Jury out on UVa sign rule

By The Daily Progress

Published: September 7, 2008

The University of Virginia may have the right to ban all signs from inside its athletics facilities.

But is it right to do so?

The new policy gives the impression that UVa is more concerned with image than with fairness, coming as it does after last year’s controversy in which a student was threatened with ejection from a football game for holding up a sign saying “Fire Groh.”

UVa’s policy at the time was to prohibit signs that contain “derogatory comments, profanity, impede another guest’s view of the field or cover any stadium signage.”

We would have thought that “derogatory” was meant to apply to nasty statements just a step or two under profanity. “Fire Groh” doesn’t seem “derogatory” at all — just a straightforward statement of opinion.

But, yes, it was negative. And negative is a no-no. Apparently that’s all it took for the student to run afoul of university authorities and nearly get himself kicked out of the stands.

The new policy banning all signs is also straightforward. As Josh Wheeler of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression said, it’s actually friendlier to the First Amendment than the old policy, because it is “content neutral” — it does not discriminate against certain viewpoints.

Still, it creates for UVa an appearance of opposing the free expression of opinion.

We wait to see if UVa takes any other steps against protest signs in other locations. Then we’ll see how rigid is the university’s opposition to negative comment.

Good, clean water

Environmental good news stories are all too few, but Virginia has created one in far Southwest.

There in the Clinch River, mussels are increasing in both numbers and diversity.

The health of the mussels indicates the health of the river.

The Clinch River had already been recognized as an exceptional habitat for these creatures, as well as for other wildlife. Protecting and restoring the purity of its water was an important goal for a coalition of local, state and federal agencies and private organizations.

Improved sewage treatment and better land management practices have reduced pollution from both municipal and farm sources.

That also makes the water and land healthier for people.

So raise a glass to success — a glass of clean, healthy water.