This past weekend I did something that may have brought shame to my father and his family name. Before you start jumping to conclusions about underage drinking, college debauchery, and possible jail time, let me set straight the cause of my potential martyrdom: I attended two UVA men’s soccer games. This doesn’t sound too serious, but in my family it is understood that being associated with soccer is down there with multiple homicides and reckless endangerment. However, college is a time to rebel and I decided to give soccer a chance.

Virginia was ranked No. 3 in the Soccer America preseason poll and retained that position when the new rankings came out Monday, thanks to two 1-0 victories over Davidson and No. 21 UC- Santa Barbara. The men’s soccer schedule is packed with ranked opponents this fall, including four of the top-six teams. Also, four of the six ranked teams remaining on the schedule will visit Charlottesville, giving students a great chance to see the highest level of college soccer right in their own backyard.

Virginia is led by senior goalkeeper Ryan Burke, a four-year starter who was incredibly reliable in the two shutouts. Burke’s leadership on the field can be heard as well as seen, as he positions the defense in front of him. Burke was especially impressive in the UCSB game, in which it felt like the ball was in the Virginia defensive zone for almost the entire first half, not to mention the rush of corner kicks at the end of the game.

I’ve been really impressed with the Virginia defensive unit as well. Matt Poole seems to be everywhere on the field and usually controls the ball to set up offensive breaks. Bakary Soumare (one of the best names ever) takes advantage of his size and strength to force opponents off the ball. Matt Williams and Zola Short were both solid, visibly stepping up their games against a feisty UCSB squad.

An ankle injury may have limited Yannick Reyering’s fanciness with the ball, but he is still getting the job done, scoring the deciding penalty kick against Davidson and assisting on the game-winner against UCSB. Freshman Jonathan Villanueva is the fan favorite; he displayed flashy moves and great quickness as he weaved his way through the defense all weekend. It was his ability to beat defenders that led to the penalty kick for Reyering in the 22^nd minute against Davidson. Sunday’s hero, Jeremy Barlow, has provided a spark off the bench in each of the first two games.

I knew that goals in soccer were rare (unless the women’s team is playing Syracuse and nets six. By the way, are they called the Orangewomen? That seems unnecessarily awkward) but I wasn’t expecting the celebration that followed Jeremy Barlow’s goal in the 47^th minute on Sunday since there wasn’t such a commotion after Yannick Reyering’s penalty kick on Friday. I suppose the nature of a sudden goal through traffic to take the lead against an aggressive UCSB team just two minutes into the second half would cause an overall effect on both the team and the crowd comparable to a 60-yard-touchdown pass. As UVA starters and reserves were jumping up and down at the corner sideline, it became clear that the explosion of enthusiasm from the players after a goal really gets the crowd fired up as well.

The energy was not always positive though. Fireworks went off in the 42^nd minute when the UCSB players and coaches went crazy over a foul call on a hard slide tackle on Reyering on the sideline. When all was said and done, UCSB defender Alfonso Motagalvan and head coach Tim Vom Steeg were ejected via red card. The UVA public address announcer did not miss a beat, giving the (paraphrased) warning, “The Atlantic Coast Conference promotes sportsmanship from its players, coaches, and spectators.” Needless to say it was a lot of fun to be on Virginia’s side.

Overall, soccer matches are mad chill to attend. It’s a great atmosphere for hardcore fans to get into the game, new observers to learn about it and more relaxed viewers to socialize, opening up niches for students of varying degrees of interest in the sport. During the games this weekend, my friends and I came up with a system of issuing yellow and red cards to annoying or out-of-line individuals in our daily lives, a more enjoyable alternative to confrontation enhanced by the dramatic flair with which one can pull the card from his or her pocket.

Anyways, attending these first two matches of the season has made me wish I had gone to some when I was a first and second-year. Your first chances to catch Virginia soccer fever are tomorrow against George Mason and Sunday against No. 6 UCLA. Both games are at 7 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium. I would definitely recommend that everyone check out the Hoos sooner rather than later. I plan to keep attending, at least, as long as Dad keeps paying tuition.

This year’s crop of incoming students includes 180 transfer students from Virginia’s 23 community colleges representing an increase of over 20 percent from last year.

Three factors contributed to the strong representation of community college transfers ,said Dean of Admissions John Blackburn: active recruiting, coupling AccessUVA with Virginia’s community colleges this year and the positive press received from the agreement signed between the University and the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) in March.

