Update: The UWM Times

Previously, I posted on the publication that we had started at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Barely 3 hours into distribution, a university official shut us down because of the "UWM" in our title.

This simple action has prompted a series of activity that affects all publications on campus bearing the UWM name. We pointed out the ridiculousness of this policy by bringing forth the publications of "The UWM Post" (www.uwmpost.com) and "The Leader" (www.uwmleader.com). Furthermore, The Leader claims on its publication to be "UWM's Finest Arts and Entertainment Newspaper." Why is it that our publication entitled "The UWM Times" cannot be distributed on campus nor our website be allowed (www.uwmtimes.com) because we incorporate "UWM" in our title when both these existing publications can?

The official with whom myself and Tom Keeley spoke with had little to offer in the way of explanation. He even proclaimed that he didn't know specifically why it was such a big deal. All we can say is that the case is being examined by lawyers from both sides - our own and the University's. What makes this even more ridiculous is that the University claims it would still be responsible for the content we publish even with a disclaimer! That certainly makes no sense when you realize that the previously mentioned publications have disclaimers. Maybe UWM is concerned with our "Writing What's Right Since 2005" tag on our papers. I must admit that these tie-ups related to our publication are very frustrating - we want to publish our next issue in December but the University's lawyers have offered no timetable for coming up with a decision. Meanwhile, as this issue is dragging out, we are drawing attention from other media forms...

Mal Kline from Accuracy in Academia lists the plight of us here at UWM as well as other schools within Wisconsin. Read his article.