Supplement Scandal

by Aldera Chisholm, Managing |

Editor On Friday, March | I received

a phone call from Wayne Collins of CBC Radio. Mr. Collins was enquir- ing about the Feb 13 issue of the Panther Prints. That is right folks, he was asking about the sexuality sup- plement. Apparently, a parent called the CBC to complain about the supplement. After speaking with Mr. Collins, I thought I should write this little piece to clarify some points.

We have been told that many

people have called the student union, the administration, and even the Catholic Women's League to com- plain about our paper. Logically, if one has a problem, one should com- plain directly to the source -- in this case, the student newspaper. How- ever, our Office has received only a handful of complaints, which are all from parents and professors. Not one single student had made a complaint to this office as of press time this week. By the time individuals have reached university, they should be capable of deciding what material is suitable for them. While our paper is available to the general public, our target audience is the students of this community. It is to those students we are responsible.

We at the Panther Prints stind firm behind what was printed in the February 13 issue. The sexuality supplement contained information which we felt to be educational, informative, and interesting to stu- dents. One supposedly controversial aspect of the supplement was the Co

This quiz was simply meant as an entertaining piece -- a contrast to some of the serious issues contained within the supplement. One com- plaint was from a parent who stated that she would not allow her child to attend UPEI because of the material we printed. People with this view should skim other student publica- tions across the country; they would

quickly find that our supplement was |

mild in comparison. Yes, our supplement may have

offended some people. To be honest,

I would rather offend the campus than have the paper be blandly read and thrown at the bottom of a bird- cage. One of the goals of any student publication is to stimulate discus- sion. At least people are finally discussing the Panther Prints, and what material we should be printing. So, what should readers be doing? Number one: call us to complain and offer some constructive criticism. Tell us what you did not like and why. We can then decide on publi- cation policies. Number two: tell us what you do want to see in the paper. Better yet, write something for us. Only with this kind of input can we become the paper you want to read. Any member of the university com- munity can submit to the paper. Finally, when you have some- thing to say about the student news- paper please call us, not the adminis- tration or the student union. Neither of those bodies has jurisdiction over the content of the paper, and it is only through constructive criticism

The Panther Prints March 5, 1996

Richard Harvey, CLL CHEG

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