As a former Ka Lamakua editor and Ka Leo writer, I am ashamed and appalled by the potentially libelous handling of the Speedo Student controversy by Campus Beat writer Michelle White. This type of alarmist, reactionary and moralized writing is the last thing we need in our news.
In the online version of her Campus Beat (not sure why it wasn’t included in print), White attempts to pathologize Speedo Student’s actions as a paraphilia, and likens it to voyeurism and pedophilia. How is White qualified to pathogize Speedo Student’s actions? She’s not. This is an issue that should be worked out between the student, his legal representation, and the school administration and should not be subject to the fear-mongering opinions of White.
I think the crowning irony comes from Ka Leo’s own 2008 commentary. In “Best places to have sex on campus,” Kris DeRego advocates sex in high-traffic public areas around the UH Mānoa campus, including (but not limited to) Kennedy Theatre terrace, Hamilton Library, and your most hated professor’s office. That’s right.
Here’s the quote:
“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it. There’s no better way to get back at an annoying professor than by breaking into his office, bending your girlfriend over his desk and knocking the diplomas off the walls. Be sure to leave something behind, however, or your perversion won’t pack much of a punch.”
Was DeRego lambasted as a “psychotic” for writing this? No. DeRego continued to serve as a Ka Leo news editor for almost a year afterward. In addition to White’s inappropriate comments, Ka Leo has also advocated for public sex acts, breaking and entering, and “leaving something behind.” And was all this published in an adult blog or on XTube? No. It was written in our university-sanctioned newspaper.
Loraine Ho
UH Mānoa alumna