 Christopher Yeung * Ka Leo O Hawai'iJoanna Afshani, a member of Shaloha Hillel, a campus-based Jewish organization, questions Ka Leo's publication of a series of political cartoons that depicted Hitler and used racial slurs. |
Ka Leo content called offensive
Political cartoons, Valentine's spread raise concern
By Stanley Lee
Ka Leo Senior Staff Writer
March 14, 2003
More than 50 students, faculty and community members attended a meeting last night to discuss whether Ka Leo O Hawai'i crossed the fine line between freedom of speech and discriminatory content when it published a cartoon depicting Hitler that has been called anti-Semitic and a two-page layout for Valentine's Day that was said to promote violence against women. "How can this type of work be published in this day and age?" asked Debra Jean Zwicker, president of the Student Organization of Theatre and Dance and one of more than 20 attendees to speak. A packed, standing room only crowd convened at a Campus Center conference room to attend the monthly Board of Publications meeting. The BOP publishes Ka Leo O Hawai'i and hires its editor-in-chief. Many thought the board should instate operating policies on Ka Leo's editorial staff or mandate ethical guidelines for its editors. Ka Leo Editor-in-Chief Mary Vorsino read from a statement after thanking those in attendance for voicing their concerns. She said that she had held three meetings with various campus-based interest groups to discuss the cartoons and Valentine's Day spread and was currently speaking to representatives from campus equity and civil rights organizations to arrange a possible series of public forums to further facilitate discussion. She then answered questions from more than six attendees before the meeting broke for a 10-minute recess. Later, Vorsino said about the meeting, "I think it helped those in attendance to understand that Ka Leo cares. The meeting opened up a dialogue with several members of the university community and helped not only raise but move towards ameliorating their concerns." She added, "I don't want this dialogue to die. I want it to continue so that we at Ka Leo can better understand our community and so that the community can better understand Ka Leo's role in it." In light of a series of cartoons by Ka Leo cartoonist Casey Ishitani, two of which were purported to support Hitler and his views, many also questioned what and whether there should be policy parameters on what Ka Leo prints. "I have tremendous rights to academic freedom that allows me to say a lot of things," said Michael Leitner, a kinesiology and leisure science lecturer and advisor to Shaloha Hillel, a campus-based Jewish organization. But, he said, "I never say (those things) because I always exercise judgment and think how would this affect other people." Johanna Afshani, a law school student, said the Ishitani cartoons only promote hate on college campuses and noted instances of anti-Semitism at other college campuses, on the mainland and abroad. "I cannot believe a college newspaper would allow such offensive and racist views to be circulated," she said. "Over the last several weeks, I have pondered and pondered these cartoons and I have failed to find any purpose aside from hurting and blatantly offending various minority groups." In an official letter of remedy to Ka Leo, Shaloha Hillel asked that Ka Leo:
- Require all Ka Leo editors to attend ongoing workshops on civil rights and journalistic ethics;
- Require columnists to attend an orientation on journalistic ethics semesterly;
- Print a half-page apology for the cartoons;
- Run a half-page advertisement for Shaloha Hillel's Holocaust Remembrance week events;
- Cosponsor two public forums to further discuss the issues addressed at last night's meeting;
- and fire Opinions Editor Lance Collins and cartoonist Ishitani.
But Scott Clark, a gay Jewish student, said that the removal of staffers would not solve the issue. Instead, he said, the problem stems from a "criminal lack of discussion here (on campus) over gay and lesbian rights, gay and lesbian hate crimes, Jewish hate and intolerance." Graduate student Alexandria Ham agreed with Clark, saying this type of dialogue is not engaged in and should exist. "Ignorance allows for this to happen," she said. The Valentine's Day spread, said to be a parody by its creators, Features Editor Mikey Campbell and Associate Features Editor Jason Paz, satirized women as "Crack Whores" and "Big-Booty-Hos." The piece, said many, promoted stereotypes of women and Zwicker added that the story created a hostile environment on campus for women. "The article actually mentioned chain rape four times, as if this is a funny topic," she said. "The fact that this article got a full page spread made the article appear that it contained factual information that everyone in Ka Leo deemed newsworthy. It specifically targeted women as sex objects and men as the aggressors." UH-Manoa's Gender Equity Counselor Beverly McCreary said that diversity training needs to be provided to the entire student body, not just Ka Leo staffers. "I would like to see what we do from here, not just at Ka Leo. Looking at the student body as a whole and provide diversity training education," she said. "I believe education goes beyond the classroom. I'd like to see the ability to utilize (this) as an opportunity to institute diversity training or training on difference, living with differences and celebrating differences. I'd like to see our students learn to do that and learning academics in the classroom." But for Jill Raznov, offending people is not a process to stimulate discussion. "If you want to stimulate discussion on this campus, you don't do it that way," she said. "I think it was an abuse of journalistic media. It's my paper, it's our paper, and we don't need to be offended when we read it." Several speakers were troubled that student fees are allocated to Ka Leo for its daily production and printing. "We don't want student fees paying for drivel," said Zwicker. Robin Neusbaum, a graduate student in psychology, said that the pieces contradicted two statements issued by UH President Evan Dobelle during this school year in which he addressed the importance of a safe environment for students of all sexual orientations and races. Many who spoke out wanted reassurances that such material would not be printed by Ka Leo in the future. Many also wanted an apology from the board and the paper. 
|
