Funding should go to classes not vulgarity

The Union thinks it can hide behind the label "satire" and be immune from libel lawsuits.

By Randi Bemiss, On-line 49er

July 9,1998

As a journalism major, I certainly support First Amendment rights. However, as a human being with a basic set of morals, I resent that part of my hard-earned tuition dollars are funding the Union - a paper which too often makes derogatory portrayals of women, athletes and student organizations (particularly the Greek system), to name a few.

If the Grunion writers want to deride Cal State Long Beach students, like one of its writers wrote last semester that he feels Ronald McDonald derides white men, let them do it on their own dime, not mine!

I'm sure that taxpayers - including, perhaps, parents of Union writers - who are subsidizing most of our education, would not be pleased with this either.

We would better be served by funding ethics classes for the Union staff. In fact, I suggest Philosophy of Ethics or Ethical Problems of the News Media, which are both taught on campus. Or, better yet, take Law of Mass Communications.

I think CSULB, the Union and some of its writers are lucky if they have not yet been sued. It is a travesty if they manage to slip through the cracks without reprimand.

The Union's poor news judgment seems to be a lawsuit waiting to happen. It is my guess that its amoral editors do not consider this because, given all of the crude indignities its editors publish, they do not seem to have consciences.

I do not wish to lower myself to repeat the vulgar statements made in the Union, because they are not fit for publication in a professional newspaper, but, if for a learning experience one wishes to see firsthand what constitutes a lack of news judgment, one should take a look at any of the back issues of the Union. Such outright insults make a permanent impression in one's psyche - a dangerous thing for the impressionable college student.

It is unfortunate that the offended readers and human targets of the Union's satire have probably already stopped reading the Union so they may not even be aware that it makes negative comments about them. The Union perpetuates ignorance and stupidity by attempting to make a mockery of just about anything.

One of the general education requirements at CSULB is a human diversity class, which indicates the university's desire to promote tolerance. Remember, the Union is a taxpayer and student-funded publication. But the Union thinks it can hide behind the label "satire" and be immune from libel lawsuits.

There is a concept known as sound news judgment. Mature publications do not publish, for example, four-letter words because adults do not tolerate such language in real news publications, says Dr. William Mulligan, CSULB's journalism professor who teaches Law of Mass Communications.

College students want to be treated like adults, but last semester's Grunion editors did not want to take adult responsibility. We should scrutinize more closely the qualifications of those we choose to run our Associated Student's newspaper. After all, it is a reflection of the quality of the institution we attend.

Randi Bemiss is the assistant city editor for the Summer Forty-Niner.