By Jane Ihrke
Shocked, appalled, and disgusted. Those are the first words that instantly come to mind when I think of the University's rash decision to pull last week's issue of The Beacon. Thoughts have been stirring in my mind trying to accept the arguments the University made as to why the paper had to be pulled. The University demanded The Beacon papers be pulled from the stands because administrators claimed the article "Suicide claims UP senior" was "distasteful and sensationalistic."
With implementing this action, the University is calling more attention to itself than perhaps it possibly anticipated. An article was published in the Willamette Week on Monday titled "University of Portland Censors Student Newspaper for Writing about Suicide."
The online version of the article provides a PDF link to last week's entire issue, so it is still widely accessible. ? Several comments were posted in regard to the University's action, including two from UP alumni stating they are embarrassed to have graduated from UP. FOX News was on campus Monday afternoon interviewing students about the situation as well. This circumstance, along with the rather negative publicity UP received from the two lawsuits the school is facing isn't making a good name for the University.
What bothers me more than the fact that our school isn't receiving a good name is that the focus is turned toward the administration's hasty and impulsive actions rather than commemorating the life of Ted Karwin and acknowledging that measures need to be taken to start preventing suicide. After much thought and reflection, I have come to the conclusion that even if it's not the University's objective, it seems like the administration is making an effort to not acknowledge social problems that exist today.
When we received the e-mail from Father Beauchamp informing us of Karwin's death, he wrote that "A cause of death has yet to be determined, pending a medical examination." With that statement alone, I expected to find out about the cause of death, possibly with a follow-up e-mail, but instead, The Beacon reporters conscientiously and diligently did their jobs in reporting to a concerned University community and published it the next day. And the reaction of the administration? To censor the entire issue.
Because the whole paper was censored, many important issues were not available for students to read such as how the search for Juan Garcia still continues, or issues about diversity discussions, or even that the famous Saturday Market is changing locations. None of those articles, along with the plethora of others, deserved to be censored as well.
While some people have agreed that the article about Karwin may have been "distasteful and sensationalistic," I want to emphasize how the article did not describe the details of Karwin's death - only that he took his own life - and the majority of the story was devoted to honoring what kind of a person Karwin was. The title may have been sensitive for some, but that does not elicit any reason why the entire issue should have been censored. The fact that the administration didn't want us to read an article about suicide easily allows me to think they aren't willing to acknowledge the horrible fact that suicide happens, even on Catholic college campuses.
In an e-mail sent to all students, the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Life, John Goldrick, wrote, "I wish to reiterate that the University has resources available to support students who may be having difficulties with this tragic situation, as well as with the unrelated disappearance of Juan Garcia."
I am still wondering why, after we became aware that the cause of Karwin's death was suicide, Goldrick or some other authority figure didn't send out another e-mail to students suggesting resources for those who may be contemplating suicide. The article written in The Beacon acknowledged that suicide is the second leading cause of death of college students. Because the University didn't respond to that fact by informing us what we could do if we have suicidal thoughts, my belief that the school is not willing to acknowledge this social problem is further enhanced.
I tried to contact both University President, the Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C. and Goldrick to ask them some questions about the decisions that were made regarding the censorship of the paper. After a second e-mail to him, Beauchamp has extended an invitation to me to make an appointment to meet with him, which I plan to do. I do appreciate his willingness to meet with me. Goldrick responded to me and said it wasn't his decision to remove The Beacons from the newsstands. "The publisher made that decision," he told me. "Although I support the decision, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on it."
Finally, I want to elaborate on the code of ethics developed by the Society of Professional Journalists, which may shine some light on how The Beacon journalists did the right thing. First and foremost, reporters should seek the truth and report it. According to SPJ, "journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information." This factor was attentively respected by The Beacon reporters.
A point that may seem contradictory is to minimize harm. SPJ says that "ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect." The Beacon reporters exhibited respect toward the subject of their article, Ted Karwin, by allowing his peers to give him a voice, permitting those who did not know Karwin to get an idea of what kind of person he was.
However, others may argue The Beacon didn't treat some of its readers with respect and didn't minimize the emotional harm they felt while reading the article. It should be stressed, though, that a greater public good can come from reporting about suicide, making a large population concerned with the issue and potentially encourage them to strive to do something about the problem.
Overall, the University administration overreacted to the article in last week's Beacon. The administration needs to realize that the majority of The Beacon's readers are legally adults and don't need to be told what is good or bad to read. If the administration wants to make a big deal about something, they need to start talking about how big of an issue suicide is and inform students about their resources.
?Jane Ihrke is a junior communication studies and Spanish major
