logo SPLC

CONTACT US     DONATE     LEGAL F.A.Q.    

Advanced Search

Satirical magazine causes uproar on Calif. campus, problems for editors
Paper was cleared of code of conduct violation but still may lose funding; police, students take papers

© 2003 Student Press Law Center

August 7, 2003

CALIFORNIA — Student editors of a satirical newspaper at the University of California at San Diego were not punished after facing disciplinary charges for a June edition that portrayed the religious and cultural practices of Muslims in a sexual manner. The student government, however, is now investigating the Koala for possible violations of a student government charter, which could result in a funding freeze for the quarterly publication.

The Muslim Student Association filed a complaint with the university in June, arguing that the issue, titled “Jizzlam, An Entertainment Magazine for the Islamic Man,” degraded and discriminated against the Muslim community. The 16-page edition included illustrated articles like “The Jizzlam guide to sexual positions during prayer” and “The Miss World Jizzlam burkini contest.”

The university determined in July that the Koala editors could not be punished for violating the code of conduct because the "Jizzlam" content was protected by the First Amendment.

Nick Aguilar, director of student policies and judicial affairs, said the university condemned the issue, calling it “vile and obscene.” However, he said constitutional law prohibited the school from punishing the students for content.

“It is unfortunate that the First Amendment is abused to unnecessarily hurt students,” he said. “The incident has been very difficult for the campus. It is disappointing that despite all of our efforts of promoting tolerance and civility that we would have one of our student publications engaged in this kind of hurtful content.”

Aguilar said the Koala generally prints “offensive” material, but this was worse because of its sexually explicit nature.

Koala 2003-2004 Editor Bryan Barton said he never thought the “Jizzlam” issue would cause so much debate on campus. He said the former editor of the paper was attacked by a group of people who were angry about the edition.

The university police said they took 200 copies of the newspaper when they were called to another altercation between Koala editors who were distributing the publication and a group of offended students.

Sgt. Bob Jones said the editors surrendered the newspaper in order to stop the fight. The police turned over the copies to the student conduct coordinator as part of the school’s investigation, Jones said.

According the Barton, the six police officers who were called to the scene threatened to charge the students with littering and having unauthorized material. Jones said no threats were made and no charges were ever filed.

Barton said about 3,000 additional copies of the newspaper were stolen the day it was distributed. Barton, who was not serving as editor in chief when the incident took place, said he suspects that students and university employees were responsible for the theft, which cost the Koala about $500 in advertising revenue and printing costs.

Several students also demanded that editors get rid of the remaining 2,000 copies of the 6,000 press run. In response to this, Barton said those issues of the Koala were being kept in a locker for safekeeping.

“People need to let loose,” Barton said. “I hurt people’s feelings, but that is the price you have to pay for free speech.”

Aguilar said the student government is now determining if the Koala violated the media charter, a set of rules that all student publications that receive student activity fees are required to follow.

Francis Galvin, commissioner of communications for the Associated Students, said the Koala might have violated the rule that requires all publications to print a disclaimer stating that the paper does not share the views of the student government.

Galvin said the “Jizzlam” issue of the Koala did not have a disclaimer and an investigation was being conducted by members of the Associated Students to determine what, if any, consequences the paper could face. If the newspaper is found to have violated the media charter, Galvin said their funding could be frozen until student government holds a hearing.

She maintained that the Koala was not being investigated based on its content but because of the possible media charter violation.

“As far as funding goes, we are 100 percent content neutral,” Galvin said. “But if you do not follow the media charter there are possible repercussions.”

According to the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Southworth v. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, universities or their student governments cannot determine funding for campus groups based on the views they express.

Each UCSD student is required to pay a $21 per quarter student activity fee that goes toward the Associated Students $1.3 million dollar budget. The Koala, like the rest of the media on campus, can apply for funding from the Associated Students each quarter.

Koala editors said the newspaper missed the application deadline for funding last spring and did not receive any Associated Students funding. Instead, the paper was published using advertising revenue only.

One former editor, who wished to remain anonymous because he feared punishment by the university, said that the Associated Students did not provide funding and therefore should not require the Koala to follow their rules.

“We usually have a disclaimer in the issues, but editors felt that it would spoil the satirical nature of the newspaper,” he said. “It would be giving credit where no credit was due. It is hard to see why it is necessary to demand a disclaimer because they didn’t pay for it.”

The former editor said he believed the Associated Students were trying to punish the newspaper for its content.

“It would be extremely out of character for the Associated Students to freeze the funding of the organization for something as simple as leaving out a logo or disclaimer,” he said.

Muslema Purmel, a member of the Muslim Student Association, told the San Diego Union Tribune that she was upset the university did not punish the newspaper editors.

“Ideally, I wanted the university to say this was not protected speech,” she told the Tribune. “Common sense tells you this should not be printed on a college campus.”

Barton said he hoped to work things out with the Muslim Student Association in the fall, when his term as editor in chief will begin.

“I am going to talk with the president of the Associated Students and set up a dialogue between the Koala and the Muslim Student Association,” he said. “I want to tell them it was a joke. There was no harm meant at all.”