In response to a directive from the administration forcing temporary removal of its Web site, Northeastern’s campus humor publication, The Times New Roman (TNR), will put a disclaimer on the site alerting viewers of potentially offensive content.

While TNR is still not allowed to put its Web site back up, its staff and university administration said they are on a path to getting the Web site back on the Internet.

TNR “King” (or President) Ben Bullock said the disclaimer, which still requires approval by the university’s legal department and the administration, would clear up the liability issues which initially caused the shutdown.

He said the disclaimer didn’t protect the content from being deemed in violation of the university’s Appropriate Use Policy (AUP), though an AUP violation surrounding the content of two articles was cited as a reason the Web site was initially shut down.

“It’s more that neither the university nor TNR can be held responsible,” Bullock said. “It also offers protection against wider lawsuits.”

The unapproved disclaimer, which is modeled on the disclaimer for the Web site of the national humor publication The Onion, reads: “The Northeastern Times New Roman is a satirical publication. Any references to people living or dead are purely coincidental except in the cases where a public figure is mentioned (and then it’s their own fault). The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Northeastern Times New Roman (except when awesome) or those of Northeastern University. The Northeastern Times New Roman is not meant for readers under the age of 18 even though we contain no porn of value.”

Bullock said the TNR would look to work with the university to resolve the other issue that caused the shutdown – the issue of hosting the TNR’s Web site on a domain name outside the university’s server.

Bullock said the TNR staff had agreed on www.powweb.com as a cost-friendly server to host what would become www.nutnr.com. The university’s legal department is also looking into the legal implications of obtaining the new domain name while continuing to host the site on Northeastern’s server.

As it would still be run from Northeastern’s server space, the Web site’s content would still be subjected to the standards laid out by the administration.

Information Technology Security Manager Glenn Hill said the outside server was the issue that initially caused him to write the recommendation that led to the Web site being taken down.

The main concern is the security of outside hosting sites linking into the university, he said.

Gail Olyha, associate dean and director for Student Center and Activities, said she had yet to meet with Bullock and other administration to determine the future of the Web site, though she said she was ready to get it back up.

“I am still willing and committed to coordinate the steps necessary to re-establish the TNR Web site,” she said.

Bullock said he sensed the administration is now taking a supportive attitude in place of the more caustic tone they took when the site was shut down.

“If they did it again, the administration would have wanted to slow the process down,” Bullock said. “They told me they would have wanted to take the time to explain everything. As it was, tempers were flared very easily.”

He also said he had been reassured the administration was not attempting to limit what the TNR can print.

“We’re still a little skeptical,” he said. “But we’re confident [the process is] going toward an end we’ll be satisfied with.”

Another university publication, the Spectrum Literary Arts Magazine, also took responsibility for offensive content this week.

Their spring issue was entitled “PerVerse Love,” and was published with sexual references written over student work. It provoked reactions so harsh they were advised by the legal department and Student Media Advisor Sandra Miller to send apology letters this week, said editor Melanie Bishop.

“Only the editor and layout editor were involved in putting the publication together,” Bishop said. “We received complaints from a professor and students that were concerned about the very obscene content.”

The letters apologized for the content, and assured students their work would never be displayed in such an “unprofessional manner” again.

The two editors responsible for the content are no longer involved with the Spectrum, Bishop said.