Journalism professor
earns education award
The AEJMC named John
Russial, a University associate
professor, the 2002-03
Distinguished Educator
Aimee Rudin
City/State Politics Reporter
One of the first things many new
students in University Professor
John Russial’s class notice is his
smile. It’s an easy smile — comfort
able, not forced.
Russial, an associate professor in
the School of Journalism and Com
munication, has been teaching Uni
versity students the ins and outs of
newspaper editing, reporting, media
writing and media management for
the last 11 years. Before joining the
staff at the University, Russial
worked in professional newsrooms
for 17 years.
This year, the Association for Edu
cation in Journalism and Mass Com
munication named Russial the 2002
03 Distinguished Educator for its
Newspaper Division. The AEJMC is
a non-profit educational association
of journalism and mass communica
tion faculty, administrators, students
and media professionals, with about
3,500 members worldwide.
“Professor Russial’s class was laid
back and comfortable,” University
junior Zach Mull said of Russial’s
Writing for the Media class. “He
would show up smiling, not giddy or
anything, but like he was genuinely
happy to be
there. He was
one of those
teachers who
you could defi
nitely tell had
all the profes
sional knowl
edge to back up
what he was
saying in the
classroom.” RuSSial
Journalism
School Associ
ate Dean Alan Stavitsky said Russial
represented the ideal faculty mem
ber for a professional school.
“He has great higher experience in
the newspaper business, and he has
a strong academic background,”
Stavitsky said. “He’s a wonderful
bridge between the professional and
the academic world.”
Stavitsky added that Russial being
named Distinguished Educator of
the year was great recognition for
the journalism school, and it under
scored the school’s reputation for
outstanding teaching.
Russial received his doctorate in
journalism in 1989 while working at
the Philadelphia Inquirer as the Sun
day copy chief. He said he had al
ways been drawn to teaching, and
the transition from newsroom to
classroom was smooth.
“What you are when you’re a copy
chief is, you’re a teacher,” Russial
said. “I like the teaching because
Speech codes
continued from page 1
what they call “oppressive” student
conduct policies that infringe on
students’ free speech rights.
Greg Luckianoff, director of legal
and public advocacy for FIRE, said
student-conduct policies illegally
limit freedom of speech and perse
cute students who hold unpopular
opinions that stray from the path of
political correctness.
“Students have a tiny fraction of
the free speech rights enjoyed by
the larger society,” Luckianoff said.
He added that FIRE has been
flooded with student complaints
about abuses of their First
Amendment rights, and rather
than addressing the issue on a
case by case basis, FIRE decided
to go after the problem systemi
cally. Luckianoff said FIRE’s goal
in filing lawsuits against universi
ties in every federal appellate cir
cuit is to rid the country of college
student conduct policies, e-mail
policies, sexual harassment poli
cies, diversity statements and all
other policies that the organiza
tion believes amount to no more
than speech codes.
“It doesn’t have to be called a
speech code to be a speech code,”
Luckianoff said.
University Director of Student
Judicial Affairs Chris Loschiavo
said he doesn’t think this Univer
sity is in danger of a lawsuit.
Loschiavo said while some uni
versities have policies that are
antiquated and contain question
able restrictions on students’
speech, the University Student
Conduct Code isn’t a violation of
the First Amendment in any way.
He said the code is necessary to
maintain an environment where
everyone feels welcome and able
to succeed.
“Our code is pretty narrowly
drawn,” Loschiavo said. “We don’t
really have a speech code per se.”
He added that the University’s
conduct code was fashioned after
the U.S. Supreme Court’s “fighting
words” doctrine, which the court
established as one of the forms of
speech the First Amendment
does not protect.
Luckianoff said the University’s
code is closer than most to the fight
ing words doctrine, but he coun
tered that the viability of the fight
ing words doctrine is questionable
to begin with.
Oregon Commentator Publisher
Bret Jacobson questions the need
for a student conduct code. Jacob
son pointed out that federal laws
already exist to protect people
against harassment, and thus the
University’s conduct code is un
called for. Furthermore, Jacobson
argues the code isn’t just unneces
sary— it’s a crime.
“Essentially, the code is a way for
the University to get around due
process concerns,” Jacobson said.
“It’s an ad hoc method of punishing
unpopular behavior.”
Jacobson added he opposes the
University’s use of a student con
duct code because it restricts le
gitimate academic debate. He
specifically pointed to the portion
of the code that says students can
get in trouble for “insulting anoth
er person in his or her immediate
presence with abusive words or
gestures when a reasonable per
son would expect that such act
would cause emotional distress or
provoke a violent response.”
Jacobson countered that a lot
of people become emotionally
distressed when they engage in
heated political discussions,
which are a perfectly legitimate
way for them to exercise their
rights to free speech. He added
that he thinks the code is specifi
cally intended to keep students
who hold different opinions than
the majority from being able to
speak their minds.
“The code absolutely punches
students who hold unpopular
views,” Jacobson said.
Contact the senior news reporter
at jennHerbear@dailyenierald.com.
that’s what enables me to help stu
dents help professional papers.”
Russial said he tries to emphasize
more than just the mechanics of
journalism in his classes.
“Reporters and editors must be
able to work with words. Everybody
knows that,” he said. “But journal
ists have to be able to work with
ideas and people as well. I learned
this lesson in the newsroom, and I
try to use it as a guiding principle in
the classroom.”
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