I am writing to express my dismay at Ka Leo’s March 4 “Campus Beat” report concerning the student whose blog postings show him masturbating in a University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa classroom. I find your description of the student shockingly inflammatory. By implying that this person is too dangerous to approach, by suggesting that he is a sexual deviant and a psychotic, and by insinuating, despite your lack of any psychiatric qualifications whatsoever, that his actions can be diagnosed as a “paraphilia,” you have jettisoned all your journalistic integrity.
When was the last time you graced a report on a robbery with a definition of “kleptomania”?
Ka Leo is responsible for reporting incidents that concern the safety of UHM students, but not in such a way as to diminish the security of some members of our student body. Did it never occur to you that your reckless reporting might expose this student, and possibly others, to homophobic violence? Regardless of what I or anyone else might think of the images this student has made public, I have to say that your reporting on the case amounts to a far more distressing obscenity.
You can and should do better than this. Next time, I hope you’ll try.
John Zuern
Associate professor, Department of English