CSU editor tests limits of free speech

Board to decide student’s future on newspaper staff

Four words sparked a firestorm of debate this week at CSU, after the campus newspaper, the Rocky Mountain Collegian, published an editorial that read, “Taser this … F—- BUSH” with the expletive spelled out.

The editorial has stirred a significant reaction, with over 935 posts on the Collegian’s Web site concerning this issue. It has also grabbed national media attention and debate since its publication last Thursday, Sept. 20.

J. David McSwane, 20, went before the Board of Student Communications Wednesday night at a public meeting. It is possible he will be removed from his position as editor-in-chief, but the board did not make any immediate decisions. The board also has the option of issuing a suspension or doing nothing at all.

The entire room was filled for the meeting and members of the public spoke for and against McSwane.

The Collegian’s editorial board said they decided to print the headline in order to raise questions of free speech and get the student body involved in discussion.

“We wanted to get people thinking about it and talking about it, and we certainly have,” McSwane said.

In a letter of response to the issue, McSwane wrote, “The First Amendment is at the very core of what we do as a newspaper. We as journalists wish to celebrate it, utilize it and, sometimes, defend it.”

The Fort Collins newspaper, The Coloradoan, reported The Collegian has lost over $30,000 in advertising revenue since the editorial was published.

Check out

the editorial and the response on The Collegian’s Web site.

COntact Campus Press Staff Writer Daniel Carter at [email protected]