Under the agreement, students will be eligible for automatic transfer admission to the University if they receive an associate degree from one of the 23 community colleges in Virginia within a two-year period, earn a minimum of 54 transferable credit hours, earn at least a 3.4 grade point average and earn no grade lower than a C in any class. In two courses, English 111 and 112, student must earn no lower than a B. While the agreement was approved by University President John T. Casteen, III in March and went into effect immediately thereafter, its impact will not affect the University’s admissions policies until next year, Blackburn said.

VCCS spokesperson Susan Hayden added that it is also very important for students planning to take advantage of the program to speak with their counselors about the agreement to make sure they are on the right track for automatic admission.

“I would imagine, hopefully, in the next few years … that community college students become familiar with [the agreement] and plan accordingly,” said University Transfer Dean of Admissions Gregory W. Roberts.

The University hopes to increase the number of transfers from VCCS to around 300 by the year 2010.

Some have expressed concernsabout whether or not these students will be able to adjust to the rigorous academic environment at the University, but Blackburn explained transfer students usually graduate at the same rate as fourth-year students.

“Their work ethic is very strong, and I think that is because a lot of them have been in the work force. Transfers highly value education, not that our first-year students don’t too, [but] they come in with a different perspective,” Blackburn said.

Roberts said the average GPA of incoming transfer students from VCCS this year was 3.7, and in the past the graduation rate and average GPA once transfers arrive at the University is almost identical to students who started their first year.

An open honor trial will be held Sept. 10, the Honor Committee announced in a press release Wednesday.

The accused student in the upcoming trial is Stephanie Garrison, who was slated to graduate with the class of 2006, but was found guilty in her first trial, held in January 26. She was granted another trial in May.

While Garrison participated in May graduation ceremonies, she was not eligible to receive a diploma.

Garrison said she is accused of lying about fulfilling a University Judiciary Committee sanction following an alcohol related incident in the spring of 2005.

Forty-five tickets will be made available to interested students at 8 a.m. Sept. 4 at the information desk in Newcomb Hall. The trial will be held at 11 a.m. in the Newcomb Hall trial room, on the fourth floor.

According to Vice Chair for Investigations Andrew Siegel, the Committee is looking into possible ways to broadcast the trial on-Grounds for students who are unable to get tickets.

In the last March’s open honor trial, Engineering student Steve Gilday was found guilty of lying in an incident that stemmed from a test correction he submitted for regrading

“We’ll be following the same procedure we follow in any potentially open trial,” Honor Chair Alison Tramba said. “The trial procedure is identical and our preparation for it will be very similar” to any other trial.

Garrison said she elected to hold an open trial because she wants the system to be held more accountable to the student body.

“I am not having a trial to fight the system,” Garrison added. “I can’t do this by myself. What I’m doing is opening it up.”

As in all honor trials, if Garrison is found guilty, she will be expelled under the single sanction. In her case, she would lose credit for all coursework completed in her second semester of fourth year and remain ineligible for a diploma.

– compiled by Maggie Thornton

A recently released study conducted by the Project on Student Debt found that graduates of public colleges and universities accumulate almost as much debt as their peers at private institutions.

The study found that University graduates from the class of 2005 had an average debt burden of $15,176 compared to $13,890 in 2001. At the University a significant driver of this higher level of indebtedness is private loans, which rose in volume from $2.5 million in 2004 to $6.3 million in 2006 according to Director of Student Financial Services Yvonne Hubbard.

In the state of Virginia, the average public school student graduates with $16,124 of debt, while their private counterparts graduate with $17,817 of debt.

“Student debt overall is rising,” said Lauren Asher, director of the project.

The general trend in financial aid has been to award more loans and fewer grants in aid packages, Asher said, although this trend varies from institution to institution. Further, the federal Pell grant — for low-income students the nation’s most widespread grant — has been frozen at $4,050 for several years. Many families without the aid they need, Asher said.

“Grant aid has not kept pace with families’ ability to pay,” she said.

Because the costs have been rising and grant aid has not, families are turning to loans in order to pay for education.

“Borrowing fills the gap,” Asher said.

Hubbard said many parents are unprepared to pay their expected contribution, and as a result, students take on that debt in the form of additional private loans.

“Students going to school anywhere are opting to take on more debt to help their parents,” Hubbard said.

According to Hubbard, in 2005 the average debt from need-based loans issued by the University was $10,500. Average debt, including debt from private loans, in 2005 was $15,176. These loans represent a significant additional burden on students, Hubbard said.

