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Administrators at Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Illinois are requiring the school’s student newspaper to use courtesy titles such as “Mr.” and “Mrs.” when referring to faculty, staff, or members of the school board.
The move is a reaction to a December editorial that a school superintendent called “disrespectful to the principal in content and attitude.”
When newspaper staffers went to the school board to ask that the rule be overturned, senior Molly Williams said, “they basically came out and said that it was about content and that they didn’t like what we were writing.” Added Williams, an editor on the paper, “it’s almost like they can’t take constructive criticism well.”
The practice of using courtesy titles contradicts the Associated Press Stylebook, the standard reference for newspaper style.
A few days ago we linked to a story (and video) about a snowball fight at East Carolina University that ended in an arrest and the use of pepper spray by campus cops.
Now the East Carolinian, ECU’s student newspaper, has its coverage up, and their piece is a well-written, thorough one. Ties up a lot of the loose ends that the national media left hanging.
I know it’s a small story, but this piece really is a reminder of what the student press is for.
CUPE announced this afternoon that they will not challenge back-to-work legislation in court. The law is expected to pass tomorrow, allowing classes to resume on Monday.
Just a quick link on this, since I’m having a ridiculously busy day. I’ll try to come back to it later.
Short version: A California court has ruled that a Christian high school had the legal right to expel two students who it claimed demonstrated a “bond of intimacy … characteristic of a lesbian relationship.”
It also found that school officials did not violate the students’ rights when they revealed the reason for the expulsion to the students’ parents.
The economic stimulus bill that Congress is scheduled to vote on today includes more than $150 billion in new education funding, according to the New York Times.
That number includes $6 billion in construction and renovation funds for colleges and universities, and an $8 billion increase in Pell Grant funding.
The Pell Grant hike would raise total government support for the program by nearly 50%.
Meanwhile, as the Times reported two weeks ago, colleges and universities spending on students has dropped in the last half-decade, while the proportion of the cost of education paid for by students has risen. (The study the Times drew those conclusions from can be found here.)
studentactivism.net 
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