The Seattle Times reports on an ongoing struggle between an attorney and the student newspaper at Seattle Pacific University over the newspaper's archives. Seems the attorney was arrested a decade ago, but never charged. Still the newspaper's archives post a story about it online, and, the Times story says, it's among the first things that pop up when the attorney's name is Googled. Finally, the attorney and University struck a deal to expunge the story. But the student editors refuse. That's where it sits now.
This situation is far from unusual, and it's been the subject of extensive debate among members of the College Media Advisers association (I'm a member). The consensus by a large margin is that what's been published has been published just as if it's on paper, and it should remain in the archives. It's a subject that will continue to come up as more and more former students are going to find themselves haunted by their past, just as they are with Facebook or MySpace photos and unseemly posts.
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