The University’s preferred lender is the Bank of America, Hubbard said, and this partnership makes obtaining private loans, which are issued through the GATE loan program, as easy as possible.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” Hubbard said. Students are able to obtain loans more easily, so they do as a result acquire more debt.”

The University has committed to meeting all of demonstrated need through the AccessUVa. program, which is a step towards decreasing loan burdens, Hubbard said, adding that students need to be more fluent in their financial situation.

Currently Hubbard is working on developing a class to make students more aware of their own finances so they can plan for their own future.

“Your credit score should be as important as your graduating GPA,” Hubbard said.

Third-year College student Sasheer Moore was struck by a car while crossing Emmet Street Monday afternoon. The driver was third-year College student Nicholas Colaluca, C. W. Gardner, a Charlottesville Police motor officer, said.

Moore said she was walking alone to her dorm in the International Residential College at approximately 2 p. m. Monday afternoon when she stepped into the crosswalk next to the Snyder Tennis Center.

“The cars that were going toward Barracks [Shopping Center] were all stopped because of a light,” Moore said. “I stepped past those cars to see if other cars were coming in the other direction and they weren’t.”

While Moore continued to cross, however, a white GMC Yukon sports utility vehicle was illegally driving northbound through a series of turn lanes intended for southbound traffic, Gardner said.

Moore said she was told that she rolled on top of the car hood before hitting her head on a stationary car nearby.

“I didn’t black out or anything,” Moore said. “My eyes were open the whole time, which was really freaky.”

Second-year College student Mary Gayner arrived at the scene of the accident soon after it occurred and described the scene as “chaotic.”

Moore said an ambulance soon arrived and took her to the hospital where she got stitches in her left elbow. Moore also suffered bruising on her left knee and said she lost “a lot of skin” from her left arm. She spent yesterday recuperating in her room.

Gardner said Colaluca, an all-ACC varsity soccer player for Virginia, was charged with reckless driving because he was reportedly driving 35 to 40 miles per hour in a 25-mile per hour zone while also driving illegally through turn lanes.

Gardner said Colaluca could receive a penalty ranging from a $50 fine to suspension of his license along with a “hefty fine.”

Colaluca was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Moore is not the first University student to be struck by a car on Emmet Road; similar incidents occurred last January and in February 2005.

Mark Fletcher, chair of the University’s Security and General Safety Committee, said the University has worked to improve students’ safety on Emmet Street in the past year. Street lights were installed from the IRC down Emmet St. to McCormick Rd.

“We believe that was a huge improvement,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher also noted that the crosswalks were improved with fluorescent painting and additional signs.

Fletcher said the use of cell phones and iPods has contributed to pedestrians’ lack of attention to traffic across Grounds.

Moore said she was neither listening to music nor talking on a phone at the time of her accident.

Fletcher said one of the most important things to remember while crossing a street or while driving on Grounds is to be aware.

“You make eye contact, or you jump up and down and make sure they see you, whether you’re driving a car or if you’re a pedestrian,” Fletcher said.

IRC Principal Brad Brown gave students similar advice in an advisory email about traffic dangers prior to the start of this semester’s classes.

“Be visible,” he wrote. “Don’t cross until you’re sure you can make it … and when you find an opening, scamper!”

Dear MTV,
I spent my summer abroad, and upon my return, I found that you had begun a new season of “Laguna Beach.” Although I’ve never actually seen an episode, I watched a preview. In the preview, one character claimed that her hair was so big, not because of secrets or gossip, but because of “information.” I would like to point out that while “Laguna Beach” is a reality series, this statement is not very real. For one, I have a diploma from TJ. I know a lot of information and the only big thing above my waist is my giant head. Secondly, the entire statement was copy and pasted from “Mean Girls.” Please check for copyright violations.

Dear MTV,

To my knowledge, there is no surgery that can make my head smaller. Secondly, how “real” is it to file a cease and desist order? If you are a “real” American, you will use your fists instead of your words. Or do you hate freedom?

Dear Bravo,

I have a few suggestions concerning how to make your hit reality series “Project Runway” a bit more exciting. Perhaps the designers can create outfits with hidden weapons, maybe a shiv or a bayonet. Also, maybe the models could have an eating contest and whoever finishes a meal wins! Please credit me as an “executive producer.” Thank you.

