Magazine ban lacks respect

The University of Miami is upsetting many students and alumni with its ban of the popular college magazine back\slash.

At first, the college lifestyle publication was permitted to distribute in certain spots around the university. When the administration found out the publication was ignoring the rules and passing out fliers and the magazine in undesignated areas, it banned back\slash completely.

It is always annoying to see publications go through this type of struggle. The founders, editors, designers and interns are all students or alumni of the University of Miami. They are attempting to take what they learned in college and create a career.

The university should be thrilled that its students are turning their creative outlets into productive sources of income. The magazine has only reported successful sales numbers, which is hard to do in a time that  many experts have labeled the death of print journalism.
The school president, Donna Shalala, should be working with back\slash more to ensure their success. Shalala earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008, and what ensures freedom more than a free press?

And though it is not her responsibility to educate all on the proper ways to run a publication, she does owe these students something. They are current or previous students of the college she is committed to, so the least she could do is give back\slash another chance to distribute on campus.

We have some advice for the producers and editors of back\slash, too. Respect is earned, and apparently the University of Miami has little respect for you. Perhaps if it had more, then this might be solved quicker.

You are not making it easy for them, though. Writing angry open letters to the university with curse words, bad grammar and inconsistent style is not earning respect. You need to clean up the copy and keep the letters professional.

We are not implying that your rights as a media publication should be infringed upon because your product isn't perfect. 

We are simply saying it would not hurt to impress the college with your professionalism instead of offending them with your anger.

Hopefully the University of Miami will realize all of the good things back\slash has to offer the school and lift the ban.

The magazine is a great example of students taking what they learned on campus and applying it in the real world.

When the ban is lifted it is important that the founders and editors at back\slash treat the university with the same respect it will be showing them.

If they want you to distribute only in three areas, then distribute only in those areas.

As your magazine's popularity increases, the demand for your publication in more than three spots will increase, too. You can then use this chance to request more distribution spots.

Please do so in a professional way so the university will want to say yes. It is disappointing to see a publication banned.