Publications face COSO politics

Recent controversies regarding pieces that ran in two College-funded publications focused attention on who is ultimately responsible for campus journals. The Jack-O-Lantern -- which is funded by the Committee on Student Organizations -- came under fire last term when it printed a feature titled "Eskimo Pick Up Lines" and a satire of The Dartmouth Review that contained racial slurs. The Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine avoided COSO derecognition at the end of Fall term, but its editors need to fulfill certain criteria for the publication to continue to receive money from the student activities fund, COSO decided in November. When they apply for funding during Winter term, the Jack-O editors will need to demonstrate that they have a faculty advisor with a "high level of involvement with the publication," according to a statement Director of Student Activities Linda Kennedy released at the time. The COSO statement also indicated that an apology should be included in the next issue of the Jack-O in addition to "some serious reflection of [the editors'] understanding of the impact [their] previous attempts at satire and humor have had on the community." Similar censorship issues involving Uncommon Threads -- also sponsored by COSO -- were raised at the end of last term by The Beacon and The Dartmouth Review when the literary magazine published a graphic short story about a teenager's first lesbian experience. "We knew it was a risk to publish 'awakening,' but we decided there needed to be a place for that kind of creative writing," Uncommon Threads member Leah Fergenson '98 said. COSO has not yet received any formal complaints about the story. The legal responsibility for articles written in College-funded publications depends on the context of the article, College Counsel Sean Gorman said.