Dear Bravo,

Since you have a television series based on gambling and drinking, as well as a series focused on five gay men, I did not realize you try to promote family values. A shiv teaches family values: It teaches children why they shouldn’t go to prison.

Dear CBS,

Rumor has it that your network is responsible for a season of “Survivor” where the teams are race-based. What happens if someone is part Asian and part Hispanic? Do you flip a coin? Or are they not allowed to apply? Because I’m pretty sure you can’t discriminate based on race. And by pretty sure, I mean like 54 percent sure.

Dear CBS,

What if someone is from Antarctica? Can they apply? What if someone is part cheetah?

Dear CBS,

I read the transcript from “The Early Show” you sent me. My favorite part was when Jeff Probst said, “The idea for this actually came from the criticism that ‘Survivor’ was not ethnically diverse enough because, for whatever reason, we’ve always had a low number of minority applicants apply to the show. So we set out and said, ‘Let’s turn this criticism into creativity for the show.’” Because, you know, I don’t apply for reality shows since not enough of them promise me the desirable experience of segregation.

Dear ABC,

I am concerned with your series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Why don’t you just give these families money? I heard that they can’t afford to live in the houses you guys build and end up having to sell everything and now many of them are living on boathouses. And by boathouses, I mean in a van down by the river.

Dear ABC,

Typical. You have no heart. Probably because you are owned by Disney.

Dear FOX,

I think “Nanny 911″ is the worst idea ever. Some of the kids are horrible and many of them are very unattractive. It’s like your production team goes to playgrounds and follows children home. How do you find these families? And why would you encourage them to continue breeding? Perhaps because you need to ensure another generation of viewers.

Winnie’s column runs bi-weekly on Thursdays. She can be reached at winnie@cavalierdaily.com.

Day 4: South Face at Tarboche
I could hardly sleep last night it was so cold, even with my down sleeping bag and three layers of clothes. It doesn’t help that the wind blows so strongly it sounds like a landslide every five minutes. I scolded myself for not filling my water bottle with boiling water last night to defrost my toes at the bottom of my sleeping bag. I was afraid I’d wake up in a soggy sleeping bag — not fun.

Today we made a stop at Zutrul Phug gompa, which houses the ‘”Cave of Miracles.” According to our guide, this cave is said to have been constructed by Milarepa himself. Milarepa was a Buddhist poet-saint who spent part of his life on religious hermitage in the caves of Mt. Kailash. Dorje explained that Milarepa had created this particular cave by simply hoisting a boulder onto his shoulders and settling it into some other rocks. We were shown the imprints of Milarepa’s hands and head where he lifted the rock. Outside, above the cave, an oily stain covered in barley grains was Milarepa’s footprint where he had adjusted the height of the roof.

You would think that once you’ve seen one gompa, you have seen them all — not so. On our tour around Lake Manasarovar, we visited four main gompas. Each reflected hints of the sect they belong to. Figures of Sakyamuni Buddha and Padmasambhava, hailed as the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, were at every altar. Several of the older figurines were hidden in Lake Manasarovar during the Cultural Revolution. Unfortunately, many of the original sacred texts and figures were lost forever.

The gompas were breathtaking in a rustic way, but it was sad to see their state of disrepair. The Chinese government funded the monasteries’ reconstruction following the destruction of the 1950s, but now the government has abandoned them. Also, there are rarely more than 10 monks living and caring for the gompa.

Now the Chinese government has bigger priorities associated with free market enterprising and keeping Tibet’s nomads in check. The government is building settlements for the nomads. It seems like a pretty first-class thing to do, but it leads to overgrazing by the nomads’ herds of goats, sheep, etc. It also makes it easier for the government to track down anyone distributing Dalai Lama paraphernalia, as these people travel with the nomads. Even we had to hand over our books for a cursory search at the Nepal-Tibet border.

It was another hour or so until we reached the teashop that marked the end of our kora. We had a celebratory Pepsi before being driven back to Tarboche for the Saga Dawa Festival.

This festival celebrates the anniversary of Sakyamuni Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment, which all happened on the same date throughout his lifetime. The big event consists of erecting a huge flagpole entangled with prayer flags for the New Year. Gowa explained to us that how this pole is brought upright determines the future wellbeing of the universe. Pretty tough call.

Over the last few days, the sacred site of Tarboche turned into some sort of kora-ers Woodstock — well, minus the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. There are dozens upon dozens of multicolored tents set up in the valley shadowed by Mt. Kailash, then there are these dust storms that completely overtake the valley. This had everyone making “Dune” allusions as we waited for the giant sandworm to come rumbling through the valley.

