That pesky first amendment...

One of the biggest controversies on campus this year was the publishing by the Mustang Daily of a certain article in the sex column for Valentines Day. This article told readers how to perform a...err...certain act that some found rather offensive. (I've linked it at the bottom, but, naturally, would not recommend it for younger readers)

Of course the article got a ton of attention immediately after publication. It was debated in English, philosophy, journalism and communication classes for weeks. There was a national conservative blog that criticized the author and at the time of this writing, there are 148 comments on the online edition of theDaily's website on the article.

Something at the heart of the controversy is whether or not the article is obscene. Obscenity is one of the few forms of speech not protected by the first amendment, and is typically defined in the context of the community of which it is published. People are crying foul here, saying that in a learning community like our state university, these kinds of ideas should not be tolerated.

But let's be realistic here. Yes, we're a great university. Yes, we have some of the top notch professors and classes in the nation. But we're at college. And a fairly big party-college at that. Despite the fact that we all are little angels who have the purest of pure morals, people here know what oral sex is (and probably a few things worse than that that will definitely not be on this blog). And to be honest, everyone's either heard it happening through the paper-thin dorm walls or done it themselves. 

So why is it wrong for the Daily to publish an article about what students are actually experiencing at Cal Poly? It's not a university publication going out to prospective students, it's a student run newspaper. This is a public forum that's supposed to show what life is like at our college. 

Some students are complaining that their parents' tax dollars are going to support this publication which publishes article they don't support. But in truth, only nominal funding is given to it by the school, most of their money is earned in advertising. And if the school had a problem with the article or the sex column in general, they've kept quiet about it. Maybe they realize what students can't: if you don't want to read it, you don't have to. It's as simple as that.

Newspapers have run articles that are unpopular for a long time, but in more recent times they've been uncensored and free to print what they want (provided it's not illegal or presenting a danger to the community). I applaud our school's administration for recognizing this. But what do you think? Post your opinions regarding this, and school newspapers' rights under the first amendment, in the comments.

The article in question (reader discretion advised):

http://mustangdaily.net/there-she-blows-rev-up-your-v-day-with-a-cl...