Statement from The Towerlight
As of Friday, Oct. 2, The Towerlight’s editor-in-chief, Carrie Wood, has resigned. Her explanation and statement is on page 5. The Towerlight’s editorial board has elected a new editor-in-chief, who will be announced online at thetowerlight.com later this afternoon.
Meanwhile, we wish to address the recent controversy regarding ‘The Bed Post’ column and its author, ‘Lux.’
We collectively feel that it was a mistake, and a break with Towerlight tradition, to allow an anonymous writer to address such a sensitive topic. Except in very rare and serious situations, The Towerlight policy has been to insist that all stories, letters, opinions and columns in our print edition have a byline.
‘Lux’ wishes to remain anonymous. Therefore her column will no longer appear in the print edition of The Towerlight. Her blog may continue online.
We do not apologize for the sexual content of the column. We wish it had been written less provocatively, and we realize that many readers were offended or simply felt it was inappropriate content for these pages.
However, many other readers did enjoy the column. And we believe it was not out of context on a campus where the administration delivers free cable pornography to some of its residence halls, celebrates ‘condom tasting’ and ‘I <3 female orgasm' at public events, and profits from the sale of sexually-oriented magazines and posters at the University Union.
We reserve the right to print articles on any subject and in any style that the editors feel is appropriate for our audience. We will continue to welcome and encourage critical feedback and to correct mistakes when we make them. We will also continue to defend our rights to free speech.
We are students. We publish The Towerlight for the entire community, but our content is aimed primarily at our fellow students, who deserve open access to their own independent media source on campus. We intend to continue in that role to the best of our abilities, providing news, entertainment, and a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions. We ask our readers to continue to support us.
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Well said. Freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, is not to open a newspaper and see what you want to see, it is to see what you absolutely disagree with and in some cases find offensive. That is true freedom of speech.
Well said. And way to not forgo your right to free speech. It’s your responsibility as part of the media. Thomas Paine — the original T-Paine — would be proud.
I think it is unbelievable how sensitive people were to this article. It’s the 21st century and it’s a college campus- a place where people should be able to express their ideas freely. If anything, all ideas should be encouraged. If you don’t like something, you don’t pay attention to it. That’s life – there are plenty of things we all disagree with, but yet all people have the right to express themselves in a free and democratic society.
I think it is a mistake to ban the column by ‘LUX’ it is, if nothing else, educational. Interesting reading and humorus to boot. My friends and I looked forward to it and were pleased to find it in the TOWERLIGHT. We thought this paper was more progressive for the modern college campus.
Well, there goes the quality of the paper. Good job, everyone!
I have to say, I’m impressed. When Carrie, or should I say Lux, (yes, Carrie is Lux, big shocker I know) was named Editor, I thought she’d hang on at least until November. I never expected her to drive the Towerlight into tabloidism so quick. Let me fill you all in on the first amendment: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Nobody violated anybody else’s first amendment right. And by the way- the only entity that CAN violate freedom of speech is the government. Now whether or not Bob Caret is “the government” is debatable because the University gets public money. But I have to say, my opinion of Bob Caret has much improved over this whole incident. First time I felt like he legitimately stood up for us. The column was absolute trash and anybody who liked it should stick to smutty magazines, romance novels, and internet porn. Sure the University deals with sex in other ways, but the Towerlight should be about JOURNALISM, and REAL NEWS, not garbage. The Towerlight should be above the cheap filth they’ve put forth this year. All of it, not just the sex column.
Carrie is an idiot. Her statement was the most immature, petulant thing I’ve ever read and you can tell she reacted to Caret’s E-mail with the same immaturity (“I just woke up!”). I thought that she would have learned. Well, like I said, she’s dumber than I thought. This is just one more reason why all you people can kiss my black ass.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
The Lux column was pure trash. Kudos to the Towerlight for getting rid of it.