We took a small walk to the festival grounds and got a preview of the next day’s events. The flagpole was clothed in yak hide and resting on a stand which lifted the pole to a 20-degree angle. Rudimentary convenience stores were operated from the dozen truck beds parked around the festival area. We met some young Englishmen who had been living off instant noodles for the last week. The two guys looked like beanpoles, so we shared our snack. They couldn’t believe we had peanut butter.

“Skippy peanut butter!” they said. “Now that’s heaven.”

Day 5: Saga Dawa Festival – Day 7: Kathmandu

My first encounter with the Saga Dawa festival did not bode well, as Gowa woke us up far too early to make sure we got to the festival on time. This is a huge event in Tibetan Buddhism and everyone who was anyone would be there. In addition to celebrating the New Year, it seemed to us this must have also been a courting event — everyone was dressed to the nines. We noticed Gowa had washed and slicked back his hair, shaved, and as he passed us, we definitely caught a whiff of cologne. All the Tibetans had on their finest clothes — which usually meant traditional dresses for the women and suits for the men, even if they were slightly too big or dusty. One woman was even completing a kora in high heels worn with doily-esque white socks.

As for me, I was a lost cause. My naturally curly hair was now straight, completely matted by wind and dust. Who needs a straightening iron when you can just not wash your hair for a week? I did the best damage control I could — I even slicked on some deodorant. It was totally fruitless since body-odor-causing bacteria can’t grow at this altitude, but it made me feel better.

The big hubbub of the festival came in the form of Hindu Swami Chidanand, also known as Swami Muniji, and 150 members of his entourage. The region’s head monk had invited them to the festival. With them was a famous Indian dancer, whose name I didn’t catch, but was the only Indian dancer to have received two of these extremely prestigious Indian dancing awards. She explained to the crowd that it was her life’s ambition to dance for the Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati at the base of Mt. Kailash.

Finally, the flagpole was tugged into its final position with a little help from a nearby truck. Traditionally, the hoisting is done with manpower but hey, we’ve got horsepower now. Everyone threw their wind-horses and barley flour into the air, crying, “So, so, so!” We did a kora around the newly upright flagpole and whipped out our cameras to get photos. Some of the other foreigners had camera lenses about a foot long which can zoom like, 20 billion times over, while I just had my dinky digital Canon.

For some reason, I became subject to some of these fancy camera lenses. I guess it was because my face says Tibetan but my body, decked out in the top trekking garb, screams foreigner. By the third tourist motioning to take my picture, I began thinking about charging them.

After the impromptu photo shoot, my dad and I checked out the miles of local vendors selling Tibetan antiques and jewelry for anywhere between $2 to $200. Never ask the price of anything unless you’re up for a fight, or else you’ll never get out alive.

Though I was more than happy to give my feet a break, the drive back to Kathmandu was an unpleasant adventure. We were happy to cross the famous Friendship Bridge back into Nepal and civilization. Or so I thought.

I had a great time rediscovering fresh mango lassis, flush toilets and the Internet, but once the novelty of these things wore off, I couldn’t help but miss the simple and spiritual lifestyle surrounding Kailash. As much as I had craved pad thai and tropical weather, I actually had time to see and think about my life. In fact, time demanded reflection and mindfulness about things in the absence of Facebook to check or disheartening news reports to watch.

Now I have to dive back into the real world and hope its fast pace brings me to the year 2014 soon. 2014 is the next Year of the Horse, where any one outer kora equals 13 bonus koras. Since 13 koras is what it takes to trek the inner kora of Mt. Kailash, I’m looking forward to my next visit. That gives me eight years to accrue some sins for atonement. So, I guess that means I’ll be working double-time.

Sources:

Allix & Vilmorin. “The Rivers of the Mandala.”

Thurman & Wise. “Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure.”

Tsewang Lama. “Kailash Mandala: A Pilgrim’s Trekking Guide.”

By Nicole Ponticorvo
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
If you’ve ever walked around Grounds or wandered into the Hereford Residential College, you might have stumbled upon a Dachshund named Sadie. At the other end of that leash would most likely be physics Prof. Lou Bloomfield who, if you’ve ever been in his class, probably greets you by name.

Bloomfield is currently teaching the popular course “How Things Work,” which he designed for non-science majors. Perhaps this stems from his appreciation of the liberal arts.

