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Committee should read, follow rules
University Chronicle
EDITORIAL BOARD
The issue: SCSU Student Government's Constitutional Review Committee is proposing to take away the student media's freedom of managing themselves.
What we think: The Student Government should not try to overstep the rights of student media provided by MnSCU.
The Student Government's Constitutional Review Committee recently completed a list of proposed changes that was then placed into the mail boxes of some organizations at SCSU.
The packet of information includes the preamble to the Student Government Constitution, which states that the purpose of the Student Government is to "identify, promote, defend, and increase our rights as students." It also states that the Constitution is "to be consistent with the Minnesota State College and University (MnSCU) System Rules and Regulations."
The following pages then list the proposed changes to the constitution. These changes include the deletion of two sentences pertaining to student-funded media: "Student media editors and managers shall not be suspended or removed from their positions during the term of the office except for substantial and compelling reasons and under prescribed procedures. Student media editors and managers shall adhere to all laws relative to the media, and to professional journalistic standards."
The committee is proposing to delete these words, which currently protect student media editors and managers so that they can perform their jobs according to professional journalistic standards.
MnSCU has a specific policy stating that these rights cannot be taken away from student publications: "...their editors and managers shall be free to develop their own editorial and news coverage policies. (They)... shall be protected from arbitrary suspension and removal because of student, faculty, administrative, or public disapproval of editorial policy or content."
The members of Student Government's Constitutional Review Committee should remember to read the preamble to the constitution that they are trying to change, as well as the MnSCU Board Policies pertaining to the rights and responsibilities of students. They should remember that their purpose is to "defend, and increase our rights as students," not take rights away.
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