College's action upsets newspaper editors

When the presses stop, the questions begin. And writers at the Student Vanguard, the student newspaper of the Community College of Philadelphia, have plenty of questions after their paper halted production last week before even publishing its first edition. Michael Moffa, the editor-in-chief of the Vanguard, said the newspaper cannot publish without an advisor. And the Community College administration has denied the paper's request to reinstate its previous advisor and denied the students' request for a new advisor. Moffa said the administration is effectively censoring the publication by ordering the paper to accept an advisor the students do not approve of. Director of Student Activities Marla Brinson said she hopes the issue can be resolved. "The school does not wish to censor the newspaper," she said. But, the paper has approached the American Civil Liberties Union for legal advice. The ACLU, which says the college is violating the newspaper's First Amendment rights, is calling for the reinstatement of Donald Weinberg to his old advisory position. Community College spokesperson Marjorie Osherow said Weinberg was fired because of grammatical and punctuation errors in the paper and problems with accuracy. Moffa contends, however, that Weinberg was not responsible for the errors and should not have been fired because he has been an advisor for the newspaper for the last eight years. When the newspaper chose a replacement for Weinberg, a tenured faculty member in the Photography Department, they were denied by the administration, according to Moffa. Their selection was Loring Hill, a Wharton alumnus. Osherow said Hill was not accepted because he did not hold a professorship in the English Department. "It's precedent," she said. "It's always been an English Department person." The Vanguard was founded by the community college's student government 12 years ago. But, according to Moffa, the Vanguard is independent from the student government and is funded by the Office of Student Activities. Students held a protest in support of the Vanguard in July, Moffa said. He added that the paper can be up and running by October 3 if an advisor is chosen.