Upon the shooting of President Reagan in 1981, the late television news anchor Frank Reynolds desperately cried out on air for some information. I want to join with a state university professor in a plea for some journalistic and educational standards that contribute to socially redeeming values.

By publishing “trash,” the Northern Arizona University student newspaper has betrayed the public trust and lost the right to be allowed to continue in the publishing business, says David Hartman, an engineering professor at the Flagstaff school.

Prof. Hartman took to task the editor of the NAU newspaper -- The Lumberjack -- after student Claire Fuller wrote a graphic Valentine’s weekend how-to column on oral sex. That wasn’t all. Hartman also sent his complaints to the Arizona Board of Regents and forwarded a list of suggested remedies for the offense to NAU president Jon Haeger.

This smudge on Northern Arizona University’s reputation as an institution of higher learning is just the latest example of humanist religion being dressed up and presented as the educational experience. Once again, theistic and humanistic -- aka “your tax dollars at work” -- worldviews clash in the public square.

Fuller’s column detailed oral sex in graphic detail, as if this was the most common topic to discuss in mixed company. Apparently, NAU’s students don’t need Howard Stern radio when they can get the same off-color fare on the pages of taxpayer-funded newsprint and taxpayer-funded Internet. Hartman took great umbrage at the offense.

“This should never have been allowed to be published,” Prof. Hartman wrote to Lumberjack editor in chief, Sarah Bell. “This is a classic example of how the morals of our prior president have led to the degradation of the morals of the high school generation that existed during his 2^nd term in office (yes, the Monica and Bill thing).”

Prof. Hartman told Bell that she, as editor, should have spiked the xxx-rated column, which hurts NAU‘s image and its enrollment.

“But, you, as the responsible person in charge of this newspaper, should have canned this before it got published. One faculty told me that he was advising his grandchildren not to attend NAU because of the trash that is allowed to be published on campus. I now see how you are contributing to the enrollment problems at NAU.

“I am also sending this letter and a copy of the article to President Haeger and to the Arizona Board of Regents. Perhaps with enough protests over such trashy journalism they will totally eliminate The Lumberjack. That would be my recommendation. You have betrayed the public trust and have thus lost the right to be allowed to continue in the publishing business. Publishing this trash is far beyond reason, and should never be tolerated. I would also like to send a copy of this to your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and the rest of your family (and to Clare Fuller’s family as well). They should see what fine, outstanding girls they have raised. How proud they would be!”

Hartman cited a quote by Daniel Webster, who once said, “When we educate without including the proper moral instruction, we’re simply creating clever devils. And another great author, King David, said, ‘The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.’”

Bell’s response was vintage liberal victimization. She replied that she would prefer to be contacted at the NAU email address instead of her personal email address. And she was victimized by his correspondence: “I feel because of the personal nature of many of your e-mails, I am being harassed in this matter.”

Humanists can't be troubled with arguments on merit, after all.

In his message to President Haeger, Prof. Hartman said, “Drastic steps are needed. Anything else is a slap on the wrist. As you so aptly stated in your Strategic Plan 2004-2009 document '.... the devil is in the details.' This is certainly one of the details. I hope you will take a strong stand on this to assure that it is never repeated. You need to take some action, and quickly.”

Hartman made the following suggestions for the NAU president:

• Replace the faculty advisor(s);
• Have The Lumberjack write a retraction and apology;
• Change the editorial staff of The Lumberjack;
• Have a meeting with the staff and advisors of The Lumberjack;
• Eliminate any financial support, including campus resources, to The Lumberjack;
• Publicly redress the editor and editorial staff in an appropriate forum;
• Hold a conference with the Arizona Daily Sun and the TV station;
• Assure the public that under your watch this will never happen again;
• Tell The Lumberjack that they have lost their right to include the NAU name in their paper;
• Let the public know that you are taking the necessary steps to correct this.

The professor wasn’t finished yet, however. He also asked the chair of the Faculty Senate to present the matter to the full senate.

The majority of responses Hartman received from his letter to the editor of The Lumberjack were positive.

Hartman has displayed a high level of moral development and courage in making issue of The Lumberjack’s affront to decent society. Fuller’s column reaches the level of bathroom humor and wastes an opportunity to say something meaningful within the halls of academe, which used to purport to a higher standard. Why didn’t more NAU professors have the moral development to call into question the sleazy column? Because the majority of American college professors follow a humanist religion which does not recognize the same moral standards as those forwarded by the theistic worldview.

It was just a year ago that the Arizona Legislature passed a law barring state employees from viewing pornography on computers in the workplace. It seems that Ms. Fuller has led more than a few state employees into conflict with the law. Some may argue that publications including sexual material are not pornographic. However, we’re not talking about marriage and family class or procreational sex between marriage partners here. The Fuller column is probably no different than portrayals of fornication printed in Playboy or Penthouse on a routine basis.

Perhaps one day college journalism professors, and possibly attorneys and judges, will defend The Lumberjack’s right to engage in free speech, if not address the question of whether Arizona law has been violated. Maybe one day, the purveyors of media appealing to a prurient interest will ask not, “can I?,” but “should I?” After all, citizens and journalists will do whatever they think they can get away with. But at what price? Lowering the standards of common decency, especially with the use of taxpayer-supported funding and property, is not the way to win friends and influence conservative critics of public education. Fuller has reinforced in the mindset of conservative taxpayers the knowledge that public, humanist education has decayed severely from the time when America’s colleges and universities were cloaked in the theistic worldview.

The current cultural climate can be described as one marked by public backlashes -- to Stern, to the Federal Communication Commissions for failing to enforce decency standards, and here in Arizona, to Fuller. Regents, university presidents, faculty advisors, editors and columnists will do well to take note of the prevailing public mood toward the mass media culture and to public education.