ITB student magazine banned

ITB student magazine banned

BANDUNG: The rector of the prestigious Bandung Institute of
Technology (ITB) has banned the student bulletin Ganesha on the
pretext that it is "tendentious and abusive".

Tresna Dermawan Kunaefi, the deputy rector on communication,
said yesterday the bulletin has been published without proper
permits from the rectorate.

Dermawan Kunaefi said that in its March edition, one of the
bulletin articles improperly used the word saudara, a neutral
personal pronoun, rather than a more deferential form, to refer
to a deputy rector.

"I have asked them to suspend publication until they have
fulfilled all our requirements and carry out the legal
procedures," he told journalists.

The bulletin began publication in 1989 to provide information
about the controversial trial of six students on charges of
insulting the then home affairs minister Rudini.

The ban has enraged student activists. "We cannot understand
why the permit and other legal procedures have become issues now.
After all, the bulletin has been going for six years," said
activist J. Pantoro Tri K. (17)