So, when are people going to call for Mike Raymond’s head, for being the one who allowed the “become a stripper” ad in the towerlight? I mean, the bed post may have been “trashy” but recruiting for a strip club is even trashier. And doesn’t Bob Caret have say in what ads do and don’t go in the paper?
Because really… it takes a lot of hypocrisy to let one stay, and make one go. Next we’ll be calling for Tyler Waldman’s head for simply being the circulation manager and we don’t like how he’s distributing “this trashy garbage.”
You don’t like an article? DON’T READ IT. You have the FREEDOM to ignore an article.
“One rule for him, and another rule for the rest of us… we can’t live like that.”
Re: Tired of Middle School Attitude
“And doesn’t Bob Caret have say in what ads do and don’t go in the paper?”
No, he doesn’t. Note the part at the bottom of the Towerlight’s online masthead that says “An INDEPENDENT Student Newspaper Serving the Towson University Community.”
Pro tip: Carrie doesn’t get laid enough to write a sex column.:Re
Freedom of speech also means you can complain when you think something in the paper is stupid. Go figure!
I don’t know about the rest of you, But I for one would like the Towerlight to publish those emails between Caret and Carrie Wood. I want to see the “threatening tone” that he apparently used. And, I would also like to know how Lux’s identity came out, because I was under the impression that only Towerlight staff knew, is one of the staffers purposefully trying to insight gossip?
If the emails were sent from his Carets TU account, then they can be accessed using Maryland Public Information Act. After all he is a state official using it for official purposes…
Let’s put one part of this to rest. Carrie was not Lux.
Lux is a coward
Human sexuality should not be a sensitive topic. It’s a fact of life. And maybe some people actually liked the column. So in that way it did serve a certain portion of the Towson community. Not every article is going to be of interest to the entire Towson community as a whole. The column is not going to encourage people to engage in risky behavior anymore than what we see on TV or in the media. Its just a column about sex – that’s it – and some liked it and some didn’t. You can’t please everyone. At the same time, the banning of certain material sends the wrong message – that anything in the paper or in the press that some one finds offensive should be or can be potentially censored just because it offends a particular part of the population. A college campus should be a place for the exchange of ideas and is a place that is really for the students themselves. How about a little more progressiveness.
I full hearty agree that the reaction published by Ms. Carrie Wood was immature. It’s unfortunate that someone representing the integrity and good, long standing tradition of The Towerlight would jeopardize not only her own credibility, career but that of every single member of its staff down to their management and former employees.
But it’s also unfortunate that The Towerlight cannot stand up for their service, product and newly popular column when the administration decided to “threaten” them with legal action. I don’t understand the decision to continuing posting the column online, but not in print.
Alas, if people like president Caret complained about being offended or not agreeing every time they picked up a magazine, newspaper or publication the United States would be a corrupt world of propaganda and chaos. The freedom of speech act is still active, and newspapers, even at the collegiate level, should never be afraid to continue to follow the amendments and those alike.
Mr. Caret was worried about protecting the university and community by attempting to remove a column, but has now tarnished his own reputation by sending a letter which can only be described as threatening.
I challenge The Towerlight to publish both e-mails or the former editor-in-chief and that of Mr. Caret in hopes to settle rough waters.
I full hearty agree that the reaction published by Ms. Carrie Wood was immature. It’s unfortunate that someone representing the integrity and good, long standing tradition of The Towerlight would jeopardize not only her own credibility, career but that of every single member of its staff down to their management and former employees.
But it’s also unfortunate that The Towerlight cannot stand up for their service, product and newly popular column when the administration decided to “threaten” them with legal action. I don’t understand the decision to continuing posting the column online, but not in print.
Alas, if people like president Caret complained about being offended or not agreeing every time they picked up a magazine, newspaper or publication the United States would be a corrupt world of propaganda and chaos. The freedom of speech act is still active, and newspapers, even at the collegiate level, should never be afraid to continue to follow the amendments and those alike.
Mr. Caret was worried about protecting the university and community by attempting to remove a column, but has now tarnished his own reputation by sending a letter which can only be described as threatening.
