Miner editor-in-chief fights back

By Jacob Houska

Published Aug. 24, 2007

Chris Stryker, the editor-in-chief of The Missouri Miner, said he never thought he'd be in a position to sue his school, but he's been advised that his newspaper might have a case against the UM system after the UM-Rolla student government cut the student newspaper's budget.

In November 2006, the paper's budget was cut by $12,500. Rolla's Student Government Association cited grammatical errors in the newspaper and high student salaries as reasons to reduce the funding. Stryker said when he contacted the Student Press Law Center this summer, he was told the budget cut might have been in violation of the First Amendment. The Student Press Law Center is an organization which advocates for student media and provides free legal assistance to student journalists.

The conflict, Stryker said, doesn't necessarily have to result in a lawsuit, and an official decision to sue is still pending.

"We wanted to give them one more chance to resolve it amicably," Stryker said. "We need to have kind of a thick skin, but if it comes to a point where it threatens our existence, we have to take action."

Stryker said employees of his paper feel they're victims of biased budgeting when they see other school buildings with relatively new equipment.

"We tend to deal with a lot," Stryker said. "I mean, we have roaches in the bathrooms of our office. Most of us just accepted that as a fact of life, but sometimes you fight for what's right."

Roughly one-third of the newspaper's $30,000 budget was cut, Stryker said.

But for the UM system, the controversy seemed to have died down over the summer.

"I hadn't heard a word about it since it was first brought up until about a week ago, when I found out they still thought they had been wronged in some way," UM system General Counsel Bunky Wright said.

Wright said he cannot comment on the specifics of the case yet.

The general counsel represents the UM system, including student organizations officially affiliated with the school.

When the case was revived during the first week of school, Stryker, along with former editor-in-chief Michele Martin, sent a letter to school officials informing them of the legitimacy of their case after being advised by the Student Press Law Center attorneys.

Mark Goodman, the executive director of the Student Press Law Center, oversaw much of the case.

"The issue is plain and simple: the First Amendment," Goodman said. "Public colleges and universities cannot use funding as a mechanism for punishing content or controlling content of a student publication. I think the university has really advocated its responsibility to step up to the plate. For the sake of Missouri taxpayers, I hope they don't learn those lessons in court."