There are many times when we speak before we think. We say things we don’t mean and it is just too late to stick a sock in our mouth. In many cases it may be what we meant, but the question of whether we should have vocalized it is left to ponder. Everyone has experienced times when we kick ourselves, hit our heads on walls, and plainly beat the crap out of our bodies over regret for what we said.

However, just because something should not have been said does not make it illegal. We may very well feel guilt over the words we’ve spoken, but by no means are we guilty in a court of law. It is the wonderful freedom of speech, expression and uncensored press that makes this nation a unique location, albeit one full of “colorful” lingo (that kind we use when the government really ticks us off).

This time it isn’t the government that has crept up under my unalienable rights-activist hide. It is that darn Ivy League school Harvard. Well, not the school, the officials.

On Oct. 28 The Harbus, the Harvard Business School newspaper, printed a cartoon satirizing a glitch in the HBS Career Link system that caused those really annoying pop-up windows to appear on the computer screen in mass amounts. Something that for the Ivy Leaguers was almost as unbearable as our spam program. The cartoon, entitled “HBS Career Dink,” showed multiple pop-up screens appearing with phrases that suggested the system was less than stellar. The one that got the administration up in arms was the window that said, “Incompetent morons.”

This is when we take that step back and realize it might not have been the best words for communication. Too bad life is much simpler in hindsight than foresight.

Still, this phrase could be applied to many different things, for example scheduling — something that annoys the hell out of those of us not on scholarships or in honors programs. Or just as easily direct it at other students and tuition hikes. One might say, “Instead of pillaging us with tuition increases Iowa State might increase their enrollment qualifications to keep out those incompetent morons who are present in every class.”

Point is, this phrase can be directed at anything and anyone. Editors at The Harbus argue it was directed at the faulty computer system. The administration at HBS felt it was obviously meant to degrade service employees, which is against campus community standards. In response, the administrators harshly reprimanded two student editors of The Harbus. Nick Will, editor in chief and one of the editors approached, resigned his position.

He left due to perceived threats that he would be held accountable for everything that the paper may print that the higher-ups don’t agree with, and the consequences could be as severe as being kicked out of school. As editor in chief Will should be held accountable, but the consequence of getting the boot from Harvard because of potentially offending an official is understandably too great.

And quite possibly the consequences could be far-reaching. If a small group of people control the conversation, there will be no opposition. There will be no free speech. Upset students will not be able to voice their concerns about tuition hikes and scheduling difficulties verbally, or particularly through press. And The Harbus is an independently-funded paper, that in accordance with its own policy is a “forum for the free exchange of ideas.” What is to stop administrators around the nation from trying to censor other open forums?

HBS does not seem to care. They are more interested in their “community standards” policy — enacted to add to the well-being of the campus — than free speech. Harvard, as a whole, does not even protect a free student press, nor does the business school provide such a provision.

Luckily that doesn’t really matter.

It is called the First Amendment, and Harvard has no right to deny it. The ideas of free speech, expression, and press are immortalized in writing for the rest of the United States history. Americans can burn the flag if so desired, or sit on the step of the U.S. Capitol singing warm, fuzzy songs and waving lighters in protest to war. Papers can print opinions that state the president is an imbecile, or an incompetent moron if you will. Not to sound trite, but it is after all the land of the free and the home of the brave. The liberty to freely express ourselves is one found in few places in the world.

Apparently Harvard thinks it is a place that doesn’t allow such a liberty. It is rare we can claim that an Ivy League school is wrong, but I would say it is here. Possibly the paper should not have included the phrase or perhaps the cartoon was attaching the controversial phrase to the wrong group of people. Either way, they had the right to say it.

Ayrel Clark

is a sophomore in journalism

and mass communication from Johnston. She is the opinion editor of the Daily.