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U of W senate demands apology from student paper for gay marriage columns

The Daily at the University of Washington printed these columns on Nov. 25 as part of a head to head piece by the two different authors.  The topics:  "Gay marriage? Let's stop and think about this" & "Proposition 8 disappointing."

The two cartoons that you see at the top of each column ran in the paper next to them.

As you can see from the record 651 comments on the negative gay marriage column, it stirred some controversy.  (And some of the comments on both sides are just darned funny!)

Much of the controversy is about the cartoons that ran with the pieces. The following Friday, the Daily ran 8 full pages of letters to the editor about the columns.

The GPSS (graduate and professional student senate) just passed a resolution calling for an apology from the Daily and the resignation of at least some members of its editorial board. The ASUW undergrad student senate is currently considering a similar resolution.

On January 14, the Daily editor ran this "letter from the editor."  She says there will be no apology.

QUESTION:  What do you think?  Should the paper apologize?

In 2006, then-editor Steve Smith of The Spokesman-Review had the idea of starting a publication for an often forgotten audience: teenagers. The Vox Box was a continuation of the Vox, an all-student staffed newspaper published by The Spokesman-Review. High school student journalists who staffed the Vox made all content decisions as they learn about the trade of journalism. This blog's mission was to give students an opportunity to publish their voices. The Vox Box and the Vox wrapped up in June 2009, but you can follow former staffers' new blog at http://voxxiez.blogspot.com.