The Berkeley Beacon

Issue date: 2/8/01 Section: News

Media Credit: Beacon photo/ Amanda Lehmert [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Beacon photo/ Amanda Lehmert [Click to enlarge]

Local news stations may have had a lot to say about Tuesday night’s Hyena open forum, but students knew that talking the talk and walking the walk are two different things.

“Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words,” said Benjamin Thionge when he made a closing argument in Tuesday night’s forum.

The majority of the nearly 150 students in the standing-room-only attendance at the Cabaret expressed their outrage at the racist language and crude slang in Hyena’s fall 2000 issue.

In addition to individual students, representatives from African, Hispanic, Asian and Native American (AHANA) Student Affairs and the Emerson Alliance for Gays, Lesbians and Everyone (EAGLE) attended the forum. President jacqueline Liebergott and Dean of Students Ron Ludman were also present.

The meeting also addressed how the school can prevent such language from appearing and how to better educate students about the impact of such language in the future.

The open forum also considered whether Hyena should continue to receive Student Government Association (SGA) funds.

Hina Siddiq, a junior AHANA student, said the meeting was not called to look at the humor in the Hyena.

“We’re looking at why it was all right in the first place,” she said.

“If happens once, it’s their fault,” said junior Betsy Tranquilli. “If it happens twice, it’s our fault.”

Some students in attendance placed blame on the administration for not protecting minority students, saying that Emerson’s multicultural programs do not fulfill their intended purpose of teaching the student body to respect various ethnic groups.

“There should be faculty and student programs,” said sophomore Stuart Furtwangler. “We need to attack the issues this year in the Hyena and revamp the multicultural program.”

Melissa Diaz, a junior AHANA student, said she advocated faculty involvement in the process of educating the school about multiculturalism, while Class of 2001 President Kyla Englert asked the crowd for more input.

Sophomore Jeff Hall suggested that a vote should be distributed to each student so that they individually decide if Hyena should retain funding from the SGA.

Burbridge responded in a later interview with The Beacon: “[An open vote] is one of the things we will explore. I’d have to talk to [Dean of Students] Ron Ludman to see if it’s possible.”

Some students suggested temporary suspension of SGA funds. They said it would be punishment, but Hyena could still publish if it found its own funding.

“If [Hyena] still wants funding maybe they can hold a bake sale,” said senior Sonia Rincon.

Burbridge said SGA will look at possible solutions at its open meeting Tuesday.

The discussion about the Hyena’s last issue, however, was predominant over the solutions and suggestions that were thrown out.

Hyena President Matt LaTorre spoke for the entire staff of his magazine, defended its purpose and apologized for the offense taken to its content.

“This is a comedy magazine and I can’t explain my jokes,” he said. “[The Chinese symbols] are just words, they weren’t meant to have a meaning. I cannot stress enough how deeply the Hyena apologizes for the pain it has caused.”

Some students said they didn’t think the staff of the Hyena understood how the students had been hurt.

As a response to this expression of pain, Rabbi Al Axelrad, director of the Center for Spiritual Life, asked LaTorre, “What’s not clear to me is what you’re apologizing for—the content or that people were hurt?”

LaTorre responded, “I am not apologizing for content, I am apologizing for the hurt it caused.”

The Hyena, students and the administration had not reached a consensus by the end of the two-hour meeting.

Burbridge invited students to attend SGA’s open meetings on Tuesday afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m. to discuss any more ideas they have in the Hyena controversy, and she said this forum was just the first step.

SGA also said it would set up a general e-mail address for students to express concerns or ideas. Until then, they can drop things off in the mailbox on the first floor of the Student Union.

The controversy began last semester when the Hyena was released and students objected to offensive material in the magazine.

Some individuals and groups of students organized in an effort to address the material. For example, Diaz wrote a letter to the SGA asking the group and the administration to take action.

Interest on campus peaked when the SGA announced last week that it would hold the open forum to discuss the issue of the Hyena and how to prevent offensive material from reaching everyone on campus.

This week, the controversy reached the local media, even though they were not allowed into the Cabaret. Local news station WBZ TV-4 ran a story on the Tuesday six o’clock news, and all four major local networks covered the issue on the 11 o’clock news.

“As a [member of a] majority, I still feel that I look ignorant if this gets outside Emerson College,” said freshman Chad Bissonnette, who also wrote a letter to SGA requesting that some form of action would take place.

At the close of the meeting, Brad Hornbake said things were moving in the right direction. “Our school is small enough that we can have a direct democracy,” he said.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools