Newspaper Page Text
The Panther
MAY, 1968 0
"The The
Good Bad
Martin Luther King Stokely Carmichael
And The
Ugly'
Rap Brown
"Man In The Middle''
(ACP) — The following is a condensation of an article en
titled “The Adviser: Man in the Middle,” by Melvin Mencher,
associate professor at Columbia University.
The article was based on a study sponsored by Columbia of
75 representative colleges and universities whose newspapers have
advisers. It is a chapter from
a book by Prof. Mencher which
will be distributed by the grad
uate school of journalism.
* * *
“The college newspaper ad
viser may be the most unhappy
fellow on the campus. Often
scorned by his fellow faculty
members — journalism ranks
low in the academic pecking
order — the adviser sometimes
cannot even find friends among
the students he advises, for they
often regard him as part of the
conspiracy to keep the news
paper engaged in smacking
gnats instead of slaying dragons.
“The apparently haphazard
selection of an adviser (only
26 of the 75 had journalism
connections) appears paradox
ical when set alongside the sen
timents of presidents. Asked
what they considered their ma
jor responsibility toward the
student newspaper, a sizeable
percentage replied: The ap
pointment of a competent ad
viser.
“Not many presidents under
stand the delicate relationship
that exists between the student
newsmen and their advisers.
The president of Texas A & M
University, Earl Rudder, could
not understand the objections
by the staff of the Battalion to
his handling of the advisership
in 1966.
“The Battalion was respon
sible to the director of the Board
of Student Publications, and
this post was held by the direc
tor of University Information,
two obviously incompatible po
sitions. The adviser to the Bat
talion was the assistant Infor
mation Director, a young man
whose professional career in
cluded employment with Life
Line, the far-right propaganda
machine financed by Texas mil
lionaire H. L. Hunt.
“In April, 1966, the staff
issued a manifesto, State of the
Battalion, that called attention
to the situation. Nothing was
done. Six months later, the stu
dent editor, Tommy DeFrank,
and two of his assistants were
fired by the Board of Student
Publications, and the Battalion
masthead carried as publisher
the University and as Editor-
in-Chief the director of Univer
sity Information.
“In a letter to the author,
Rudder seems unable to under
stand the nature of the students’
objections to their newspaper’s
being administered by the Uni
versity’s publicity agent. He
wrote:
“ ‘The University’s instruc
tions to him (University Infor
mation Director) have been to
operate our student newspaper
on the same fundamental prin
cipals; i.e., proper ethics, re
sponsibility, and professional
journalism, as would be prac
ticed in any good and respon
sible newspaper.’
“The process of selecting an
adviser goes something like this.
A member of the faculty, or
an applicant from outside the
school, is interviewed by the
president or a dean. The admini
strator describes the newspaper
as ‘a good thing.’ ‘The students
have good ideas,’ he continues,
‘but they sometimes get carried
away. Youthful enthusiasm, a
desire to change the world. That
sometimes makes them a bit
irresponsible. In that case, a
cooler and more mature head
must prevail.’ The job applicant
smiles knowingly. With that
smile those present understand
that he has given his assent to
the role of censor.
“Rarely is he told he must be
a censor. Few would want the
job. When, at the University of
Redlands in 1962, the admini
stration decided to make the
adviser a censor, in the face of
an action of the Student Coun
cil that gave the editor sole au
thority for the newspaper’s con
tents, the advisor stood by the
students. On his subsequent re
moval as advisor, Professor
Stanley K. Freiberg condemned
the administration-advisor com
pact that assumes ‘the advisor
will grant freedom to the editor
and his staff in proportion to
their ability to accept respon
sibility.’
“Professor Freiberg said of
this assumption: ‘Such a state
ment betrays a basic misunder
standing of the very nature of
freedom. It assumes that free
dom is some sort of commodity
or medicine to be measured out
in doses, rather than that free
dom is an attitude of mind, an
orientation toward life, a vital
philosophy . . .’
“Many editors see the advisor
as a company man on the as
sembly line. He may be elbow-
to-elbow with the workers, but
his loyalties lie elsewhere. Ad
visors are sensitive to this dual
nature of their jobs. Some be
lieve the newspaper must re
present the institution, and they
attempt to explain this to their
charges. Others, equally honest
in their convictions, find the role
of institutional representative
among students vexing; they
cannot subscribe to the con
cept of the newspaper as image
builder.
“The advisors in the first
group read copy, advise changes
in it and sometimes withhold
from publication material they
consider immature, irresponsi
ble or injurious to the institu
tion.
“Advisers in the latter group
are more permissive. Often they
are available only when an edi
tor has a question. They prefer
not to read any material until
the newspaper is published, and
then to hold critiques.
“To many administrators, in
cluding some heads of Journal
ism Departments, tht advisor
functions as no-sayer, which is
to say no censor, however else
his job may be defined. He is
Panther
Newspaper
Man of the
Year
Miss Hope
Secretary to the Dean of Students
President Vivian Henderson
In One
Word
"Greatness"
On Spelman campus where the body
of M. L. King lay for public view.
Congratulations
Seniors
and
Good Luck!
Scholar, philosopher, historian, Athlete,
teacher, coach and most of all gentle
man, describes the man of greatness—
Coach Leonidas S. Epps, II.
Mr. Cliffton Rowles Clark College Stu
dent Recruiter
"WE ARE WITH YOU"
The student body, instructors and athletes particularly would
like Mrs. Milbrooks (cafeteria assistant) to know that we under
stand the troubles that you have been encountering with death
within your immediately family. On the behalf of the “Panther
Newspaper Staff”, I want to say that “although misfortunes are
frequently confronting you, have courage and know that “God is
the key to peace of mind in a world of extreme chaos”.
Carrell Smith
rarely a teacher of journalism.
If he does teach, it is often by
negative example, by pointing
out what should not get into the
newspaper, or by criticizing
what managed to squeeze past
someone’s gate. These gatekeep
ing functions of the advisor
need not be based on journali
stic experience. A highly devel
oped sense of propriety and self
protection are all that are neces
sary.
Coach Curtis Crocket