A University of Montana law professor is looking to the state legislature to establish written policies for hiring student employees at the its student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin.Assistant law professor Kristen Juras said Bess Davis’s weekly “Bess Sex Column” reflected poorly on the university.Juras claimed freedom of speech comes with responsibility. While this isn’t much of an argument, it does have some merit — the Kaimin cannot completely escape responsibility.Because a portion of the Kaimin’s funding comes from student fees, Juras argued, the primary purpose of content should be educational. While this is not the best conclusion, the Kaimin is still accountable for understanding reader sensibilities.Editor-in-chief Bill Oram discounted the scope of his readership as not all students at Montana, I assume, are in their 20s. Some students may be under 18. Though the paper doesn’t owe them any special obligation, it’s important not to alienate any members of the community. Otherwise, Oram risks credibility among a specific segment of the community for the sake of entertainment.This could be interpreted as advocating unsafe sex. If a reader develops a health problem as a result of bad counsel from the column, then Davis not only introduced, but also encouraged, the potential for harm.This is not to say Davis, Oram or the Kaimin should bear ultimate responsibility for readers’ actions, but to say the paper’s content bears no responsibility to its readers is negligent at best.Richard Nelson, LSU media ethics professor, said a sex column must be authoritative to be effective. In the midst of Juras’s claim that sex columns should be written with some expertise, Davis admitted she was not a “sexpert.”To her credit, Davis includes commentary from health professionals in her column. But to be fair, sexual health is too serious a topic to be discussed by non-experts in a public forum as large as the Kaimin’s.Clearly, using humor and coarse language will affect any column’s reception. But not only is that shock value downsizing as society progresses, but it can also desensitize the audience.More shock equals less shock eventually. This is boring by today’s standards.Because hiring and moderation are based on human judgment, publication is determined by the value a column holds for the public.Oram specified that value is meant to educate, entertain and provide a forum to the campus community.But Oram, while noting the column’s popularity, seemingly doesn’t have a gauge to measure the educational value of the column. It may be immensely popular, and it may be noble to stand in the defense of the First Amendment, but after nearly two months of publication, there appears to be little of relevance Davis can offer the community.With no way of knowing what students think about the column’s future and worth, Oram can’t make of a case for its entertainment value.To counter the lack of depth in Juras’s argument, the journalism department chair said readers don’t have to read what they don’t want to read.In a misguided attempt to reiterate the aforementioned argument, the Kaimin’s editors failed to realize those comments said more about the situation than they intended.If the column isn’t worth reading, it’s not worth publishing.To be clear, there should be no objection to the notion of a column about sexual health and related issues. But, as is common among college students, there appears to be too little substantial analysis coupled with an abundance of perceived promotion without a broader range of options.The column’s publication depends on the quality of its writing and the value to its readers. One without the other voids its purpose.As both sides raise admirable arguments, no automatic answer arises. And with no compromise or surrender on the horizon, editors must consider their opportunity cost.I do not intend to discredit or berate the Kaimin – its staff does an exceptional job.But the keyword in student newspaper is “student.” It’s a place where journalists learn to be journalists. We all make mistakes. Daniel Lumetta is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Metairie.- – – –Contact Daniel Lumetta at [email protected]