Oregon Muslim Students Permitted to Censor Student Newspaper

If you read the post below about Islam winning in Europe by default and you think it couldn't happen here, think again.

Sure, they're not beheading anyone. But why should they? We'll just ban anything they find offensive the minute they complain about it:

KEZI.com: "CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) -- A student's column in the Oregon State University campus newspaper has prompted protests by Muslim students, who say it is offensive to their faith.

The piece headlined 'The Islamic Double Standard' was written by OSU microbiology student Nathanael Blake and published in the Daily Barometer on Feb. 8.

The column accused Muslims of expecting special treatment after a Danish newspaper published cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. Riots over the cartoons amounted to 'savagery,' Blake said. 'Bluntly put, we expect Muslims to behave barbarously,' his column said.

On Thursday, about a dozen students -- including members of Muslim and Arab student groups -- held a vigil on the campus to protest both Blake's piece and the Danish cartoons.

They handed out flyers that stated "While staying loyal to the main values of freedom of expression that founded this country, we also feel the need to reflect on the values of tolerance and acceptance on this campus."

Among the students offended by the column was Nada Mohamed, a 20-year-old junior and the vice president of OSU's Muslim Student Association.

"It was amazing to me that they (the campus newspaper) were allowed to publish this kind of stuff," she told the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

"Tears were flowing out of my eyes as I was reading," she said. "I felt like somebody was ripping my heart out."

At the Daily Barometer, editors said e-mail and phone calls poured in. Senior editors have met with the Muslim Student Association.

"The pain that it caused ... did not subside with time," said DD Bixby, the Barometer's editor-in-chief. "It kind of just festered."

She said editors have been checking copy with Muslim students, and on Tuesday deleted one paragraph from a piece scheduled to be published the next day.

Bixby said her staffers are "all pretty much Oregon-type kids" who knew little about Islam and didn't foresee how people would respond to the column.

Blake said that he expected a reaction, but, "I didn't expect it to be this prolonged or this strong."

Sorry Nada Mohamed. Nobody was ripping your heart out. No one was cutting off your head with a dull knife either. If we cannot have an open and honest discussion of the problem of Islam in the modern world without all this hysteria, there's likely to be real suffering and pain more unbearable than your supposed heart wrenching.

Email Daily Barometer Editors here:

EDITOR IN CHIEF DD Bixby 541-737-3191 • editor@dailybarometer.com
MANAGING EDITOR Dan Traylor 541-737-2231• mailto:news@dailybarometer.com

UPDATE: I received an email from Daily Barometer Editor DD Bixby with the following: "I assure you the Barometer and I have retained full editorial control throughout the whole series of events, which the professional media is very late in noticing. The information printed about our editorial processes was portrayed incorrectly."

She cites a "professional newspaper" which has now clarified the matter. Unfortunately, she does not provide a link to that clarification.

The Corvallis Gazette-Times ran this story on Friday, March 3: "On Tuesday, the Barometer e-mailed a paragraph from another opinion column to Aly Mohamed, Nada’s brother and the president of the Muslim Student Association, said DD Bixby, the paper’s 22-year-old editor-in-chief. Bixby said that Aly Mohamed wrote back, saying, “I urge precaution.”Editors opted to delete the paragraph, saying it was not essential to the column’s point."

Again, I have written Ms. Bixby to request further information. There is also a question regarding the sudden announcement of a new associate editor's position at the paper. Who will fill that?

UPDATE: Grizzly Mama received a similar form response to an email addressed to Daily Barometer's editor Bixby. At this writing, there is no confirmation of the clarication that Editor Bixby described in her form response.

Many Thanks, Moonbattery.