Cardinal Points is a student newspaper published in Plattsburgh, New York, that serves the SUNY Plattsburgh community. The newspaper publishes 3,000 copies every Friday morning throughout the semester, from February until May 12. It is distributed throughout the PSUC campus and greater Plattsburgh area and is also available in online format.
Contents
History
Cardinal Points was first known as The Experiment from 1940 to 1941, when it was then renamed The Northern Light. Then, in 1968, it was renamed Cardinal Points, which remains to this day.
Controversy
Before 1997, Cardinal Points was a Student Association club funded by the PSUC student body. On October 4, 1997, a fire broke out in a Plattsburgh State residence hall, causing $150,000 worth of damage and displacing 40 students; the cause was determined to be an accident. The fire began when a student fell asleep with a cigarette in his room early in morning. Before Volume 37, Issue 4, of Cardinal Points was printed, associate news editor, Tom Lambert, interviewed the student who caused the fire. The student admitted to starting the fire and apologized to the student body. Cardinal Points had intentions to publish the students name in the upcoming issue. The 35th Legislation of the Student Association learned of the paper's intention to publish the students name and immediately took action to prevent the issue from being printed. The Student Association’s Vice President of Finance, Chris Engl, wrote a referendum to freeze the paper's budget. It was signed by the entire executive council on October 8, 1997, the day before the issue was set to print.
On the morning of October 9, 1997, the day that the article regarding the cause of the fire was to be printed, the editorial board of Cardinal Points and the Executive Council of the Student Association met with the Press-Republican, the local newspaper and Cardinal Points' printing press, to debate the printing of the issue.
The editorial board of Cardinal Points believed the Student Association was trying to censor their article – claiming a violation of their First Amendment rights. The executive council of the SA believed that printing the article was detrimental to the welfare of the student who caused the fire. In the end, the Press-Republican decided to print Issue 4 in defense of the First Amendment, free of charge. After the disagreement of the issue's printing, Cardinal Points proceeded to split from the Student Association. The paper eventually became a privately run organization, which is now independently run by students and completely funded by a subscription from the SA and advertising revenues.
Awards
Cardinal Points has won the following newspaper awards and honors: