5/1/98

Professor James Shirey was asked by President Robert Glidden to play by the same rules as proponents of Issue 2, consistent with the secretary of state's April 16 opinion regarding use of state universities' resources to present positions on Issue 2.

In other words, we don't care what he says; we do care if he uses the university's e-mail system in a political campaign to espouse a personal viewpoint.

The president has purposely not used university e-mail to advocate his own position in support of Issue 2. He has used his own stationery, paid for with his own money, and money privately contributed by supporters of Issue 2, and these costs will be reported by the political action committee created in accordance with Ohio law.

We will acknowledge that it is difficult to calculate the monetary value of the statewide e-mail transmissions by Professor Shirey espousing his personal position. Recognizing that, Professor Shirey has not lost his university e-mail privileges, but I have asked him to discuss a reimbursement plan. Some have claimed that this is an issue of denial of free speech or academic freedom. In fact, the principle involved is no different than using the university's telephone to make personal long-distance calls in support of his position, which should also be reimbursed.