As a 1989 graduate of UF from the College of Journalism and Communications, I think it is absurd that the two documentary graduate students, Jon Bougher and Roman Safiullin, can’t include their recent footage from Haiti in their film due to UF’s ban on post-earthquake travel there.
In my opinion, the university should not be able to restrict its students’ travel, even for their own safety.
Doing so takes away from not only the school’s reputation but also the students’ experiences. Learning takes place outside of the classroom, too, and not always under completely safe circumstances.
I was shocked when I heard about this, and I immediately thought about what I would do in their situation.
My first thought would be to go ahead and use the footage anyway. Last time I checked, the university doesn’t see all of the master’s students’ thesis projects. However, they could also do a “graduation edit” just to complete the program and then, once out from under UF’s control, send their true edit to various film festivals. I’m thinking this is what they will end up doing.
Either way, the publicity their documentary has generated from the days following the earthquake to this current situation can’t hurt them in the long run.
I say let them do their best edit up front. Let people see it and better understand what assistance Haiti needs now and be less of big brother trying to protect us from ourselves.