I challenge The Towerlight to publish both e-mails or the former editor-in-chief and that of Mr. Caret in hopes to settle rough waters.
As much as I hated Carrie’s sports articles over the past few years, she shouldn’t have had to have resigned and “the bed post” should still exist. Personally I thought the column was pretty tasteless, but that doesn’t matter. It was an opinion column that didn’t discriminate against anyone. If you dont like it, then don’t read it! The TL shouldn’t regret publishing an opinion column that some people enjoyed reading. It was at least somewhat entertaining. Now all I have is Tyler’s tech. Who is gonna teach guys about cunnilingus now?!?!?!?! Some of these upset people were probably dancing to Solja Boy’s Crank Dat, which is highly perverted.
As much as I hated Carrie’s sports articles over the past few years, she shouldn’t have had to have resigned and “the bed post” should still exist. Personally I thought the column was pretty tasteless, but that doesn’t matter. It was an opinion column that didn’t discriminate against anyone. If you dont like it, then don’t read it! The TL shouldn’t regret publishing an opinion column that some people enjoyed reading. It was at least somewhat entertaining. Now all I have is Tyler’s tech. Who is gonna teach guys about cunnilingus now?!?!?!?! Some of these upset people were probably dancing to Solja Boy’s Crank Dat, which is highly perverted.
I would like to know what your standards for maturity are. Carrie Wood has been the one willing to take responsibility for the controversy, has admitted what she believes are mistakes during her regime and has stepped down. How is that immature? I don’t see any of her peers at the paper doing the same thing, and Lux is still hiding behind a pen name. Shouldn’t they be the immature ones?
As much as I hated Carrie’s sports articles over the past few years, she shouldn’t have had to have resigned and “the bed post” should still exist. Personally I thought the column was pretty tasteless, but that doesn’t matter. It was an opinion column that didn’t discriminate against anyone. If you dont like it, then don’t read it! The TL shouldn’t regret publishing an opinion column that some people enjoyed reading. It was at least somewhat entertaining. Now all I have is Tyler’s tech. Who is gonna teach guys about cunnilingus now?!?!?!?! Some of these upset people were probably dancing to Solja Boy’s Crank Dat, which is highly perverted.
To the People at the School Newspaper that I commented at:
When I said “Stop Writing” it was more of a challenge for you to “Try Harder,” not really quit. Close your eyes, put out your hand, and I will run past you today on campus and give you your dignity back! This time, please hold onto it a little tighter so it cannot be taken away so easily by the likes of me.
The problem with some of these arguments is this: I expect to be offended by trashy magazines. That’s why I don’t read them. The problem isn’t so much WHAT the Towerlight published, but WHERE it was published. The Towerlight is the ONLY paper that exclusively serves the University. So people should have a right to have to access that information without being bombarded by filth. The Towerlight is a work of journalism, it’s purpose should be to inform first, and secondly, provoke some thoughtful discussion. It’s purpose should not be to entertain, or to arouse. If people want that they can go get the smutty magazines from the bookstore or turn on the TV. But the newspaper should stick to its obligation to the community and focus on NEWS and the opinion section should express opinions about NEWS. It’s a newspaper. Not a magazine.
I don’t have a problem with the ads encouraging girls to be strippers because there’s nothing wrong with being a stripper, just like there’s nothing wrong with writing about sex. It was just the wrong forum. Just like I wouldn’t want to see a stripper in the library while I was trying to study, neither do I want to read a dirty column while I’m trying to get legitimate news and opinion. If people want to see strippers, let them go to the strip club. If people want to read The Bed Post, let them go to the blog. It shouldn’t be shoved in our faces like, yes, it was. If there was another alternative to get news about TU then that’d be one thing. But there isn’t. So people weren’t REALLY offered the choice on whether or not to read it.
