Endorse

     The Sunday editor of your magazine section hands you a story about censorship of the Jefferson College student newspaper and tells you that she would like you to follow it up for a feature piece for her section. The story is from a newspaper in your state.
     "I have a feeling that the college president has acted illegally," the editor tells you. She says she has read that students on tax-supported campuses such as Jefferson have the same constitutional protection as professional reporters.
     "Dig up some of this material. If you know of any relevant cases or incidents, use them. What's the situation on campuses in the state? Give me a roundup of about 500 words."
     Your survey of local colleges and the state university turns up the following notes:

     The state university daily newspaper has an adviser, K. C. Franks, who says he does not examine copy before publication unless a student asks him to read it. "My job is to advise. That's all I can do, according to the clear rulings of the court." Franks is an assistant professor at the department of journalism, which uses the student newspaper for course work in reporting and editing. Two community colleges in the area have weekly student newspapers. The adviser of Selkirk Community College, Beatrice Kellogg, says she understands that it is her job to "get anything out that does not represent the college at its best." Asked how she squares this with federal court rulings, she replied, "This is the way it's always been done here." She teaches English at Selkirk. At the other school, Madison College, Ralph Barnes, the adviser, said he has "been at it 10 years and I pretty much let them print what they want. When they get a little stupid and want to use four-letter words and put the president of the school in jail for molesting freshmen, I tell them to grow up. It works. Persuasion, not censorship."
     The adviser to the Mallory College Spectator says he does not read stories or editorials before publication. "It is clearly unconstitutional to censor a newspaper on the campus of a tax-supported institution," said Robert Figuera, the adviser. "Although Mallory receives most of its support from private sources, I prefer to abide by the courts' interpretation of the First Amendment."

     Make a list of the sources you would consult, and then write the story. Here is the story your editor gives you:

A March 19 edition of the Harbinger, the Jefferson College student newspaper that contained endorsements of two candidates for the college board of trustees, was seized last month on orders of the college president, Ray Henry. The 1,000-copy edition then was reprinted, but without the endorsing editorial.      Henry defended the action, saying it was not an effort at censorship, but the result of a college policy against involvement in partisan politics. The college is in Hillsboro.      The endorsements were of two candidates, James A. Peek of DeSoto and Sandra Taliaferro of Arnold, who sought seats on the Junior College District Board in this week's election, and appeared in an editorial in the March 19 edition of the Harbinger.      When Henry learned of the editorial, he had copies of the paper picked up from the campus, and ordered reprinting without the editorial.      An article in which all six candidates for the two contested seats answered a set of questions was left undisturbed.      "Under no circumstances was this censorship," Henry said yesterday. "I have turned my back on articles of questionable taste and on some that were critical of the college administration."      "But this was entirely different. The policy against any phase of college activity becoming involved in partisan politics was restated last July and it was widely distributed at that time. The board of trustees set that policy for good reason."      The endorsements were written by the co-editors of the paper, Peggy Eades and Alice Humble.      "After our interview with President Henry," Humble said yesterday, "we understand about the policy.

We don't totally agree with the policy and we hope to change it, but we understand it."      An issue of the four-page paper to be distributed on campus Monday contains an interview with Henry by the two editors in which he explains the reasons for his action.      Humble said that the six student reporters on the paper had agreed with the editors' position in making the endorsement. They had felt that the board of trustees would benefit from stronger representation from the northern area of the district and from having a woman and a student as members, Humble said. Taliaferro would have satisfied the first two qualifications and Peek the third.      Humble said some students thought the college was right and others really didn't have an opinion. "It's no big thing," she said.      "The administration feels the paper represents the college and we felt it represented the students' views," she said. The paper is distributed free with costs paid by the college.      David Braum, faculty adviser for the paper, said he had been aware of the college's nonpartisan policy. Asked why he had approved the publication of the editorial, he said, "It became a matter of interpretation." He said the staff and the paper had been given wide latitude on coverage and comment on other issues.      In the board election Tuesday, Peek and Taliaferro finished at the bottom in the field of six. Two incumbents, Charles B. Long, who is Jefferson County circuit court clerk, and Donald Fitzgerand, mayor of Hillsboro, were re-elected.      Jefferson College receives its funding from a combination of city, state and federal sources.

     Write 350-450 words.