The Journal

Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: Opinion/Editorial

In January, Webster's radio station The Galaxy was revived, and students were invited to host their own talk radio or music programs. Ostensibly, The Galaxy is a forum where students can have their voices heard and share their favorite music with a mass audience. While this seems ideal, it is not the reality of the situation.


Instead of giving students the freedom to judge a song's artistic merit and play music they find deserving of airtime, The Galaxy's coordinator Jim Singer created a set of anti-obscenity rules, barring students from playing songs containing curse words. Additionally, Singer told students they could not play edited, or clean, versions of songs with explicit lyrics.


According to one deejay, the students were advised not to play music that would be inappropriate for church. But if it's the "Gloria in Excelsis" listeners are hankering for, perhaps they should head to their local chapel, where they can hear the tune pounded out by an 80-year-old, varicose-veined organist.


Still, junior music business major Demetrius Johnson, who has a program on The Galaxy called the Midday After Party, said he doesn't mind abiding by the station's rules. Moreover, he is not bothered by the fact that Singer listens to student shows to ensure the rules are being followed. Johnson said he considers following the director's rules "early practice" for students who plan to work at major broadcast companies in the future.


"It's important to learn how to follow rules now," Johnson said. "If you break rules as a professional deejay, you could be suspended."


Personally, I find the rules and their enforcement insulting. College students are sophisticated enough to choose the music they listen to, and they certainly don't need to be monitored like lab rats.


Yes, I realize those dead white males who crafted the Constitution didn't have musician GG Allin's "Outlaw Scumfuck" in mind when they drafted the Bill of Rights. But what they were thinking about was keeping the government or any other party from interfering in the free exchange of ideas. And often songs with profanity-riddled lyrics bandy about more ideas than the run-of-the-mill tripe that usually receives airtime.


Most frustrating is the oft-echoed sentiment that people should be grateful the government has granted its citizens the "right" of free speech. It isn't the government's right to give, only to take. A person is born with all the rights he or she needs. If someone is able to form words and spit them out of his or her mouth, then obviously nature has endowed that person with the right of free speech.

Continued...

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