Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
16
Editors escape discipline at CMU
Creators of an April Fools' Day edition of Carnegie Mellon University's student newspaper won't be disciplined for slurs that sparked campus protests, but The Tartan and university must do more to promote diversity, a campus panel said.
Describing the publication as understaffed, untrained in journalistic ethics and seen by some as out of step with campus views, the commission created by Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon to investigate the matter offered an array of recommended changes to various Tartan policies.
The commission said the 1
-page broadsheet titled Natrat -- Tartan spelled backwards -- exposed "problems endemic to The Tartan as a whole."
But in explaining how derogatory and violent depictions of minorities, wom
en and gays found their way into print, the panel also suggested that
campuswide shortcomings with regard to fostering diversity may have contributed.
The panel said Carnegie Mellon must do more to "weave themes of diversity and global citizenship" across the curriculum and encourage students both to explore life beyond their own discipline and to socialize with students from other cultures.
"Certainly, this incident served as a lightning rod for many people, bringing up issues that lay just below the surface of the community's collective consciousness," the panel wrote in an 11-page report made public yesterday.
"We heard from some people who described, in very personal terms, pervasive aspects of campus life that the Natrat served merely to illustra
te or aggravate."
The Tartan should reach out to -- and recruit more writers from -- diverse parts of campus, the panel wrote. But it also concluded that "editorial control, judiciously
and rigorously exercised, can and must rest with students."
Mark Egerman, serving this fall in the newly created post
of Tartan executive officer, could not be reached for comment. A man answering the phone in the newspaper's office offered no reaction to the report.
Marshall Lindsey, an officer with the Black Graduate Student Organization, said he has mixed feelings. On one hand, he sees the recommendations as a serious attempt to address a complex problem, but he's also unsure how successful the university will be in implementing them.
Lindsey said he believes some form of punishment should have been handed out.
"It's hard for me to believe that in the society we live in, where information we have is so vast, people
have so little understanding of what's needed to positively interact with fellow human beings," he said.
Lindsey, 26, a graduate student in chemical engineering, said he ca
n't understand how those responsible for racist acts "can hide under the umbrella of saying, 'We didn't know.' "
The commission was comprised of faculty, staff, students and an alumna. It found
that the Natrat was actually assembled by three people working frantically to make a 4 a.m. printer's deadline.
Tartan staff reported that the shortage of help -- a recurring problem for the newspaper -- led to abandonment of normal editing practices, the panel said in its report.
Among the offensive material that got into print: A racial slur in a comic where one character expresses approval of a black person being hit by a bike, poems about raping a teacher and mutilating a woman with an ice skate, and a graphic illustration of female genitalia.
Within 24 ho
urs of publication, Tartan staff removed what remained of the 6,000 copies from campus and issued an apology. But the protests and debate that ensued eventually gained national media cover
age. The Tartan's editor-in-chief, Alex Meseguer, took a leave of absence from the paper and Jim Puls, its managing editor, resigned his post in the aftermath.
The panel did not support abolishing the 98-year-old publication, as some h
ad advocated, citing its long-standing value as an outlet for students. "We agreed with the prevailing community sentiment that we should aid The Tartan in 'righting its ship,' rather than abandoning it as a lost cause," the commission wrote.
Dean of Student Affairs Michael Murphy noted that The Tartan suspended spring operations and instituted a number of changes even before the commission's findings. He said campus forums held in the days that followed the Natrat edition revealed high interest in doing more to promote tolerance and engagement of
all campus groups.
"These are students who, when they leave here, are going to have significant impact on the lives of others and need to be able to wo
rk and play with people across all cultural boundaries," Murphy said. "There are some people who feel disciplinary action should have been taken, but I think the majority are pleased that the commission was charged to look at this matter."
***************
How many points?
T.N.B.
Editors escape discipline at CMU
Creators of an April Fools' Day edition of Carnegie Mellon University's student newspaper won't be disciplined for slurs that sparked campus protests, but The Tartan and university must do more to promote diversity, a campus panel said.
Describing the publication as understaffed, untrained in journalistic ethics and seen by some as out of step with campus views, the commission created by Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon to investigate the matter offered an array of recommended changes to various Tartan policies.
The commission said the 1
-page broadsheet titled Natrat -- Tartan spelled backwards -- exposed "problems endemic to The Tartan as a whole."
But in explaining how derogatory and violent depictions of minorities, wom
en and gays found their way into print, the panel also suggested that
campuswide shortcomings with regard to fostering diversity may have contributed.
The panel said Carnegie Mellon must do more to "weave themes of diversity and global citizenship" across the curriculum and encourage students both to explore life beyond their own discipline and to socialize with students from other cultures.
"Certainly, this incident served as a lightning rod for many people, bringing up issues that lay just below the surface of the community's collective consciousness," the panel wrote in an 11-page report made public yesterday.
"We heard from some people who described, in very personal terms, pervasive aspects of campus life that the Natrat served merely to illustra
te or aggravate."
The Tartan should reach out to -- and recruit more writers from -- diverse parts of campus, the panel wrote. But it also concluded that "editorial control, judiciously
and rigorously exercised, can and must rest with students."
Mark Egerman, serving this fall in the newly created post
of Tartan executive officer, could not be reached for comment. A man answering the phone in the newspaper's office offered no reaction to the report.
Marshall Lindsey, an officer with the Black Graduate Student Organization, said he has mixed feelings. On one hand, he sees the recommendations as a serious attempt to address a complex problem, but he's also unsure how successful the university will be in implementing them.
Lindsey said he believes some form of punishment should have been handed out.
"It's hard for me to believe that in the society we live in, where information we have is so vast, people
have so little understanding of what's needed to positively interact with fellow human beings," he said.
Lindsey, 26, a graduate student in chemical engineering, said he ca
n't understand how those responsible for racist acts "can hide under the umbrella of saying, 'We didn't know.' "
The commission was comprised of faculty, staff, students and an alumna. It found
that the Natrat was actually assembled by three people working frantically to make a 4 a.m. printer's deadline.
Tartan staff reported that the shortage of help -- a recurring problem for the newspaper -- led to abandonment of normal editing practices, the panel said in its report.
Among the offensive material that got into print: A racial slur in a comic where one character expresses approval of a black person being hit by a bike, poems about raping a teacher and mutilating a woman with an ice skate, and a graphic illustration of female genitalia.
Within 24 ho
urs of publication, Tartan staff removed what remained of the 6,000 copies from campus and issued an apology. But the protests and debate that ensued eventually gained national media cover
age. The Tartan's editor-in-chief, Alex Meseguer, took a leave of absence from the paper and Jim Puls, its managing editor, resigned his post in the aftermath.
The panel did not support abolishing the 98-year-old publication, as some h
ad advocated, citing its long-standing value as an outlet for students. "We agreed with the prevailing community sentiment that we should aid The Tartan in 'righting its ship,' rather than abandoning it as a lost cause," the commission wrote.
Dean of Student Affairs Michael Murphy noted that The Tartan suspended spring operations and instituted a number of changes even before the commission's findings. He said campus forums held in the days that followed the Natrat edition revealed high interest in doing more to promote tolerance and engagement of
all campus groups.
"These are students who, when they leave here, are going to have significant impact on the lives of others and need to be able to wo
rk and play with people across all cultural boundaries," Murphy said. "There are some people who feel disciplinary action should have been taken, but I think the majority are pleased that the commission was charged to look at this matter."
***************
How many points?
T.N.B.