OREGON -- The adviser of Forest Grove High School's
student newspaper Viking Log was removed from her position following a
complaint about a student comment published in the paper.
Joan Cluff, who has advised the Viking Log for five years, was
reassigned after the school received a complaint about the paper's May 7
issue, which included a page listing anonymous secrets submitted by students.
One anonymous note was from a student who said he was "secretly gay
for" a specifically named student, Cluff said.
Principal John O'Neill
told The Oregonian
that the named student "was highly distraught over what was
published."
But Cluff said she and the staff did not see the statement as
harmful.
"We also had students say, 'I was in love with this
person,' " she said.
Viking Log Assistant Editor Rosie Steinbach said the staff
and Cluff had looked through the secrets and no one considered that the one in
question might be hurtful.
"Everyone involved feels really, really badly that someone was hurt
by something that we published," Steinbach said.
But Steinbach said it would have been wrong for the staff to exclude it
from the feature even if they thought it might be offensive.
"Regardless of sexual orientation or race or gender or religion, a
student has the same rights to submit their thoughts as any other
student," she said.
Cluff said that another teacher took over as Viking Log adviser for
the rest of the year, while she was given an English class.
O'Neill told The Oregonian that he will make a decision about
the future of the newspaper over the summer vacation.
"I really like the opportunity a student newspaper provides,"
O'Neill said. "[But] I need to somehow make sure that students aren't hurt
in the process, and I need to be mindful of our restrictions regarding
censorship because I don't want to cross that line."
This was not the first problem O'Neill has had with the Viking Log
this year, Cluff said. Prior to the publication of this issue, O'Neill
had expressed concern over materials in the previous two newspapers, including a
sex issue and another that included an opinion piece about drug use.
Cluff said that is why she and students edited the May issue so thoroughly
before it went to print.
But she said that after its publication, O'Neill called her into his
office to tell her the father of the student wanted the issue removed from the
classrooms.
Cluff said that after she talked to the Viking Log staff, the
students decided to pull the newspaper from the classrooms to give them time to
consider their options. She said it was the end of the school day, and the staff
was not too familiar with the Oregon Free Expression Law.
Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said the
law is clear that school officials cannot dictate content of a student
newspaper, unless the content is illegal or imminently going to incite a
disturbance.
"One students' humorous comment about another student falls
well short of what could justify censorship under Oregon law," LoMonte
said. "It doesn't matter what form the censorship takes, any action
by the school that's intended to punish or deter lawful expression is a
violation of state law."
Steinbach said the Viking Log only has the senior issue left this
school year, and it includes submitted senior biographies instead of
stories.
She said the staff is concerned about the future of the newspaper, but
while they will edit the biographies for profanity, they will not edit
opinions.
"With 500 students submitting biographies, we can't ensure that
there's not going to be some sort of controversy," Steinbach
said.
O'Neill did not return numerous phone calls by press time.
By
Josh Moore, SPLC staff writer
