4A NEWS
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THE UNIVERSITY HAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008
JUICY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
but if you're going to say something,
you should want to back it up. You
shouldn't be too scared to put your
name after something you write"
But 100 percent anonymity is the promise JuicyCampus makes to its users as it beckons them, "C'mon, give us the juice," on its home page. And users are answering the call.
On Tuesday night, the site had accumulated 71,244 posts since its launch on Oct. 24, 2007.
The topics on the site include "Best Frat on Campus," "Cheaters," "Biggest Stoner" and "In The
who were defamed or were the targets of malicious falsehoods to take legal action.
"The operators of the Web site
But, he said, the site was constructed to make it extremely difficult to trace the identities of users, making it practically impossible to sue anyone.
"Yes, there's freedom of speech but if you're going to say something, you should want to back it up."
Closet. Users give each topic a "juicy" rating ranging from 0 percent to 100 percent.
Mike Kautsch, professor of law, said federal law protected a Web site such as JuicyCampus from legal action as long as it did nothing more than post the content others had generated.
Kautsch, who teaches media law, said the law permitted people
KARA ROWLEN
Wichita junior
are taking the position that all they're doing is offering people an opportunity to engage in humor or hyperbole and that no reasonable person would believe anything on the site anyways," Kautsch said.
But he said that in reality, people did take it seriously and got angry.
"We could basically condemn the site as a source of utterly unethical and irresponsible communication on the Internet and say its operators are unethical for providing the opportunity, or just say it's the fault of the users and they're exercising freedom of speech." Kautsch said.
In the '90s, congress granted
Internet service providers legal immunity to encourage them to develop their content and the use of the Internet, Kautsch said.
"But here we are in 2008 and the Internet is obviously well-developed and there seems to be no restraint on, further development" he said. "If appears sites are pushing the envelope and there will be no end of imitators."
He said that as a growing number of people found themselves defamed and unable to hold the perpetrators accountable, Congress could call for a change in the law.
Tom Volek, associate professor and graduate program director, teaches courses on ethics, media and the first amendment in the school of journalism.
Volek said when people knew their names wouldn't be used, they tended to be more liberal with the facts and the possibility of embellishing the truth increased.
"Anonymity removes accountability." Volek said. "People will say whatever's on their mind if there's no fear of recrimination. Maybe that's good, maybe that's bad"
Edited by Brenna Hawley
MUSICOLOGY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
didn't want to be a typical consumer, those who felt out of place in rigid British society, felt a certain kinship with the blues."
Aside from researching, she said she also enjoyed teaching at the University, where this semester she's teaching a course about the history of rock and roll.
"I love music and love to share
knowledge of music if I can get people to understand it at more depth," she said.
David Chase, Olathe graduate student, took a music course with Schwartz last year. He said she was passionate about music and could make any kind of music accessible.
you want to talk about the blues, jazz or music of our generation, she's the one you talk to."
"She's a lexicon of accurate information, but not boring," he said. "If
Edited by Brieun Scott
ACCIDENT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A rear view of the charter bus that overturned Sunday is seen in a wrecking yard near Williams, Calif., on Monday. Eight people were killed and dozens were injured when the charter bus overturned on a rural road late on its way to an American Indian casino.
Eight dead after bus crash
Driver's license, possible drug use being investigated
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yet on Sunday he was behind the wheel of a busload of senior citizens and Laotian immigrants traveling to an American Indian casino north of Sacramento. Eight people were killed and 30 others injured when the bus, owned by Cobb Transportation, ran into a ditch and overturned.
WILLIAMS, Calif. — Quintin Watts had a lengthy criminal record, a history of substance abuse and a string of motor vehicle offenses. Even his mother says he wasn't a good driver.
Now authorities are investigating the possibility that the 52-year-old Stockton man may have been on prescription or nonprescription drugs. He was arrested Monday as he lay critically injured in his hospital bed. His condition had improved to
fair, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The accident was at least the eighth serious crash in the U.S. in the last three years involving buses carrying people to and from casinos.
Watts didn't have the proper license to transport more than 10 people, said Fran Clader, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol. Investigators also said the bus had an invalid license plate.
Records show Watts had been cited for speeding and other violations that resulted in the loss of his license for nearly two years. He regained his driving privileges last January.
His mother said he had wrestled with drug and alcohol problems, was jailed several times on drug charges and had smashed a car into a tree a few years ago,
though neither he nor a friend who was in the car was seriously hurt.
He was a longtime truck driver, but had been unable to find a trucking job since being released from jail, said his mother, Chaney Mae Watts.
His mother said she believed the crash came on her son's first day behind the wheel of the bus after several training trips watching the owner — who was killed in Sunday's crash — drive. She and her husband told their son they were uncomfortable with him driving a vehicle that carried people instead of cargo.
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"He wasn't the best driver," she said. "He knew we didn't want him to drive."
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A witness said the bus carrying the driver and 42 passengers to Colusa Casino Resort drifted off a rural two-lane road before the driver "overcorrected" and swerved back. It overturned and rolled completely over, ending up on its wheels facing the opposite direction.
Watts' criminal record dates back to 1981, when he served state prison time for receiving stolen property. He also served time in 1996 for check fraud and credit card theft. Beginning in 1998, he spent more than a year in prison for possession of marijuana for sale and possession of a destructive device.
His latest state term was for possession of a firearm by an ex-felon. He was paroled in December 2007 after almost six months in prison, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
John Poyner, district attorney for Colusa County, said it will be at least two to three months before the full accident reports are in and any charges are filed. Blood test results are not expected for two to six weeks.