Thursday, May 10, 7 p.m., McConnell Auditorium: As part of Central Washington University's 2006-2007 First Amendment Festival, four experts will debate the tensions and tradeoffs between protecting national security and protecting the public's civil liberties and its right to government records in a time of war. The forum will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 10, in McConnell Auditorium. It is free and open to the public.

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Time To Speak Out!

It's time to SpeakOut Central!

Speak Out Central, every wednesday in the SURC Pit from 12-1
(except for May 23)

On Wednesday, April 25th from 12:00 p.m. to 1 p.m., CWU students and panelist memebrs will discuss racial profiling and stereotyping after the Virginia Tech murders.

Next Wednesday, May 2nd: "The N-Word"....Speech is powerful, and context is everything. In the wake of Don Imus's firing for racist comments, this panel explores free speech and threatening speech, in and out of context.

Washington legislator introduces free press bill

• Read a copy of the bill here
• Listen to a web broadcast of the hearing here
• Interested in contacting the Judiciary Committee or your state representative? Click here for contact information.
• CWU journalism student and Observer writer Paul Balcerak testified in Olympia. Read his opinion piece in the Observer here.
• Observer Editor-in-Chief Pat Lewis was quoted in the Yakima Herald-Republic and the Daily Record in stories on the issue.

The bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on Wed., Jan. 31, and now is in the House Rules Committee.

Here is more information about the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that opened the door for college administrators to censor college media.




U.S. Supreme Court Hears Washington 1st Amendment Case Challenging Union Fees




The Supreme Court will determine if Non Union Teachers' fees can be used in political campaigns. Both sides are arguing the case on First Amendment grounds of free speech. Read more about this in Latest FA News.