Controversy surrounds student-run publication

Kelly Fitzgerald Guest Writer

The student-run weekly newspaper of Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), The Recorder, sparked outrage after it ran a racially offensive cartoon in its Sept. 12 issue. The cartoon, “Polydongs,” featured characters who discuss imprisoning and urinating on a 14-year-old Latina girl.

On Monday, Sept. 17, over 100 CCSU students and faculty members held a protest against the racist and sexist comments in the comic. Protestors said that they will hold regular demonstrations until The Recorder’s editor in chief Mark Rowan, steps down from his post. In addition, concerned students vowed to boycott The Recorder’s largest advertisers until their funding is withdrawn from the paper.

CCSU will also stop advertising in The Recorder, effective immediately. The paper, which receives about $30,000 of its budget in advertising revenue, lost a good deal of revenue when a national insurance agency decided to pull its ads last week. Rowan noted that these ads brought in “fairly substantial money.”

The Recorder is no stranger to controversy. Last February, it ran an editorial entitled “Rape Only Hurts if You Fight It.” John Petroski, the article’s author, claims to have been satirizing rape. In the article, he stated that rape is a “magical experience” and suggested that it is a gift to “ugly women” who would never have sex otherwise.

Petroski was required to speak at a town hall forum at CCSU in front of an audience that included a group of rape victims. Other audience members included university students who expressed outrage about the newspaper’s overly flippant approach to sensitive subjects— The Recorder had previously poked fun at controversial topics such as abortion and affirmative action. Petroski, who was The Recorder’s opinions editor at the time, resigned in response to the incident.

While Petroski’s article incensed the CCSU campus and surrounding community, The Recorder’s most recent controversy has generated even more response. Despite anger over The Recorder’s handling of sensitive topics, Rowan has vowed to remain in his post as editor in chief. Rowan has held editorial positions at The Recorder for two years.

He claims that the cartoon was in keeping with the shock humor of television programs such as South Park and Family Guy.

Many students calling for Rowan’s resignation accused the Miller of dealing with the situation too lightly. Miller has refrained from taking stronger action against Rowan or The Recorder, claiming that he cannot discipline the paper and its staff because of free speech protections.

Miller expressed sympathy for the concerns of the University’s students and faculty by attending Monday’s demonstration, and on Friday, Sept. 14 he released a statement in direct response to the cartoon. In the statement, Miller recognized the First Amendment rights held by The Recorder but cited the incident as a breach in the newspaper’s journalistic integrity and stated that the editors’ decision to publish the cartoon represented a severe lapse in judgment.

He enumerated several methods by which he planned to prevent future offenses, including consultations with affirmative action officials, and hiring a full-time faculty member to oversee CCSU’s student publications.

Miller also encouraged more students to apply for positions at the newspaper in the hope of diversifying its staff. He concluded, “This is not intended in any way to preclude anyone’s freedom of speech, but rather to express my hope that learning opportunities offered by the paper are turned to a better understanding of what counts as good journalism.”