Freedom of the press is one of those phrases, like "all men are created equal," that loses some of its meaning over time. It's a statement with meaning, but the frequency with which we hear these words has the same effect as seeing the words "men's room" so often renders them a semiotic reality as opposed to a linguistic one. In other words, one understands that behind this door a man can pee because of the symbol and not the words "men's room."
"Freedom of the press" is like "freedom of worship;" one's worship is a personal object of sorts, to be laid at the feet of whatever deity or sports car one chooses. In other words, Person A has some worship and he'll be damned if he'll let Person B tell him what to do with it.
In that case, then, freedom of the press means that someone out there has a press, and they are free to use it however they please, as long as they don't, for example, commit assault with it. (Don't laugh; the rules of what constitutes assault easily encapsulate a printing press.)
But the man who doesn't own his own press is in trouble.
Which brings us to Generation. In recent years this beloved campus publication has become increasingly neutered through a combination of graduation, calcification and administration. They've lost good writers to maturity, become vaguely set in their ways, (never good for the counterculture), and been clamped down on for some amusing - if inadvisable - hijinks.
New writers can be found and trained and ruts can be broken free of but if the chain of command is not changed then the Generation will go under. Their printing schedule is already up in the air, it seems, and in taped recordings SA Treasurer John Martin admitted to a stymieing level of control over their editorial process. Though Generation is technically a publication of Sub Board I, lets not kid ourselves into thinking that SA can't get their greedy little hands into the cookie jar. This is simply unacceptable.
We at the Spectrum would like to extend a hand to Generation in this time as compatriots. We believe that it is dishonest and more than a little sad that a paper that prints "the student voice since 1984" on the cover of every issue is controlled so closely by our own Big Brother.
Given the opportunity The Spectrum would like to see Generation enjoy the same level of autonomy. While it is irksome at times to watch members of each paper's staff shoot snarky remarks back and forth, it would be awfully boring without you folks.
Yes, this is a purchase offer.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
