Underground Paper Irks School’s Administration

A group of Covina high school students who publish an underground newspaper critical of school policies say teachers and administrators are harassing them and destroying their copies.

Debate over the the newspaper, The Norseman’s Hammer, has polarized students and teachers at the suburban San Gabriel Valley school.

In addition, a teacher who helped the Northview High School students launch the paper five months ago said school administrators have threatened to remove her as chairwoman of the social studies department and transfer her to a junior high school in retaliation for her involvement with the paper.

“It’s vindictive, and it’s taken on proportions that are just ludicrous,” said Sheryl Bremmer, a mentor teacher who has been at Northview for 16 years and has two master’s degrees.

On Friday, Northview’s principal denied the harassment charges, calling the allegations “a bunch of nonsense.” But he said the underground paper was “threatening and divisive” and added that he wished it would go away.

“The school would be a little better place if we didn’t have it,” Principal Roy Moore said. “When people make fun of a teacher or criticize an administrator and kids read this, they think they have license to do this too.”

The paper was founded after the official school newspaper, the Valhalla, refused to print an unsigned letter to the editor by several students about Moore’s refusal to let them start a political science club.

Financed by allowances and part-time jobs, the new weekly newspaper--which students have christened The Norseman’s Hammer because their school mascot is a Viking--lampoons teachers, the official school newspaper, sports activities and student politics. Its writers, who use pseudonyms such as Tom Paine and John Locke, devote up to 20 hours each week to getting the Hammer out.

Defenders of the Hammer say the paper gives students an alternative voice and contributes to school spirit by raising awareness of campus activities and school politics. “These aren’t the kind of students who are hauled up in front of the dean for infractions,” Bremmer said. “These are students who test very high but are lulled into apathy by the system.”

This week, five student leaders of the paper agreed to go public, saying they are concerned that school administrators are abridging their freedom of expression.

“When administrators and teachers try to take away our civil rights, this has to be brought to light,” said Eliani Torres, 17, who added that “the paper’s not divisive. The administration’s dividing the students.”

It has also raised questions about First Amendment rights. Earlier this week, the ACLU wrote the Covina Valley Unified School District, warning that it is illegal to confiscate or destroy copies of independent student newspapers and asking that the district stop harassing students and Bremmer.

A group that monitors civil rights violations says the Hammer controversy illustrates a dramatic rise in attempts by high school and college administrators nationwide to censor underground journals.

The Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit group in Washington, attributes the rise to growing student activism and increased pressure from community groups on school publications to reflect community views. So far this year, the center has received more than 400 complaints, a 177% rise over 1989, Executive Director Mark Goodman said.

Both the ACLU and the Student Press Law Center say the Constitution and state laws protect students’ freedom to publish independent underground newspapers, provided that they are not libelous and pose no physical danger to students or property.

In an interview, Moore agreed that school authorities cannot prevent circulation of The Norseman’s Hammer because it does not violate any laws. But he added that teachers are entitled to confiscate the paper during class hours if students refuse to put it away.

Moore denied that he threatened Bremmer in any way. He said he discussed scheduling changes with her, but that the talks were not connected with the paper.

“It’s hard to recall all that stuff but there wasn’t a threat,” Moore said. “I discuss assignments with teachers all the time, but . . . I don’t have the authority to transfer anyone.”

In the 4 1/2 months since the Hammer first published, circulation has more than doubled to 250 copies and would be higher, editors said, if they could afford to print more copies. The paper has grown from a one-page sheet to a 12-page newspaper complete with an advice column, put together on a home computer.

“The Norseman’s Hammer is just like Pilgrims breaking away from England,” said Herman Usma, 18, one of the student publishers. “It’s our own little Revolution.”