Tweet
Whittier Daily News, CA
Yearbook furor prompts schools to rethink editing
By Amanda Baumfeld, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/05/2008 09:35:15 PM PDT
Local schools will revise editing standards after racially offensive
names were discovered in the Charter Oak High School yearbook.
Baldwin Park Unified School District Superintendent Mark Skvarna said
his staff will be looking closely at their proofs.
"Oh my gosh, I just cringed when I saw that," Skvarna said. "There
will be more of a focus on the quality check process. I am going to
look a little bit harder at all of our books."
A Charter Oak yearbook staff student replaced Black Student Union
names with fake names - such as "Tay Tay Shaniqua," "Crisphy Nanos"
and "Laquan White" - next to a photo of the BSU in the school's 2008
Chronicle.
The school initially provided BSU students with stickers with
corrected names to be placed over the error in their books.
Charter Oak High is now working with students and their families to
come up with a more effective solution.
"This will not only serve as a learning experience and an example at
this school but at other schools as well," said Charter Oak Unified
School Board President Joseph Probst. "The staff of the yearbook have
responsibilities to meet and one of those responsibilities is to be an
editor."
Officials at Azusa Unified have also taken notice. They are planning
on discussing policies before the start of the new school year.
"We plan to put together a committee later this summer to review our
yearbook policies and guidelines," said Kathleen
Miller, spokeswoman for Azusa. "We will be looking at a variety of
issues, including methods of proofreading." State Sen. Gloria Romero,
D-Los Angeles, who was critical of the incident, agreed standards need
to change.
"I think there's got to be a greater accountability and review prior
to going to print," Romero said. "Somebody, somewhere needs to be held
accountable for the school's quality of work."
Charter Oak student Joe Aragon said there are some lessons to be
learned.
"I hope this incident will show our yearbook staff members and others
that punctuality and organization is pertinent to a yearbook staff,"
said Aragon. "Simple filler names could be hurtful even if the intent
was not to hurt anybody."
Aragon claims the names were put in as "filler" text and should have
been caught when the pages were proofed. Aragon was not a member of
the yearbook staff, but said he knows the student who wrote the
offensive caption.
Roger Elliot, a former teacher, said a similar yearbook incident
happened about 10 years ago at a Pasadena-area high school.
Pictures of students showing Armenian gang signs were printed in the
book. As yearbook advisor, Elliot said he attempted to tell the
principal, who told him to white out the signs. Parents and students
were furious and the pages were reprinted, he said.
Elliot said it is nearly impossible to catch all the errors that may
come up in a yearbook.
"The school thought they had it covered," Elliot said. "No matter what
you do to try and cover yourself there's always going to be something
to come through and bite you."
[email protected]
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108
Yearbook furor prompts schools to rethink editing
By Amanda Baumfeld, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 07/05/2008 09:35:15 PM PDT
Local schools will revise editing standards after racially offensive
names were discovered in the Charter Oak High School yearbook.
Baldwin Park Unified School District Superintendent Mark Skvarna said
his staff will be looking closely at their proofs.
"Oh my gosh, I just cringed when I saw that," Skvarna said. "There
will be more of a focus on the quality check process. I am going to
look a little bit harder at all of our books."
A Charter Oak yearbook staff student replaced Black Student Union
names with fake names - such as "Tay Tay Shaniqua," "Crisphy Nanos"
and "Laquan White" - next to a photo of the BSU in the school's 2008
Chronicle.
The school initially provided BSU students with stickers with
corrected names to be placed over the error in their books.
Charter Oak High is now working with students and their families to
come up with a more effective solution.
"This will not only serve as a learning experience and an example at
this school but at other schools as well," said Charter Oak Unified
School Board President Joseph Probst. "The staff of the yearbook have
responsibilities to meet and one of those responsibilities is to be an
editor."
Officials at Azusa Unified have also taken notice. They are planning
on discussing policies before the start of the new school year.
"We plan to put together a committee later this summer to review our
yearbook policies and guidelines," said Kathleen
Miller, spokeswoman for Azusa. "We will be looking at a variety of
issues, including methods of proofreading." State Sen. Gloria Romero,
D-Los Angeles, who was critical of the incident, agreed standards need
to change.
"I think there's got to be a greater accountability and review prior
to going to print," Romero said. "Somebody, somewhere needs to be held
accountable for the school's quality of work."
Charter Oak student Joe Aragon said there are some lessons to be
learned.
"I hope this incident will show our yearbook staff members and others
that punctuality and organization is pertinent to a yearbook staff,"
said Aragon. "Simple filler names could be hurtful even if the intent
was not to hurt anybody."
Aragon claims the names were put in as "filler" text and should have
been caught when the pages were proofed. Aragon was not a member of
the yearbook staff, but said he knows the student who wrote the
offensive caption.
Roger Elliot, a former teacher, said a similar yearbook incident
happened about 10 years ago at a Pasadena-area high school.
Pictures of students showing Armenian gang signs were printed in the
book. As yearbook advisor, Elliot said he attempted to tell the
principal, who told him to white out the signs. Parents and students
were furious and the pages were reprinted, he said.
Elliot said it is nearly impossible to catch all the errors that may
come up in a yearbook.
"The school thought they had it covered," Elliot said. "No matter what
you do to try and cover yourself there's always going to be something
to come through and bite you."
[email protected]
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108