Sunset High paper says grill's ad left a bad taste (High school PC run amok)

Stereotypes The newspaper refuses to publish a logo that students say portrays Asians negatively

BEAVERTON -- When John Lee designed the logo for his Cedar Mill restaurant, he opted for an illustrated cartoon he thought resembled himself: a Korean man.

But that logo, which depicts an Asian man waving an "OK" sign, is now at the center of a conflict between Lee and Sunset High School's student-run newspaper.

Last week, editors of "The Scroll" banned Lee's advertisement for the Hawaiian Grill after running it once, saying his logo stereotypes Asians and negatively portrays members of a minority group.

Now, Lee and the students are in a debate that student newspapers face across the country over stereotyping, free speech and censorship.

Sunset High administrators say they plan to use the flap as an opportunity to further discussions about race and representation in the school. And "The Scroll" staff plans to cover the story, journalism adviser June Yi said.

Lee, who immigrated from Korea at age 10, thinks the students are going too far. He says his logo, which dominates his restaurant's signs and menus, has never drawn a protest, even after being published in other newspapers.

Lee, whose ad appeared last Wednesday in the Sunset High newspaper, will have to redesign it if he wants to continue advertising. Lee has signed a contract to advertise for the school year's seven remaining issues.

"I think they're wrong," Lee said. "I'm Asian American, so why would I want to make fun of Asians? Why are we pushing the racial issue to the farthest extent?"

"The Scroll" is the project of a 25-student class of mostly juniors and seniors.

Yi said some student staff members were offended by Lee's ad. Several students visited him Thursday, voicing concern about the caricature, which they felt perpetuated stereotypes of Asians. Their concerns included the cartoon's enlarged head, bulging eyes, haircut and hand gesture, Yi said.

"As a student newspaper adviser, I feel that if one child feels offended, we change the ad," Yi said. "We have a policy."

The school newspaper's policy states that editors have the right to reject, edit or cancel any ad, and that "advertising should be free of statements, illustrations or implications that are offensive to good taste or public decency based on the opinion of the staff."

Principal Carl Mead says the newspaper's editors acted on the values they felt appropriate for a student population.

"As an educational institution, we have to look at things through a variety of lenses," Mead said. "We speak for 2,000 kids, and the reality is we have to lead by example and be a little more sensitive."

While a first for Sunset High, school newspapers across the country often face similar issues, said Mark Goodman, executive director for the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va.

Lawsuits brought against student newspapers have led courts to decide that students have the right to reject advertisements for any reason, Goodman said.

"Reasonable people can agree or disagree about what's appropriate or not," he said, "but ultimately a student publication has the right to reject an advertisement for almost any reason, or no reason, for that matter."

Kelly McBride, who teaches ethics to professional journalists at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., says the tolerance threshold for student papers is often lower than that for others in the industry. The actions of student papers at times fall into a gray area that can border on censorship, McBride says.

"In terms of rejecting advertisements, they can be more restrictive than the industry," McBride says. "I'm in favor of setting the threshold higher to generate a dialogue. This is not a black-and-white issue, so there's probably room for a genuine discussion."

Lee is considering changing his ad, though he thinks the caricature is an integral part of his restaurant's brand.

Columist Jerry Boone has this to say about the censorship in an article published today;http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/jerry_boone/index.ssf?/base/metro_west_news/1130322747195030.xml&coll=7
J ohn Lee's face is everywhere.

On the sign outside his Cedar Mill business.

On the menu boards.

On the front door.

Behind the counter of his Hawaiian Cafe as he greets customers.

But not on his advertisements -- not if he wants to do business with Sunset High School's newspaper.

"It's just crazy," he says. "I don't understand what the problem is."

Lee opened his restaurant about six months ago. The food is good, the portions generous and the guy behind the counter makes all the decisions.

It is the way his parents taught him to do business.

His family emigrated from Seoul, South Korea, when he was about 10.

After a few years in New York City, the family settled in Eugene.

He worked in his family's restaurant while attending the University of Oregon's business management program.

"I hated the restaurant work," he says. "I vowed I'd never own one. You end up a slave to the business."

But while chopping vegetables for his father, he was learning the value of hard work.

He dabbled in high-tech and Internet businesses, but says he found a lack of ethics that disturbed him. And he discovered he liked to cook.

So Lee went back into the kitchen.

"The restaurant business is a very honest trade," he says. "You make something of value and if the customers don't like it, they don't come back."

He also owns a restaurant, now run by his brother, in Eugene. When he moved to the Beaverton area to study the Bible and theology, Lee opened the Hawaiian Cafe to pay the bills.

He got the drawing used in his ads from a friend who lives in Korea.

"He said it looks like me," Lee says. "And when I had longer hair, it really does."

The caricature shows a stocky Asian man with dark hair, giving the "OK" sign.

"It was meant to be me telling customers this is a good place to come," he says.

Lee was told that when the ad was accepted by Sunset High's newspaper, the image offended a student editor.

After the ad ran, Lee says the paper's sales people told him he could continue to run his ads only if he changes or deletes the logo.

Lee's not sure what he'll do.

Me? I'd tell them to stuff it.

Somebody in this situation has to have a bit of backbone. If the newspaper staff won't, then Lee should.

Journalism -- both editorial and advertising -- on occasion offends.

Editorials ask questions we don't want to hear. Photos show war victims we don't want to see. Reporting often shows sides of issues many readers don't want to recognize as valid.

It's part of the job. It's one of the reasons we exist.

The fact a student objected to what everyone else sees as a harmless cartoon image of John Lee, and is now able to affect his business, says a lot about the state of political correctness in our society.

We have evolved into a culture where people are simply too easily offended. And not many of the rest of us have the courage to respond by saying, "Oh, that's too bad," and move on to more important things.

Newspaper writers, editors, ad staff and publishers make our best judgments on what we feel is correct. We print. We take the criticism. And then we print again.

People who don't like what we do don't buy another copy. Or they turn the page. In that sense, it is very much like Lee's restaurant business.

I recognize that school newspapers have different standards than those published for the general public, but if journalism instructors are teaching students they must publish a newspaper that offends no one, I fear for the future of this profession.

Jerry F. Boone: 503-294-5960; jerryboone@news.oregonian.com or jfboone@aol.com; 1675 S.W. Marlow Ave., Suite 325, Portland, OR 97225

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