Blog #3: Privatization & Free Speech on Campus

As the NEA report on privatization and higher education illustrated, the funding of public universities declined and their administrative operations changed, reflecting a more market-efficient management including the contracting out of services by universities. The report also found that the growth of private and for-profit higher educational institutions skyrocketed. One of the more interesting realities I came across in my research was that student and media free speech on college campuses is more limited on private, not public, universities.

Blog #2: Change in Topic, Change in Diretion

I have switched my research focus toward individual rights on campus in regard to free speech and student media. This topic is not only personally important to me as someone who works for The Daily Targum, the independent student newspaper here at Rutgers, but also as an American. As cliche as that might sound, it is true. We should all be concerned about protecting each other's individual rights that are granted to us.
The change in my topic idea is not just because of the astounding evidence that exposes the lack of free speech on college campuses, but also because this right is vital to academia.  I believe this topic is one that does not get justice in the media and is a right that many colleges seem to forget about. Searching for this topic online is not particularly easy. There are only a few buzzwords that bring up results and finding those is what is difficult. "Free speech on campus," "student journalists rights" and "free speech zones" bring up some of the best results. For example, "free speech zone" brings up a current and focused article from Forbes. Another important piece, that I believe really drives the topic home is this one I found on Google Scholar. Additionally, this piece makes the point that freedom of the press in regard to school newspapers is even in the decline in public school districts. I believe the most important focus of my piece will be that of student newspapers on campus. Focusing on that will help truly reflect the ability students have to exercise their right to free speech. This includes looking into court cases and related issues with student publications. An interesting thing I have found from doing my research thus far is that private universities limit their students and especially student newspapers speech rights. As found in both of my sources linked above, especially the Forbes article about the Young Americans for Liberty chapter, exposes this reality. Universities utilize arbitrary policies to oppress students' free speech rights for whatever political reasons. The controversies on this topic are unique: Since the act of oppressing one's free speech -- especially on a college campus -- is controversial itself, the topic is one that people find controversial and therefore generally oppose said oppression. This means that the general tone of the sources found present a viewpoint that the oppression of students free speech on college campuses is widespread and unacceptable.

Rough Draft -- Main Topic Idea

Is an undergraduate education worth the investment?
The price of college tuition has skyrocketed in conjunction with a wide ranch of administrative changes in universities. On top of said changes, college athletics have taken priority of higher education institutions over traditional liberal arts academics. At the same time, college culture has transformed. The restructure of finances in higher education has caused a ripple effect in academia, resulting in drastic changes in individuals' debt, priorities and therefore overall college culture. So the question remains, is it worth the investment for middle to lower class students to pursue a college degree? In an unstable economy, are there alternatives to attending a university?