Kathlyn Hotynski

You probably didn’t notice this, but an important addition was made to the

masthead in the bottom left corner of this page.

It is only one simple sentence, but it is one that is powerful nonetheless.

“The Spectator is written and edited by students of UW-Eau Claire and they are solely responsible for its editorial policy and content.”

You’re probably thinking to yourself something along the lines of, “Well yeah, it’s a student newspaper.”

Ah, but if only it were that simple.

At a recent Board of Regents meeting, members voted that every UW student paper would insert that sentence into each issue. In essence, the UW System is saying they will not censor anything printed in these pages.

The decision came on the heels of a troubling 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case that upheld administrators’ right to access copy before publication.

The Board of Regents, however, ensured that the “100 percent student produced” proclamation at the bottom of our front page holds true.

And what a great decision it was on several levels.

A big part of our job is covering the administration. Since they are the ones making the big (and sometimes very tough) decisions that affect every single student on this campus, it is important that The Spectator is able to stay objective in reporting without fear of censorship.

By and large, The Spectator has been able to maintain a good relationship with our administrators. We have found them to be very willing to talk to reporters as well as open and candid when answering questions.

In addition, it’s not as if the administration has a history of telling us what to do. They have consistently said over the years they will never exercise any prior restraint on The Spectator.

Hopefully we have returned the favor to them and our readers with accurate reporting and balanced stories.

The second thing the Board of Regents’ decision did was send a clear message to all of us at The Spectator and student newspaper staffs throughout the state – you are grown-ups now. If you screw up, you have to live with the consequences.

This decision was certainly a two-way street. As one might guess, student newspapers aren’t perfect, and usually are going to make more mistakes than professional newspapers. It is, after all, a learning environment.

But some people who have been hurt by content in student papers don’t see it that way. At UW-La Crosse, the family of Jared Dion, who drowned in the Mississippi River after a night of drinking at the bars, sued the student newspaper and the university over advertisements for drink specials that appeared in The Racquet, La Crosse’s student newspaper.

People who sue will go after, well, the folks with the most money. I can guarantee you that’s not going to be the student newspaper – it’s going to be the university.

So in this way, the UW System has made an effort to rid itself of liability in cases such as libel, or in situations such as the one at La Crosse, the paper’s alcohol policy.

To be sure, this is another huge responsibility that has been placed upon us. Two years ago, The Spectator told Student Senate that it didn’t need any more segregated fee revenue, making it a completely financially independent paper.

Now, the UW System is affirming that students and students alone are responsible for the words and photos printed in the paper and everything that goes with that.

And if this really is a learning environment, as mentioned before, there is no

better way to teach a lesson about

accountability then with another declaration of independence.

Schaaf is a senior print journalism major and editor in chief of The Spectator.