@Towson State Alumnus: There is no such thing as “the freedom of speech act” but having graduated from Towson, I wouldn’t expect you to know that. If the Towerlight really felt like their rights were being infringed upon, they should have allowed legal action to proceed. Their response should have been “bring it on.” They should have taken the fight to where it matters instead of childishly complaining about it after the fact. The fact that they tucked their tails probably means that they didn’t really feel like they could win using a free speech argument. All of you idiots are throwing around the first amendment without really knowing what it means. Caret wasn’t saying they can’t publish it- he can’t say that. He was saying that they can’t publish it on his campus, which he has every right to do. And I’m glad he did. Where is it written that you’re entitled to a newspaper? If you say “The Constitution”, you’re an idiot. The first amendment only means that the government can’t punish you for saying things they don’t like. That doesn’t mean they have to help you publish and disseminate what you write.
By the way, the only person that said the letter was threatening was Carrie. But she just woke up, so who knows what it really said. Do I want to see the E-mail exchanged published? Only because I think they’ll be hilarious. Does it make the slightest bit of difference in my life? Or yours? Hell no. I think the best thing for everyone to do is to put this behind us so we can continue to gluttonize ourselves with the trivial, inane bullshit the Towerlight will undoubtedly continue to print.
Wow. Such a lot of fuss about a rather tepid “Lux” column. Carrie’s mistake was the ill-advised response to Caret, who, if my understanding is correct, has the same amount of input into Towerlight editorial matters as any other reader. And Mike Raymond, as managing director of the Towerlight, is not responsible for editorial content (the commenter calling for Raymond’s head has little understanding regarding the hierarchy of power in a newspaper staff). But I am disappointed that the editor-in-chief was unable to keep her cool in the face of Caret’s sabre-rattling. I have no doubt she has learned a hard lesson.
I am sure that a stripper in a library where you study would not be allowed. I am sure there are some rules against indecent exposure in a library. However, a student newspaper has the right to publish certain articles if it goes through the administrative process of the paper and the editorial board agrees to publish it. As far as I’m aware, organizations have the right to do those things as long as it passes through their administrative process and follows their respective mandates. I do not understand how the administration can get involved with student affairs that fall within a certain organizational framework. As long as they go by the book, how can someone interfere just because they find it offensive? Doesn’t censorship take away from the people who do find it educational and entertaining. If certain students have a problem with an article, they should be the ones writing letters to the editor and voicing their opinions to the newspaper in an attempt to create an influence. It is a campus for the students after all.
Given the powerful misandry of modern feminism, it’s no wonder that masturbation should be gaining in popularity.
Why are people getting their panties in a twist? It’s 2009. Get over it! Sex happens, masturbation happens. When I first encountered “The Bed Post”, I wasn’t interested so I just skipped it *gasp*! Oh the horror of just moving on!
Nobody’s debating the legality of the column; only whether or not it was appropriate for a newspaper to run. The Baltimore Sun now has an article up about the incident and it seems the only “threat” Caret made was to pull advertising from the paper, a perfectly reasonable, legal position.
“Towerlight”, you’re supposed to be an independent newspaper. Like the University of Maryland’s “The Diamondback”, which gave up it’s formal university affiliation in response to administrative censorship and has thrived as an indie. If you truly are an “independent student newspaper”, that means that you don’t have to kowtow to what President Caret thinks. He can try to ban the paper from the campus, but he’s got to know that that won’t work. If you’re not getting funding or support from the university, that means you get to print what you think is best for the paper, adminstration be damned.
That said, I don’t think that “The Bed Post” is that great. It seems to focus mainly on titillation (for which there are many, much better, alternative sources), when it could be a great forum for education on safer and/or better sex. But mostly, it’s just not that well-written. Whoever Lux is, he/she/they would do well to study other, more established columnists to see how they write and why their columns are more successful than his/hers/theirs.
As an alumni of the University, and a reader of the Towerlight, I simply found the columns in question “out of place”. In fact it seemed to degrade and dumb-down the original mission of what I thought to be a University caliber information source. Sex sells. No doubt. I have no problem with freedom of speech and the Towerlight is free to choose what they print. I, on the other hand, am free to choose what I read and purchase. I merely found myself “moving away” and seeking other materials more scholarly and worthy of my time. It’s my hope that the Towerlight staff were not pandering to hormonal urges/impulses for readership. Surely Towson U’s students are better than that?
