Reed makes the news for something completely unrelated to heroin

the famed 'honor-principle' hard at work

For context (not that it really makes a difference), the article in question was published in response to criticism the paper received for publishing an article that some perceived as too irreverent in regards to the Holocaust.

The story dropped at a particularly touchy time for our school, as our administration has been scrambling for the past two weeks to determine an adequate response to misguided bathroom-graffiti (multiple campus-wide discussions of community responsibility and diversity? discussions about how best to facilitate discussions about community responsibility and diversity? isopropyl alcohol?).

We’ve certainly gotten our fair share of unfavorable press as a result of the incident (though I guess we can glad we don’t have to deal with the ****storm that Reed’s PR department, not to mention the kids who edit their paper, must be going through right now).

Is it insensitive for me to suggest that we find a way to move on?  Certainly, people are going to take offense any time some HILARIOUSLY EDGY, ORIGINAL COMEDIAN alludes to the Holocaust to compliment a SATIRICALLY DENSE, WELL-THOUGHT OUT commentary on how OPPRESSED the fake newspaper is when people complain about how it published some other EQUALLY POIGNANT articles about trivializing the Holocaust (hey guys I was being facetious there did you see that? I bet you didn’t get it because it was such a controversial viewpoint I just adopted).

Let’s not forget about OregonLive and InsideHigherEd: Your page-view-driven exploitation of an (unfortunate) emotionally-sensitive misunderstanding is, without a doubt, going to bite both Reed and L&C in the face (However, it is, in an odd way, refreshing to read inflammatory articles about Portland higher education that *weren’t* written by Beth Slovic).

I think what I’m trying to get at is this: It was a poorly-conceived article, and in bad taste, but from there we should have our talks and reflections (which happened last Tuesday), lick our wounds, and move on.  It’s important for us to keep in mind that The Pamphlette‘s intent was not to cause this kind of controversy, just as the editors responsible should be regretful of the hurt they’ve caused and realize that this sort of humor rarely accomplishes its intended effect.

Teachable moment? Yes.  Front-page news?  Hardly.