Role of Advisor to Student Paper

* I was both appalled and amused to read in your excellent Nov. 2 story concerning the Saddleback College newspaper a quote from the current newspaper advisor that I “ran the paper with a lot of negativity.”

One would think that after having been at the Lariat for more than a few weeks, Lee Walker would have realized that advisors don’t “run” newspapers. My philosophy in two years of advising the Lariat was that the newspaper served both as the voice of responsible journalism for students at the college and as an open forum of commentary for the Saddleback College community.

I’m proud that Lariat students under my tenure produced issues that were finalists for the prestigious Pacemaker award, making the Lariat one of the top 10 student newspapers in the country at the two-year college level.

I’m offended that Walker’s ridiculous misperception of the role of the advisor has cost me my job and has thrown Lariat students and staff into a bitter tug of war over newspaper control.

The irony of the situation is that the students so mistrust Walker that he virtually has no influence on the content of the newspaper. At least when I was advisor, I was able to look at controversial stories before they were printed to make sure the student reporters had been as fair as possible.

KATHLEEN DORANTES

Riverside