Semper Floreat

"Semper Floreat" (Latin: "May it always flourish") is the student newspaper of the University of Queensland, in Brisbane, Australia. It has been published continuously by the University of Queensland Union since 1932, when it began as a fortnightly newsletter of only a few pages, produced by one editor. In 2005, "Semper" had become a 60-page, bi-monthly magazine with a glossy cover and three full-time editors. The editors are elected annually by the student body. After 2005 and the funding cuts due to voluntary student unionism the quality of Semper Floreat was widely considered to have worsened. "Semper' occupied an important position in Brisbane's cultural and radical history, and has been closely connected with such cultural icons such as "Time Off" . Semper editor, Alan Knight (1973), was a founding Director of 4ZZZ FM (1975).A number of important Australian writers, critics, historians and social commentators have been associated with the newspaper including John Birmingham and Humphrey McQueen.

The University of Queensland Library holds the most complete collection of the newspaper; copies are also held in the State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Parliamentary Library, and the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

Art of Shoplifting controversy

In 1995, "Semper" reprinted a controversial article from "Rabelais Student Media", its La Trobe University counterpart, entitled "The Art of Shoplifting" – one of seven student newspapers to do so. Although the "Rabelais" editors responsible for the original article were prosecuted for ignoring a ban on publication issued by the state's Chief Censor; the editors of the other seven newspapers were not targeted by the authorities. Charges against the "Rabelais" editors were later dropped. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =The Rabelais Case
work = Burning Issues
publisher =
date = 1999-21-08
url = http://libertus.net/censor/rabelais.html
format = HTML
doi =
accessdate = 2007-08-16 ]

References