“Nobody’s debating the legality of the column; only whether or not it was appropriate for a newspaper to run. The Baltimore Sun now has an article up about the incident and it seems the only “threat” Caret made was to pull advertising from the paper, a perfectly reasonable, legal position.” NOT TRUE. There were other threats, including eviction.
I’m having technical difficulties (I’m old); please delete this if it’s a duplicate.
When I read about this controversy over breakfast this morning, my first thought was, “Great, they’re pissin’ people off.”
As a former editor-in-chief of The Towerlight (some time during the pleistocene era), I can honestly say that I have never been more proud of the paper’s editorial staff. I only have one minor suggestion: Put the bloody column on the front page.
By way of the wonders of the Internet, I was able indulge in a moment of blissful instant gratification and find out what the hell was going on at the much-loved institution where I learned the beauties of the fiction of America’s southern writers, that Edmund Spencer is one of the great, neglected genii (it’s a real word, I swear) of English literature, and most important that multiple intimate relationships are never a good idea, no matter how smart you may think you are.
The answer is clear: Responsibility for this dust-up falls to president Robert Caret. A few minutes research reveals that Doctor Bob (apologies to Bob Heironimus) is a businessman, not an academic — no matter what his CV says. Dr. Caret has his eye on the bottom line. His allegiance (in the strictest feudal sense) is to process of kissing corporate ass to fund improvements that state funding cannot support.
Working to improve the university is a necessary thing, but is it as important as supporting and encouraging free inquiry?
When the controversy over Lux first bubbled to the surface, a box full of freshly baked learning opportunities arrived on Dr. Caret’s plate. Had he allowed this little morality play to run its course, the students at Towson University could have learned about the glacial pace of real-world changes in sexual mores, about how civilized humans deal with criticism (rational and irrational) in a public arena, about how short-term laughs have long-term consequences — it’s a long list. Instead, they learned that money talks — clearly and loudly.
Dr. Caret was right when he said that this is not a First Amendment issue, not a freedom of speech issue. What this is is an issue of squelching the fire of free inquiry in a university. Dr. Caret would do well to remember that extinguishing a fire leaves only smoke. I would remind the editorial board of The Towerlight that feeding the fire, while it creates heat, it can also give off a tremendous amount of light.
If you run out of kindling, just let me know.
I’m a former college newspaper editor at a state university, and I have to say that after reading the column in question, I’m baffled at how it angered the university community enough to prompt the editor’s resignation. My paper ran sexually related stuff that was more explicit than that, and had an entire sex issue every year that was filled with content similar to that, and the reaction was never anywhere close enough to the level that would force an editor to resign. And my university was in the heart of the Midwestern Bible Belt, not on the east coast like Towson.
A sex column like this is really not that bold or outrageous for a student newspaper at a public university in the last 10 years. Whoever in the Towson community is responsible for ratcheting the outrage about it to the level it got to — the president, I guess — should be apologizing to Carrie Wood. Now, as she tries to make her way into a journalism industry with toughest job market in decades, her name will be forever linked in people’s memories, and on Google, with this incident. This damage to her reputation is ridiculous, considering that probably hundreds of student newspaper editors have published similar content and not dealt with anything like this. The people responsible for this should be ashamed and need to learn how to look at things like this with some perspective.
As a current student at towson university let me just clearly state my beliefs! CARET SUCKS ALWAYS DID BRING BACK THE ARTICLE AND TELL CARET TO READ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
I originally posted this on one of the letter to the editor pages, but I think it fits better here:
I find it sad that a frank yet light-hearted column about sex would send a college president into hysterics of consternation. You are out of touch with life today and seem unable to grasp that others may not have the same ideals that you hold so dear. Freedom of speech includes the speech you don’t like. Freedom of thought and expression and a lack of public shaming for the commitment to those goals should be part of the college experience. If you feel you can not support your students, then it may be time for you to find other employment or retire.
