It seems that someone decided to explain simple journalism to the petty bureaucrats who call themselves the United Students Government (USG) at the State University of New York – Buffalo State College. That’s after the distraught student body decided to freeze the budget of the school newspaper The Record in the wake of an April Fool’s Day issue.
We’re usually not fond of April Fool’s Day issues, in general. They feel like students auditioning for jobs at The Onion and proving that kind of thing isn’t easy to write. We still want to defend The Record‘s publication of the Wreckard parody, even if they dared to print something really offensive like…well, nobody really knows what was offensive. The Record staff was just told by the USG every copy of The Wreckard had to be “removed from campus,” because “some of the topics discussed in the ‘Wreckard’ satire addition [sic] were offensive to members of Buffalo State and the surrounding community.”
The students mostly feel that administrators panicked over a headline that made fun of Governor Andy Cuomo. Specifically, “Governor Cuomo bans snacking across New York State.” That offended some would-be power broker, we bet.
Anyway, a grown-up reversed the idiocy, with Buffalo State Vice President Hal Payne still pandering with his official statement…
While The Record’s April Fools’ satire edition may have been upsetting to some and certainly pressed the boundaries of humor, I am concerned that the United Students Government’s decision to freeze the paper’s funding may infringe on students’ right to free speech. Because The Record is a recognized student organization, United Students Government provides oversight of the paper, not the college administration. However, I will reach out to the leaders of both organizations in the coming days to encourage a swift resolution.
Meanwhile, you can still check out the really shocking issue online and get offended yourself. It still seems kind of lame to us, but we don’t rush to the fainting couch as often as the Buffalo State College’s United Students Government.
