Illinois Student Paper Prints Muslim Cartoons

CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Feb. 16 — Since the morning the cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad were republished in the student newspaper at the University of Illinois here, response has been swift and split.
Muslim students and others held a protest on the main quadrangle on Tuesday, saying they were stunned and hurt by The Daily Illini's publication on Feb. 9 of the images that had stirred so much violence and caused so much pain in other parts of the world. Some members of The Daily Illini staff said they were furious, too, and in Wednesday's editions, the publisher announced that the editor in chief and opinions page editor had been suspended, pending an investigation into how the cartoons had ended up in the paper.
"This has gotten crazy," said Acton H. Gorton, 25, the suspended editor in chief who decided to run 6 of the 12 cartoons even though he said he found them "bigoted and insensitive." Mr. Gorton received calls for his resignation but also a deluge of praise, including comments of support from students as he walked on campus. "We did this to raise a healthy dialogue about an important issue that is in the news and so that people would learn more about Islam. Now, I'm basically fired."