Jose Barela and Brayden Mann
Staff Writers
A new unofficial student publication arrived on campus in early December and has already attracted attention.
The second issue of the Student Underground was pulled from campus over winter break, because, college officials say, it is not an approved publication.
Interim Dean of Student Life Lisa Harris said she was notified by a student worker in December that an issue of the publication had been destroyed.
The issue included stories about book fees, the new student center and a faculty spotlight.
Student Underground Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Parker said she was not notified by the college that the issue had been pulled and didn’t realize copies had been destroyed.
To her knowledge, “We have never had an entire release confiscated by faculty,” she said.
ARCC policy requires that all outside publications need to get approval from Student Life before they can be distributed on campus, Harris said.
Harris said that any publication may be distributed throughout the college as long as it followed protocol.
“If the college felt that the material written was inappropriate (slanderous, unprofessional, inappropriate in content) then it would be in the rights to revoke permission to disburse on campus,” she said.
The Student Underground had distributed two issues so far this year.
The one page photocopied flier is produced by a staff of seven, Parker said in an e-mail interview.
Parker, not her real name, said, the staff uses pen names and anonymous sources in the publications. Parker said this was because, “Anonymity allows our paper to find a niche at ARCC. Though we are anonymous we maintain the disciplines of responsible journalism in an uncensored news environment.”
The Student Underground publication is a member-funded publication one might wonder why they would choose to spend these resources to create a print publication on campus. Parker said, “As the editor I wanted The Underground to be available to the students of ARCC. We are writing directly to that audience and felt that a newspaper is a great way to start.”
When asked about the reason for starting the publication Parker said, “Because someone somewhere wanted a mouth piece where one cannot be found. Pen names found in the Underground represent students at ARCC who would not otherwise have been able to make their voices heard. That is the purpose of the Student Underground Paper.”
Originally published in The Rampage – April 2013