The pending case of a Dental School student suspended because of comments made on his Weblog, or blog, has left Marquette students and faculty who maintain sites of their own feeling what blogger Daniel Suhr called "a chilling effect on free speech and free expression."

Suhr, a first-year student in the Law School and a contributor to the student-run www.gop3.com blog, said the precedent set by the case, in which second-year dental student Theodore Schrubbe was suspended, stripped of his scholarship and ordered to repeat this semester because of derogatory comments on his blog against unnamed students and professors, "is a scary one."

"I don't think we want to be intimidating students against expressing themselves either in a private or a public forum," Suhr said.

Sam Weaver, a College of Arts & Sciences senior and a contributor to student-run www.1832.blogspot.com, said the idea of losing a scholarship and being suspended over comments made on a blog "is a scary thought."

Weaver said he "probably wouldn't write what (Schrubbe) wrote," but did not believe Schrubbe's comments warranted the ensuing disciplinary action.

1832, GOP3 and www.mu-warrior.blogspot.com, a blog run by Associate Professor of Political Science John McAdams, all sponsored a newly created online petition calling for the university to overturn all disciplinary actions taken against Schrubbe.

McAdams said he overheard a conversation between dental students at Schrubbe's hearing in which one student said he had deleted the contents of his own blog because he believed that was the safest thing to do, an instance McAdams said illustrated the case's impact on student expression.

He said Schrubbe's situation likely came about in part because the dental school is "enamored with the notion of professionalism," and that Schrubbe's comments offended that notion.

Erik Ugland, assistant professor of broadcast and electronic communication, said cases in which students are disciplined for off-campus comments almost always involve "threats or clearly defamatory accusations."

Ugland said Schrubbe's comments, at least those he had seen in Tuesday's Tribune, were not defamatory because they are simply opinions, not factual claims about students or professors.

Taking disciplinary action on such comments "sets up a slippery slope," Ugland said.

"If a student's non-defamatory, non-threatening off-campus expression of opinion is punishable, then all students on campus are vulnerable," including to those who rate professors on www.ratemyprofessors.com and DogEars, he said.

Comments on DogEars range from those comparing a professor's class to "getting a cavity filled" to those urging readers to "avoid (a professor) like the plague!"

DogEars comments are listed anonymously and moderated by a member of Marquette Student Government.

MUSG Communications Vice President Laura Herzing, a College of Communication senior, said MUSG has not had a problem with DogEars comments because the moderator does not post comments that could be construed as libelous or defamatory.

The moderator, College of Arts & Sciences freshman Mary E. Rogers, could not be reached for comment.

Director of University Communication Brigid O'Brien Miller said in a statement that "while the university's conduct code does not explicitly address blogs or other forms of new media, the standards of conduct outlined are applicable to all forms of communication and behavior."

"All student conduct issues are dealt with on a case-by-case basis," she said.

She said the university "recognizes students' rights of free expression within legal and ethical guidelines," but "wants students to understand the consequences of their behavior for themselves and others."