Fernley High School pulls student literary magazine

Wednesday, May 20, 1998 | 2:51 a.m.

Fernley High School Principal Eddie Bonine said he received 23 phone calls about the poem by 3 p.m. Monday.

The poem, entitled "I Hear Silver Springs Singing," was written by a student who lives in Silver Springs.

It reads, in part:

"Silver Springs, In most homes all you hear are bed springs, with pot smokers galore, behind closed doors ... Silver Springs what a place, Where the sounds of the roads are of another police chase."

Bonine said the piece was written as an assignment about a year ago in which students were asked to write a satirical poem as part of a class on Walt Whitman.

But the principal added that while some people might not like the poem, he does not like to impose censorship.

"If a student rips me in the school newspaper about our tardy policy, that's his opinion. He has a right to do that," Bonine said.

Still, school administrators agreed to pull the magazine from area stores, and Bonine said he intends to send a letter of apology to the community.

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