Young Scribes Make Waves in Journalism : Communication: Writers for a Ventura middle school newspaper discover that their articles can trigger explosive reactions. And their adviser is getting on-the-job training as a diplomat.

Tired of writing boring articles about teachers and school officials, eighth-grade student Paul Houston decided he wanted to do a story for the Anacapa Middle School newspaper that would truly interest his classmates.

So he penned a column defending the MTV show “Beavis and Butt-head.” Although Paul hoped his column might inspire responses from classmates, he hadn’t considered another group of potential readers: parents.

Angered by the article, parents called the Anacapa principal to complain that Paul’s column implied that the school supports the controversial TV show. Some even threatened to take the matter to the school board.

“I didn’t think the parents would see it,” Paul said. “I just wrote what I felt.”

Paul and the rest of the staff of the Anacapa Title Waves have been making waves among parents and school officials since the first issue came out last October.

Although the school launched the newspaper to give students different kinds of writing experience, officials said the students are also getting lessons in some of the finer points of journalism, including the issues of censorship, privacy and fairness. And newspaper adviser Sharon Mittelholtz is becoming a quick study in the art of diplomacy between her muckrakers-in-training and the powers that be.

In the same November issue that carried Paul’s column, eighth-grader Jennifer Woodman had an article that quoted students calling the school cafeteria lunches “greasy” and “gross.” That did not make the lunchroom manager happy.

Even the seemingly innocent personal ads in the back of the newspaper have stirred trouble.

When the newspaper published a personal message that called for a boy named Matt to “dump” his girlfriend--who was named in the article--because “she’s not good enough for you,” the girl’s parents phoned to complain. Now the newspaper staff screens personal ads more carefully and omits all last names.

In response to other complaints, Mittelholtz has had to do some quick damage control.

After she was told that Anacapa cafeteria manager Billie Hayes was distraught over the article criticizing the lunchroom fare, Mittelholtz made a quick trip across campus to assure Hayes that not all students shared the views of those quoted in Jennifer’s article.

Mittelholtz managed to smooth things over with the cafeteria staff by publishing follow-up interviews with Hayes and other school food-service workers pointing out that Anacapa has one of the most varied cafeteria menus in the Ventura Unified School District.

“It’s a lot easier to teach history,” said Mittelholtz, an English and history teacher who is making her first foray into teaching journalism.

Mittelholtz has become more cautious about what she will publish.

For the upcoming issue, due out at the end of this month, two reporters have written articles denouncing a school proposal to get rid of all student lockers.

When Mittelholtz showed one of the articles to Anacapa Principal Charlotte McElroy, the principal promptly visited the journalism class to explain the school’s reasons for the locker proposal.

The students who wrote the articles condemning the proposal say they now understand the school’s position better: Last year, the school had bomb threats, which proved false, warning about incendiary devices left in the lockers. And the 42-year-old locker stalls are falling apart.

But some newspaper staff members still oppose the idea.

And Mittelholtz is concerned that if she prints their criticism, she risks offending her boss, McElroy. “There’s things that are worth battling over and this isn’t one of them,” she said.

Such attention from the principal has caused some frustration from the newspaper’s writers: After his “Beavis and Butt-head” column was published, Paul wrote an article condemning censorship.

But the fear of reprisals has not silenced the newspaper staff or led Mittelholtz to shy away from all potentially controversial issues.

In the most recent edition, reporter Chris Muirhead defends a video game called “Mortal Kombat,” which is so violent that some parents have complained to local video arcades.

“I wanted people to know about it and I wanted them to have their own opinions,” Chris said.

Not all Title Waves articles are contentious.

The newspaper also has an occasional fashion page with photographs of some of Anacapa’s trendiest dressers, standard news articles on school activities and student poetry.

One of the most popular features is a coupon approved by the principal that entitles the bearer to a night free of homework in a particular class, such as math. “They sell better with the coupons,” said Joan Kim, an eighth-grade student who is one of two co-editors this semester.

Title Waves staffers say one of the best things about their newspaper is that its writers know what subjects interest their classmates.

Or as seventh-grader Amrit Chima, who was on the Title Waves staff last semester, put it: “They don’t want to hear about the national economy.”