The lawsuit filed against the Iowa State Daily’s Publications Board may mean more trouble than the actual lawsuit implies.

The argument centers around whether the Publications Board legally must release certain information to the public. If the board complies and releases the information, it may imply that the board — and consequently the Daily — is a public entity under the jurisdiction of the university.

If the board chooses not to release the information, then it may imply that the board is a private entity, independent of the university. So in a sense, what the lawsuit against the Daily’s board may force the board to do is define more clearly what its relationship with the university is.

Right now that relationship is a little hazy. The Daily’s Publications Board considers itself a private business that is mostly independent of the university. However, the Daily receives about $90,000 of student fees annually, as well as free office space on campus.

The current lawsuit may force the board to quit sitting on the fence and choose one path or the other. If the Daily’s board chooses complete independence from the university, then that means no more free space on campus and no more student fees. If the board chooses to go in the other direction, that could mean the Daily could ultimately fall under the control of the ISU administration.

Either way, the Daily loses. Hopefully the only end result of the lawsuit will be to more strongly define the publication’s current relationship with the university. But the reality is that rocky times may be in store for ISU’s student newspaper.