fine line to walk, Hilliard said, noting that while students are more than welcome to create ads that neutrally describe politically oriented events, they are barred from advocating a distinctly political or partisan viewpoint.
"We're going to try to use this scenario as a means to generate a new conversation and arrive at new guidelines to communicate more effectively to our student users," Hilliard said. "All student groups have my commitment that we are going to try to improve this process.
"It's unfortunate that this happened, but we're trying to turn it into a teachable moment for our organization."
Woods, the author speaking on campus Friday, said he is very gracious CU is hosting his appearance, and "glad they are promoting it in the first place."
Students who attend the event can expect an engaging discussion regarding the past, present and future of the economy that they simply won't hear in the mainstream media, Woods said.
"The so-called 'experts' have no idea what they are doing," Woods said. "Maybe instead we should be listening to the people who saw this economic crisis coming and understand what to do to get us out of it."