The fact that “Lux wishes to remain anonymous” underscores the inappropriateness of her comments. I would also point out the weakness of your argument that her column was “in context” with with other foolishness on campus, and thus proper. Why don’t you take the lead, addressing issues of importance with character and maturity? Why don’t you treat your rights of free speech and journalistic independence with the dignity and nobility that they deserve? There are plenty of rags that serve the worst of our natures. You can be better than this.
Who are the people outraged at the sex column? Old people. Parents of students. People who don’t even go to Towson. This paper is catered towards students so shouldn’t students be making the decisions as to whether or not we keep the column, not the president of our school or parents who are living under rocks? The students are what make Towson anyways, we pay to go here. Others in the outside community do not so if they don’t like a small section of the student newspaper, they shouldn’t read it. Can’t people see that this censorship is becoming ridiculous? Are we going to have laws now that make sure that student sex columns don’t appear in college newspapers anymore?
Appropriate for school? This is not high school. This is a college campus which should be an environment for the exchange of ideas, attitudes, and beliefs. A lot of people seemed to have enjoyed the column. If you decide to censor one thing, what’s to stop people from censoring anything that might be offensive to them. You simply can’t go on being offended by everything and expecting people to to cater to your sensitivities. If you don’t like something, you don’t pay attention to it! It’s teaching people to be overly sensitive and not to take personal responsibility for their lives.
this is indeed an issue that was addressed while i was a student at Towson a few years ago as well when The Towerlight when the entire staff and students were up in arms over photographs that had images of a bong with smoke.
Nothing has changed.
Keep on writing Towerlight staff, keep printing whatever you want – it was my right 2 years ago, just as much as it is yours.
You know the founders of our country fought for these very rights. People should be able to exercise their freedom of speech and it should be respected. Of course sex is relevant, and of course most people on a college campus are of the age and are at the maturity level to handle a column about sex. Most people know what sex is and are educated on the benefits of safe sex. A column isn’t going to make people choose whether or not to have safe sex. People make that choice regardless. It is a question of values. Good for modernization of the campus and for what the students want. If the students don’t like the article, they should be the one’s who stop supporting the newspaper. There are some good articles on WBAL, ABC, and the sun on this very topic today.
If this newspaper was only available for the students to read, articles of this type may be acceptable. The Towerlight has to recognize that Towson University is an open campus and many people from the community use our facilities and not just the students. From the swim program, the dance program, summer sports camps, and the Saturday Science program – children of all ages are on campus and can easily pick up a copy of the Towerlight and read it. The age of a registered TU student can be anywhere between 12 and 74 or older, so the Towerlight cannot think that it is only being read by people between the ages of 18 and 22.
i am a 1983 graduate of towson.
caret is a greedy s.o.b. who has no respect for the community. this is a college paper. screw him.
as for contributing anymore money to towson, not until caret is gone.
Yes, other people visit the campus and have access to Towerlight, but you simply cannot censor things just because they may potentially have a bad influence. You can then go on to rationalize the banning of anything that may have an influence. Should we ban fast food from campus because it would encourage campus visitors to engage in unhealthy eating habits? Is it like how Oscar the grouch is now portrayed as happier because parents wrote in that he was too grouchy and set a bad influence? Same with cookie monster eating too many cookies. Where is the sense of personal responsibility?
NO Newspaper should EVER run a column with an anonymous author, no matter the content.
I think its ridiculous that the editor was given so much shit about Lux she felt it necessary to resign. This is a college newspaper, and the Lux column should not be censored. If people don’t want to read it, they don’t have to. But please don’t take one of the interesting articles away from the rest of the Towerlight readers. College students are old enough to handle the content. When the Lux column was published, the number of people reading the Towerlight jumped, so clearly that’s a sign that people wanted to read it. Taking it away was a big mistake. Whoever complained needs to either grow up or read a different article.
