CSU Editor Retains Churchill Lawyer; Update--Hundreds Attend Meeting

**Update 3--formal hearing for CSU editor next Thursday

**Update 2--Editor "arroganhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gift", wanted to be "center of attention" (we noted this earlier, below):

Students who have worked with McSwane at the paper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, said they are not surprised by the furor he has provoked.

They described McSwane as arrogant and eager to make himself the center of attention. Winning a prestigious journalism award shortly after graduating from high school only boosted his ego, the other students said.

"Everything was about him," said Emily Polak, 20, a junior who was a reporter on the CSU paper.

**Update--No decision yet:

Wednesday night's meeting started at 7 p.m. and the 310-seat room was filled to capacity. McSwane also spoke during the meeting, answering questions from the board.

"We expected a negative reaction, but we didn't think it would be as bad as it is," said McSwane.

It was the beginning of due process under the bylaws of the board, according to CSU. The nine-person board was to gather information and listen to public comment about the editorial before deciding whether to take further action.

The board has the ability to fire McSwane if they chose. They were not expected to make a decision Wednesday night, but one could come as soon as Thursday.

The board could dismiss the complaints, admonish, reprimand or dismiss McSwane.

The revenue costs have grown:

Student officials and faculty adviser Jeff Browne told the board that since the editorial ran, 18 advertisers have either called to pull their advertising or threatened to end their advertising in the newspaper, which could result in some $50,000 in potential lost revenue. Officials have said that staff would have to take an across-the-board 10 percent pay cut to make up for the losses, which cut into the $950,000 advertising budget. Browne said some staff members, including a photographer, have quit.
. . .
Nick Hemenway, a senior and an engineering major, summed up the argument for many who spoke in opposition to the editorial:

"Although the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, nowhere does it claim to provide freedom of consequence," he said, adding that he wasn't sure what punishment would be appropriate for McSwane.
. . .
No Collegian editor has ever been fired in its 116-year history.

McSwane's self-aggrandizing efforts to portray himself as the embattled defender of free speech are undercut by his apparent desire to draw national attention to himself (eery Ward Churchill parallels here--see below for more Churchill connections) Some moonbat gets tasered at John Kerry event at the University of Florida, and McSwane convinces his colleagues at CSU to use an expletive and the President's name to get 15 more minutes of fame.

He isn't defending journalistic integrity or the First Amendment.

He's launching a career in professional moonbattery.

---

David McSwane reaches out to Colorado's new celebrity lawyer, David Lane.