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Although the board ruled last week that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the charges against The Koala, the lawsuit filed by the publication against the university alleging repeated attempts to silence the humor publication remains active.

"Obviously, we think that the problems we are having with the university have not disappeared and we are hopeful that our lawsuit may help remedy some of the causes of these issues," said Koala editor George Liddle.

In its decision, the board denied that the proceedings had anything to do with the paper's satirical nature.

"The student complaint and hearing focused exclusively on alleged disruptive behavior by an alleged Koala staff member," the university said in a press release. "Neither the complaint nor the hearing concerned The Koala's editorial content."

The controversy began when two Koala members accompanied a freelance photographer to a May 19 meeting of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Azatlan (MEChA), a Chicano-rights group, and took a photo of member Ernesto Martinez after being asked not to photograph the gathering.

After a complaint from Martinez, the university brought the three students up on charges of disturbing the meeting.

At the May 22 hearing, The Koala asked that the board's proceedings be opened to the public. University code prohibits open hearings without the consent of both parties involved. The university objected, but citing the University of California system's less stringent requirements to open the proceedings, board chairwoman Parisa Baharian ruled in the paper's favor.

Koala editors presented a limited defense after university representative Cara Silbaugh walked out of the hearing.

"Under university polices, the privacy of participants in disciplinary hearings is paramount," the university press release said. "Closed hearings are a normal procedure in the case of disciplinary issues. To protect the privacy of its student records, UCSD was unable to comply with that request."

Nicholas Aguilar, director of student policy and judicial affairs at the university, nullified the hearing, and the disciplinary action was rescheduled for June 5 behind closed doors despite the objections of the school-sponsored paper the Guardian.