Brett Mize

The First Amendment of the U.S. Bill of Rights guarantees us many of our basic rights including the freedom of the press. A free press is vital to liberty and to the society in which we enjoy. Thomas Jefferson noted the benefit of an open media when he stated, “Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.”

Many consider the media to be the fourth pillar of democracy – along with the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Only by allowing open access to information can citizens make informed decisions. In a democracy where responsibility should be shouldered by everyone, only a free press allows citizens to inform themselves and come to their own conclusions.

An open media not only serves to inform the public at large, but also serves as a watchdog for elected officials and other government functions. Elected officials are held accountable and must beware of being exposed if they are not acting in ways that some might consider not in their best interest.

While The Bulletin here at ESU might not be investigating CIA interrogation techniques or corrupt Washington politicians, we do provide a purposeful outlet for informing students on campus as well as being a “watchdog” for administration and elected officials. Students have the right to know what decisions are being made around them and the newspaper has a right to report that information.

What makes a school newspaper valuable to the students is the fact that the purpose is to inform students of their school’s activities – the reader decides if the activities are good, bad, or neither. That value is compromised when the newspaper is no longer allowed to inform its readers freely. This happens when a newspaper becomes censored. Censorship nearly always occurs through a step known as “prior review.”

Prior review is the act of persons in an executive role reading materials before they have been made available to the public. Prior review here at ESU would mean that administrative officials would have the ability to read over The Bulletin before the paper was published. This may seem harmless. The reality is prior review nearly always opens the door for prior restraint and censorship.

What’s the point of prior review if it is not followed by censorship? Administrators would not simply read the paper before publication to get the information before the students and faculty. Why else would administrators want to issue prior review before publication if not only to have the authority to kill or alter a story?

Prior review being enforced on school newspapers is a disservice to all students, including the aspiring journalist. Fully and independently operating a campus newspaper is the best educational and training tool available for those seeking a career in journalism.

Prior review would serve only to stifle critical thinking and brings down the quality of a news source. Once the students no longer have sole independence over their newspaper, a lowering of quality, creativeness and accuracy is sure to follow.

I know if I were told by someone “above me” what I could or could not write about, I would no longer write for the paper. Would the investigative reporter continue to work as hard and ask as tough questions if there was a good chance their hard work would be altered or censored? I doubt it.

Once censorship sets in, which is what only logically follows behind prior review; writers will give up most of their motivation to question and to challenge. Once this happens, who will take their work seriously and listen to their voice? There isn’t much point in a newspaper if the readers feel like they are simply another public relations outlet for the administration.

If the school newspaper were to become censored, who is to say that other organizations on campus would not be as well? It’s not a stretch to say once a newspaper is silenced that the rest of the student voice is in jeopardy as well. Maybe RSOs on campus shouldn’t be able to raise important issues on campus – their activities may be not on par with what others think they should be doing. Maybe the theatre department should only be able to choose from a select few “appropriate” plays a year. The list goes on, but obviously this is a slippery-slope issue.

We enjoy a university that allows students open access to the news and events that are impacting their lives here at ESU. Let’s keep it that way with an open and transparent campus atmosphere.

Brett Mize/The Bulletin

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Josh Olsen, senior management major, and Jared Olsen, Emporia State alumni, stand in front of their bar, Beer:30, Thursday evening. JENNIFER BALDWIN/THE BULLETIN

Beer:30, a bar located at the corner of 4th and Merchant Street, recently celebrated its third year of business. Owners Josh Olsen, senior management major, and Jared Olsen, 2006 Emporia State graduate, pride the bar on the variety of entertainment features that it offers.
“We have a dancing area if you want to dance,” said Josh. “If you want to hang out you can go to the lounge. If you want to be outside you can be outside. If you want play pool you can play pool. We offer everything but shuffle board. It’s the same with drinks. Pretty much, if people ask for it and we don’t have it, we’ll buy it.”
Jared stressed that Beer:30 is centered around satisfying the customer.
“When we opened the bar that was our goal,” said Jared. “Whatever it is you like, (we) have a place here for you. We tried to make a bar that we would want to go to, that’s it, no frills.”
Another goal that Josh and Jared have is to always keep the prices low, which is just one thing that they do to appeal to college students.
“We always wanted to offer cheap drinks and quality service, and it’s been our plan to attract the college crowd because the college will never go away,” Josh said.
To keep prices low, instead of hiring employees to cover slow shifts, they do it themselves. This is just one way that they quickly made a profit.
“One of the reasons we’ve been successful is because we keep labor costs low with us working,” Josh said. “The truth is, we paid our investment off in a year and a half so we could close down tomorrow and just say we had fun for three years.”
University ties also played a role in their success. Both Josh and Jared attended ESU and were members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
“Something that helped us out is that I just graduated and Josh is still in college so it was easy in terms of knowing people and being able to get the word of mouth out about the bar,” Jared said.
Another factor bringing in crowds is live music. Beer:30 hosts bands varying from rock’n’roll to bluegrass, and will eventually add a recording studio to their facility. Because of his experience, Josh manages the music.
“Josh does all the music stuff because he was in a band that was successful here in town,” Jared said. “He knows both sides, what they should be asking for and what we should be paying. He knows how to set up sound and has the contacts and all that stuff.”
However, not just anyone can play – the bands must be reviewed and selected.
“We screen our bands, they have to give us a demo and we have to like it,” Josh said. “There’s nothing worse than people leaving because of the music that is at the bar.”
Beer:30 also offers an open mic night every Thursday that has less stipulations for performers.
“People just walk in and play a song,” Jared said. “It’s actually hard to get time now because people just come and book it up really fast. It’s designed so that people who are just trying to play their music or trying to get in front of a crowd to get used to it can have that opportunity, and they also have to opportunity to meet other musicians in town. Several bands got started because of that open mic night.”
Events such as wedding receptions and graduations and fundraisers like Poker for Darfur and No-Shave November for breast cancer also take place at Beer:30, opening up business to a variety of people. This diversity is just one aspect that Kaila Mock, junior glass working major and regular at Beer:30, likes about the bar.
“It’s very welcoming,” Mock said. “There’s a whole different variety of people there but everyone gets along really well. And I love pretty much everyone that works there. They’re just all such cool guys, you can talk to them about anything.”
She said she also enjoys the relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
“I’ve known Josh for eight years, so we just hang out and watch football games and stuff,” Mock said. “There’s not people yelling and fighting, and it’s just really laid back. You can just sit there and talk.”
Jared said that regulars contribute largely to the bars’ calm reputation.
“We don’t have fights down here, and that’s a testament to our staff, but that’s the regulars too,” Jared said. “They keep their friends in line because they don’t want their bar messed with. We have the best regulars that you could ask for, they’ll take people home when they’re getting too rowdy. They’ll tell them they have to leave. They’ll cut their friends off, it happens all the time, and it’s just because they don’t want their bar screwed around with, or to have to come in the next day and say they’re sorry to us.”
The regulars as well as the employees give Jared reason to be enthusiastic about his work.
“We really appreciate the people who work here and the people who come often because we have made a ton of friends from this place, a ton of people we can count on,” Jared said.

Sarah Shaw/The Bulletin

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