 Sunday, May 28, 2006 BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS Aztlan group blamed for newspaper theft 'MEChA' vandals censor campus paper in retaliation for 'racist,' 'biased' coverage Posted: May 28, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
The theft, which occurred a week ago, was first noticed by distribution manager Kris Calnon while on his way to the Campus Courier's office. An empty newsstand that he had held 300 papers only two hours before caught his eye. "I gave it three bundles," he said. "It usually takes a day and a half to empty." According to Calnon, 10 minutes later, a student came to the office to say he had seen a man grab a stack of papers from the women's gym and carry it onto the men's gym.
While Calnon left to investigate, Courier photographer Daniel Lottes stayed behind. A few minutes later, four or five people entered the office carrying large black garbage bags. "When they first walked in I thought they were bringing something in from the event [going on across the hall]," he said. When a woman placed one of the bags on the table near his equipment, Lottes said he thought nothing of it. "Oh, let me move my camera," he said. The woman handed him a letter, saying, "This is for the Courier staff – it will explain everything in the letter." The letter accompanying over 2,000 torn copies of the Courier read:
MEChA, founded at U.C. Santa Barbara in 1969, has been accused of being a racist group by its critics who point to the organzation's stated goal of returning the American Southwest to Mexico. Pasadena's MEChA members – there are 15 to 20 – insist their group is like other campus clubs, with the stated purpose to "bring awareness about Chicano issues to the public, and to promote community solidarity." "MEChA came up to the Courier with, like, four trash bags full of newspapers with a note attached and said we weren't covering them properly, so this is what we get," news chief Dean Lee told the Pasadena Star. A Courier reporter had covered a MEChA event for the edition that was stolen. Space constraints, however, resulted in only a photograph and caption being published. "They said it was racist and biased," Lee said. Prof. James Aragon, one of MEChA's campus advisers, said he had no knowledge of any member's involvment, but it was too soon to blame MEChA because the investigation was still underway. "No adviser would ever condone any type of behavior that is illegal," he said. MEChA has been accused before of stealing newspaers at other colleges. In 2002, MEChA was implicated in the theft of thousands of copies of conservative newspapers at U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Davis after articles critical of the organization were printed. MEChA members were accused of taking 7,500 copies of the campus paper at the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley and returning them in garbage bags. "What once started as something of a college prank has become a genuine problem for student media," Mike Heistand, legal consultant at the Student Press Law Center, said. People see taking the free papers as an effective way of "preventing the message from getting out they don't want to get out." Special offers: Get this month's hot Whistleblower issue: "SECRETS OF THE INVASION" "Conquest of Aztlan": Will Mexicans retake American Southwest? Related stories: Website targets racist Hispanics Illegal-alien advocates play down Mexican flag Activists working to 'paralyze' U.S. Teen punished for U.S. flag flip Marchers say gringos, not illegals, have to go Immigration emerging as next big issue Zogby poll: Americans fed up with illegal aliens Illegals estimated to number 18-20 million 3 million illegals to U.S. this year Study: Illegals cost U.S. $10 billion a year Related commentary:
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