“We were technically shut down two hours and forty six minutes after we put (the UWM Times) out,”
–UWM Times Editor-in-Chief Thomas Keeley

A new publication is in violation of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Activities Office Student Organization Manual, a student activities official said.

The UWM Times editors and distributors were instructed to recall all issues, said Tom McGinnity, assistant dean of the Office of Student Life/Student Activities.

McGinnity ordered Thomas Keeley, publisher, founder and editor in chief of the UWM Times, to “remove all their copies” from campus. If Keeley wants to publish another issue, McGinnity said, it must be under a new name.

“We were technically shut down two hours and forty six minutes after we put (the UWM Times) out,” Keeley said.

A matter of policy

The Publications Disclaimer in the manual states that all student newspapers prepared by and for the students “shall disclaim speaking for the university” by including a disclaimer in each issue or edition of the newspaper as well as in each advertising contract.

“You have to have a disclaimer in publications,” said Union Director Scott Gore.

McGinnity said that because the newspaper has “UWM” in its title, it is a misrepresentation of the university.

The policy in using “UWM” in the name of a publication and publishing a disclaimer is outlined on Page 26 of the Student Activities Office Student Organization Manual: “All publications by student organizations, including newspapers, must include the name of the organization in each issue or edition and shall not identify the publication as an official publication of the university.”

The use of “UWM” in the publication of the UWM Post does not apply.

“The UWM Post was in publication before the policy was in place and was grandfathered in under the policy,” McGinnity said. However, because of that policy, the publication is listed as “Post” on all university-related listings of the publication.

That disclaimer, found on Page 2 in the mastheads of the UWM Post and The Leader, reads: “The (name of paper) is written and edited by students of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and they are solely responsible for its editorial policy and content. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is not liable for debts incurred by the publisher.”

“Student publications are not part of the university,” said McGinnity. “There are rules student publications have to follow.”

The UWM Times has not adhered to those rules, he said.

McGinnity met with Dean of Students Jim Hill to examine the specific policies and regulations on the use of “UWM” in a publication’s title on Monday.

Despite the alleged violation of policy, Keeley said the UWM Times will not be changing its name “unless there’s some more hard proof of actual policy” and will publish again sometime next month.

Keeley said the publication hasn’t violated any policy.

“I looked in the student org manual, (the use of UWM in a publication’s name) is not mentioned, the only thing mentioned is the trademark logo,” Keeley said. “We don’t see ourselves in violation of anything else.”

He said future publications of the UWM Times will include the required disclaimer for student publications.

The UWM Times

While listed as a project of the Conservative Union in its masthead, Keeley said the UWM Times is not a conservative newspaper.

“We have liberals who do write for us,” Keeley said. “By no means would I say this is a solely conservative newspaper.”

Keeley, president of the College Republicans, is working on the campaign of U.S. Rep. Mark Green. Green is running against Gov. Jim Doyle in the 2006 gubernatorial election.

Keeley wrote anti-Doyle articles in the Post. He was asked to write a point-counterpoint promoting republican views on topics at the discretion of Keeley with a writer who would be willing to write the democratic views.

Keeley was told he could no longer write editorials in the Post by Editor in Chief Matthew Bellehumeur because it was “unethical,” Keeley said.

This encouraged Keeley to found the UWM Times.

“It’s not the only reason,” he said, “(but) it’s a big motivator being told I couldn’t write anything for the Post.”

Keeley said the newspaper staff seeks to report world and national news and news the UWM Post and The Leader do not cover. The newspaper’s editors plan to publish the newspaper monthly at first, and every other week by the spring semester.

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