Three college newspapers shut down due to controversal April fools day pranks

[The1calledTKE]

PITTSBURGH -- Being funny without being offensive is tough to do, which is why three college newspapers that published April Fools' Day editions - those at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Scranton and the University of Nebraska at Omaha - are in trouble.

Carnegie Mellon's paper, The Tartan, voluntarily shut down for the rest of the semester after publishing a racially charged cartoon in its 12-page spoof edition. The cartoonist lost his job, and the editor in chief - who blamed fatigue for clouding editors' judgment - is taking a leave of absence from the Pittsburgh university until fall.

University of Scranton officials in Pennsylvania closed The Aquinas for parodying Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," college administrators and Georgetown University, a fellow Jesuit institution.

The Gateway, the Nebraska paper, apologized for its four-page edition titled The Ghettoway. One story, with the headline "Gateway cameras stolen during weekend," was written by Ono Udidn. Another fake byline: Mindjo Bidness. The news editor, who is black, told The Gateway for a story Tuesday that she thought the content was representative of pop culture in general.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...0April%20Fools

[PhiPsiRuss]

Some people need to lighten up.

[DeltaSigStan]

Hey, the headline from our April Fools Issue:

SDSU releases plans to erect larger Cox...

I say all the 2 minute brothers and lo wangs out there sue for embarassing private facts.

[James]

You would think administrations would be a little more subtle in showing that they control the student run press on their campuses.

[33girl]

The Tartan printed the N-bomb - as far as I'm concerned that crosses the line from satire to slurs. And from the little snippets I've seen the paper wasn't even well done.

You can put out an April Fool's day paper without that crap.

[James]

and you can deal with crap without shutting it down . . or fleeing school.

Originally posted by 33girl
The Tartan printed the N-bomb - as far as I'm concerned that crosses the line from satire to slurs. And from the little snippets I've seen the paper wasn't even well done.

You can put out an April Fool's day paper without that crap.

[33girl]

Agreed. But you gotta remember this is CMU and some of the students there are not the most socially...well...ept.

[carnation]

You have to be careful with those April Fools' editions. When I was in school, the Auburn paper put out one with the head of the elderly president on a streaker's body. It looked real and a lot of grief came out of that one.

When I was at Arkansas, an edition said that the cherished old building on campus, Old Main, was slated for destruction. The way it was written and the fact that there were no other April Fools' stories in that paper made it very believable and the university was inundated with angry letters, calls, and visits.

A joke is a joke but I don't think it's funny when someone is humiliated or when a lot of people are inconvenienced or screamed at because someone took a joke too far.