Bloomfield attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics. During his time as an undergraduate, there was only one semester in college where he took more science than non-science courses. Bloomfield had all the credits required for a major in American Studies, minus the final thesis.

“I’ve always believed in a liberal arts education,” Bloomfield said.

After almost attending Johns Hopkins University for his M.D. and Ph.D., Bloomfield decided, with the permission of his father, to instead work for his Ph.D. in physics at Stanford University.

Upon graduating from Stanford and marrying his wife, Karen, Bloomfield headed east to New Jersey, where he spent two years working for AT&T and Bell Laboratories, which was “the dream of corporate research” at the time, according to Bloomfield.

Bloomfield, who joined the University in 1985,said that research was always his primary focus.

“I came [to the University] with the idea that my goal was first and foremost to do good research on important questions, and teaching was a minor activity,” Bloomfield said.

Bloomfield said one of his favorite experiences early on in his career happened while he was teaching quantum mechanics. At a final exam, he noticed his students were wearing identical shirts imprinted with his image surfing on a wave function.

“I did the best I could, and the students seemed to like me,” Bloomfield said.

For the past six years, Bloomfield has been principal of Hereford, living there with his wife and two children. A great deal of his time is spent planning community-fostering activities for Hereford students with the help of his wife Karen.

Along with constantly doing research in his laboratory, Bloomfield has been teaching “How Things Work” since 1991, which focuses on the how and why questions of the world and draws non-science students to a field from which they are commonly repelled.

“I was tinkering [in science] my whole life,” Bloomfield said. “My basement was a laboratory of sorts.”

Bloomfield grew up playing with real chemicals, creating sizeable explosions and building electronics, including a high-voltage transformer. Bloomfield said most of his understanding of chemistry and electronics harkens back to his years of simply trying and experimenting.

“A lot of modern science students didn’t grow up tinkering with things,” Bloomfield said. “These various pieces of basic scientific equipment are much more mysterious to them.”

Bloomfield takes a special interest in his students by trying to learn each of their names and as much as he possibly can about who they are, beyond just faces in a crowded lecture hall.

“I feel like I’m responsible for getting my students to understand this stuff as best I possibly can,” Bloomfield said. “I would like them to go out and for them to feel like they actually have something useful for life.”

California is one of the first states to terminate student newspaper censorship in the wake the atrocious Hosty v. Carter decision in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. On Monday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law guaranteeing freedom of the press for college newspapers. The law was the first legislative reaction to the Hosty case, in which the court ruled that prior restraint — or prior approval of content before publication — could apply to college newspapers. The ruling was greatly problematic as it gives college administrators license to take more freedom from student editors. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the bill in California was helped by a leaked memo from the general counsel for the California State University system after the Hosty ruling which said, “CSU campuses may have more latitude than previously believed to censor the content of subsidized student newspapers.” It’s not clear how many college administrators took the Hosty ruling as a green light to step up control of college newspaper content, but it is clear that censorship of college newspapers remains a threat around the country.

Censorship in college newspapers is a real threat that can take many forms. Censorship can range from administrators exercising prior restraint to throwing out editors for unfavorable coverage. For example, in April, at North Central University in Minneapolis, two editors were fired for a refusal to grant administrators prior restraint. The Hosty case was sparked after an administrator at Governor’s State University near Chicago called the student newspaper’s printer “and demanded prior approval of everything in the paper,” according to Inside Higher Ed. The court applied the principle of “in loco parentis” — that school administrators can act as parents — to college newspapers, when before it had only been used with high school newspapers.

There are a number of back doors out of the ruling. The court decided that freedom of the press still applies for publications that are a “designated public forum.” This has led many student publications to ask their school’s administration to sign a document that says that their publication is a “designated public forum,” in order to avoid the threat of censorship. Of course, as the Student Press Law Center points out, the inherent problem with this is that that administrators can decide at any time that the publication is no longer a public forum and begin censoring.

A better solution is the type that was just implemented in California — legislative protection for rights that are not guaranteed by the federal court system. California should be commended for its step to reverse the setback of Hosty, and hopefully other states will follow suit. Of course, no matter how foolproof the protections that state legislators enact, ultimately no law can force a university administration to pay for a publication they do not want to pay for. In that regard, the only true protection from censorship is financial independence. The Cavalier Daily is lucky to enjoy that kind of protection, but legislators should remember that the majority of college newspapers do not.