I agree with what the person said below – how can university administrators not support and care for their students? Wasn’t college always supposed to be a safe place for people to be able to express their ideas?
Modern Progressive Society is going to Hell and everybody’s just F’n around and laughing about it, how fitting,( I guess it wouldn’t really be any other way). Dim Bulbs never see consequence till its too late. The Future definitly doesn’t look too bright. So goes decency…So goes the greater society. I don’t think too many of this generation even know what it means to be decent anymore or even care.
I did my grad work at Towson. I have contributed to the alum and the school for the past 10 years. That will stop. Why do college kids need porn on TV, in the movies or anywhere? There was a time when privacy was important, guess masturbation can be done and discussed whenever the person is in the mood. I have lost all confidence in the ability for adults to run a college, seems like the students do, and in the ability for a student to make decisions re what constitutes a good newspaper.
Show some backbone: Reappoint Carrie.
So who’s going to start the petition to get Carrie reinstated as editor? I am so disappointed the staff just sat there and accepted her doing this.
I found that the column was more comedic than informational. I can see both sides of the spectrum in relations to how the column was written. I do know that this is a college university and that as an adult, or becoming an adult, we all find that sex is everywhere…on the other hand, I do think that a column about safe sex would be more appropriate, especially with the rise of H.I.V.
From a student perspective, I find that Towson University has a controlling factor to every entity and Campus Ministries has put their nose in many places where they are constantly stating, “I love the sinner, hate the sin.” I appreciate their love, but I think their place on campus should be more focused on the religious groups and not in everyone’s face about sexuality, what is placed in the paper, how a person lives their life, etc. We have to remember that is an educational institution, not a daily church sermon. I add this in here because of the letter to the editor about Carrie Wood’s resignation through the Tower Light.
I do agree that Ms. Wood should have been more mature with her response to Dr. Caret, but from her letter, Dr. Caret seemed intimidating and so forth. I would have reacted the same way if I felt threatened. There are more tactful ways to approach situations, but we have to remember that we are all adults and maturity needs to take precedence.
To Carrie Wood, I would have fought harder for your position. Don’t apologize for what you said, that’s how you feel. Apologize for your actions…Good luck.
When I was the editor of The Towerlight, I made the decision to use a review of the play, “Poor Superman” as our cover story (back then, we had a photo cover — a single image with teasers for inside news). The image that emblazoned the front cover was provocative, illustrated a key theme of the play and got the attention of readers. The photo? Two male actors engaged in a passionate kiss.
Did we take some flack for it? Yes. Did we defend our position? Indeed. Did I resign? Uh, no. Did I learn a lession? Hell yeah. After all, that’s the point of a student newspaper … regardless of whether it is independent of the university or not. It’s a place for students to LEARN and for faculty and staff to TEACH.
So what did the team learn from this? From Ms. Wood’s statement, it seems she may have learned to drink a cup of coffee and count to 100 before responding to an e-mail from the university president about a potentially ill-placed column, and to seek counsel from her Editorial Board before responding. She and the rest of the board learned that pseudonyms and journalism really don’t mix and that policies are in place for a reason. Hopefully they learned some lessons about content.
But that aside, what was TAUGHT? There’s one lesson that appears to have trumped all: Caret can evoke the wrath of God and TU students should not push the envelope and take chances during their college days. That there is no room for improvement or life lesson on a college campus — and that you risk advertising funds or office space if you mess up. Remember, kids — TU doesn’t tolerate mistakes or poor judgment … wait until you’re out in the real world to take a header. A college campus isn’t a safe harbor in any way and there are no safety nets. Don’t spread your wings — roll over and play dead. What a lovely lesson for the president of a liberal arts university to teach. Shame on you, Robert Caret.
Reports of heavy-handed missives coming from the university administration, rumors of threatened eviction and withdrawal of advertising funds are rampant. From a PR perspective, perception is reality. And this reality bites. The student editors would have been better served had there open discussion and coaching instead of the executive guillotine.
