WKU debating students' use of social media

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Associated Press

Story Created: Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:27 AM

Story Updated: Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:27 AM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Cyber chatter has turned edgy at tranquil Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.
     
There's a Twitter account satirizing WKU President Gary Ransdell. He weighed in with a Facebook posting lecturing students about social networking etiquette.
     
Now, the school says it may update the student handbook to prevent online bullying and harassment. That's spurred criticism from some students who accuse the school of encroaching on free speech.
     
At every college campus, cyber chatter features a dose of criticism. And universities keep tabs on cyber traffic and remarks about them. But the give-and-take seems to have ratcheted up at notch at Western.
     
WKU officials insist the possible handbook addition is unrelated to fake accounts such as the one posing as Randsell. Nor is it an attempt to limit speech, they say.