Campus paper criticized for lampoon edition

Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, April 3, 2002 | 11:06 a.m.

The misspelled headline read, "Alter Boy Chooses Favorite Molester."

The punch line: April Fools!

But the Rev. Bart Hutcherson, chaplain at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, wasn't laughing. The story that appeared in the Rebel Yell campus newspaper's annual lampoon edition had crossed the line from funny to insensitive, Hutcherson said.

"This is an incredibly open wound for Catholics right now," Hutcherson said. "At best it's in very, very bad taste. At worst, it is malicious and very painful."

Hutcherson stopped short of demanding an apology from the newspaper.

Written by student opinion editor David Himmel under the pseudonym Buster Chairrie, the article appeared in 6,000 copies of the Rebel Yell that were circulated throughout UNLV's campus Monday.

The fake story began, "Mother Mary's Saint Church alter boy Christopher Cleary said his priest, Father Anthony Hill, is by far the best molester he's ever had."

The story was a parody of news events involving allegations of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests.

But Hutcherson pointed out that the newspaper had never dealt with the story in a real and serious way before satirizing it.

The Rebel Yell is a student-funded publication. Consequently, UNLV officials neither condemned nor endorsed the lampoon edition.

Some students, however, winced at the story.

"Oh my God," said Mari Dumaual, 23, an elementary education major. "Ouch. That's something you just don't joke about. It's not really funny."

Pricilla Munoz, 19, also an elementary education major, said she found the article's point of view offensive.

"I'm thinking about the kid's perspective and I just didn't think that was right," Munoz said. "I mean, that is a kid you're talking about. It was enough for me to stop reading it."

Hutcherson also thought that writing the story from the perspective of a victim who recounted his experience in a positive way was in poor taste.

"It is also making light of child abuse in general," Hutcherson said. "I think it's incredibly irresponsible to victims because of the point of view the article takes."

Some students didn't take issue with the lampoon edition at all.

"I've got a sense of humor," Lisa Lombardo, 20, said. "It doesn't really offend me, but if I were religious it would be different."

The lampoon edition had people asking how far is too far when going for a joke.

Rebel Yell Editor-In-Chief Mike Zigler said the idea to do such an issue was based on the Onion, a satirical online news publication. Among recent Onion headlines have been "Excited Catholics Already Lining Up For Pope's Funeral" and "All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at Church Bake Sale." One of the racier religion-related headlines read, "God Answers Prayers of Paralyzed Little Boy: 'No' Says God."

Despite the use of religious material as joke fodder, editors at the Onion have not broached the topic of sexual abuse of children by priests.

Zigler said in hindsight perhaps the Rebel Yell article was too offensive.

"When I was reading the story, I said, 'Yes, this is over the edge, but people know this is a joke issue,' " he said.

One of the problems the Rebel Yell has faced this year is the lack of an adviser. Although most student newspapers are written and edited by students, a professional adviser usually examines the content and gives students direction on what has editorial value and what is not journalistically accepted.

"This story, I can guarantee that an adviser would have told us not to run it," Zigler said.

Other stories that ran in the April 1 edition were headlined, "Mormons burn Sam Boyd," and "UNLV traditionally black school now."

Zigler and others at the Rebel Yell said their phones haven't exactly been ringing off the hook with complaints. They said last year, advertisers had problems with ads placed next to controversial articles in the lampoon edition.

"We'll see if this causes problems," Zigler said. "I haven't checked my phone messages yet."