Mr. Caret: There’s a nice lesson to be given in crisis communications. Plan your strategy wisely.
The President should never have threatened her or asked her remove the article. If there was some real concern, he should have best talked to her to see what her motivation was for running the article. But, aside from that the students should be able to publish what they want if they see it have an educational and entertainment value. And they published it and many students enjoyed it. I never heard students complaining about the column before the President got involved.
It’s funny how this controversy a way has worked out good for the Towerlight, there readership has significantly increased and the story is in the news and posted all over the internet. Shows you that responding to things you don’t like, instead of ignoring them which you should do, brings even more attention and intrigue to the very things you try to censor!
This is a typical article found in almost all state funded universities.
It will soon be a comman article found in state funded high schools.
It represents the level of education found from state schools. It represents the
level of education the United States presents compared to the rest of the world.
The comparison of this article has been made to articles found in the city paper.
The problem is this paper is supposed to represent a place of high learning. a level
where human inteligence is of utmost consideration. The city paper represents none of this.
A state funded education in the United States has declined to the level where human
inteligence is not celebrated but animal instints are highlighted and praised.
I’m sorry to see my taxes go to support universities and High schools in the
United States that cannot and will not provide a level of higher education for my
children.
It’s a shame that as a parent concerned that my children are educated in such a manner to
become a positive influence in society if have to fund worthless state schools and then pay
additional funds to make sure my children recieve a REAL education.
Even though I have spent a small fortune over and above my taxes to send my children to
a school I know will teach them……….I would do it all over again.
Because as a parent I have shown my love for my children by giving them the best possible
education I could by not ever sending them to any state funded school in the US
I love my children to much to cheat them out of something that is so important as an real
education
This is a typical article found in almost all state funded universities.
It will soon be a comman article found in state funded high schools.
It represents the level of education found from state schools. It represents the
level of education the United States presents compared to the rest of the world.
The comparison of this article has been made to articles found in the city paper.
The problem is this paper is supposed to represent a place of high learning. a level
where human inteligence is of utmost consideration. The city paper represents none of this.
A state funded education in the United States has declined to the level where human
inteligence is not celebrated but animal instints are highlighted and praised.
I’m sorry to see my taxes go to support universities and High schools in the
United States that cannot and will not provide a level of higher education for my
children.
It’s a shame that as a parent concerned that my children are educated in such a manner to
become a positive influence in society if have to fund worthless state schools and then pay
additional funds to make sure my children recieve a REAL education.
Even though I have spent a small fortune over and above my taxes to send my children to
a school I know will teach them……….I would do it all over again.
Because as a parent I have shown my love for my children by giving them the best possible
education I could by not ever sending them to any state funded school in the US
I love my children to much to cheat them out of something that is so important as an real
education
Parent,
Did you go to Towson? Have you ever been to public school? From your letter it doesn’t sound like it. How can you compare private school education to public school education when you don’t have CLUE about public school education. I am sorry to point this out, but your argument is flawed. You want to give your opinion great, just think it out a little instead of ranting.
I on the other hand went to public highschool, had friends who went to a private highschool, then went to a private college where I transfered after a year to Towson because of the good education and low expense. Not because I had a hard time with the curriculm actually I had a 3.7 GPA. I transfered, because the education style was too sloppy. There were no clear guidelines for grading, no indication when we’d get our grades back, and only half my teachers had syllabuses. Not only that, but it was completely too expensive for what I was getting out of it.
I am glad you feel secure to flaunt your economic status to us on towerlight, congradulations! Hopefully your success is based on hard work and academic achievement and not family money. But if you think how one person expresses themself in a college newspaper defines public instituions I don’t think you’ve learned a lot.
P.S. I hope you kids do well in there money pit of private education. I hope they get a leg up based on name recognition of their private college, but when I graduate from this public university with a broader degree of education and secure myself just as nice of a job as your kids land once they graduate, I hope you’ll start to see that “freedom of expression” in the case of the “Bed Post” articles does not define our education.
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