http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_3845601

Article Launched: 5/20/2006 12:00 AM

Group blamed for PCC Courier theft

By Kenneth Todd Ruiz Staff Writer
Pasadena Star-News

PASADENA - Each week on Thursday, Kris Calnon roams Pasadena City College
and distributes its student newspaper, the Courier.

He had just finished doing so this week when he was struck by a drastic surge
in demand for the weekly paper.

"I'm coming back from distributing the paper, and I'm noticing the stands are already
empty," said Calnon, 19, who also takes pictures for the paper.

It turned out the papers were not snapped up by eager readers.

Although people are often angered at what a newspaper prints, Thursday's theft of
nearly all 5,000 copies may have been motivated by what the Courier didn't run.

PCC's campus police said Friday they had no suspects yet in their investigation
into the theft, despite a brazen claim made by a group of students identifying themselves
as members of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztl n.

According to Courier staff, a group of four students piled up trash bags inside and
outside their newsroom and left a note saying it was in retaliation for the Courier's
coverage of the group - or lack thereof.

"MEChA came up to the Courier with, like, four trash bags full of newspapers with a
note attached and said we weren't covering them properly, so this is what we get,"
said News Chief Dean Lee.

Lee said a Courier reporter covered a MEChA event for Friday's edition of the paper,
but because of space constraints, the paper could only run a photograph and caption.

"They said it was racist and biased," Lee said.

The previous two editions featured articles about MEChA activities.

James Aragon, a professor and counselor, is one of the club's advisers. He was not
on campus Friday and said he had no knowledge of the group's alleged involvement.

With the investigation still under way, he said, it was too early to blame MEChA,
a frequent target for accusation.

"No adviser would ever condone any type of behavior that is illegal," he said, adding
that the students in the club "have been outstanding."

The college is waiting for police to conclude their fact-finding before releasing
any further information. Lt. Brad Young of PCC's Police and Safety Services said their
report would be finished next week.

"If any student, club or organization violated any education code or the law, PCC
would support any action taken," said Juan Gutierrez, PCC spokesman.

College trustee Geoffrey Baum, who also works at USC's journalism school, said he
was deeply concerned that someone might have destroyed copies of the paper.

"I think the Courier has done an excellent job and has been recognized as one of
the best college papers in the state," he said.

MEChA, created in 1969 at UC Santa Barbara, has been criticized by some as a racist
organization with a stated goal of returning the American Southwest to Mexico.

MEChA members, or Mechistas, say the group is like other campus clubs, and peacefully
promotes Latino identity and empowerment.

Its purpose, according to PCC's Web site, is to "bring awareness about Chicano
issues to the public, and to promote community solidarity."

There are 15 to 20 members at PCC, according to the college's student association.

On the campus club's Internet homepage, it lists principles including the promotion
of higher education, implementing MEChA's national plan, mutual respect and a "struggle
for the liberation of our throughout ."

The constitution also pledges to denounce anyone who "attempts to wrongfully
use or manipulate M.E.Ch.A. de Pasadena City College for his or her own personal
interest."

On Friday afternoon a male student entered the Courier's office and, without identifying
himself, took responsibility for the thefts and said it had been wrong to use MEChA's
name, according to Courier staff.

With fewer than half of the 5,000 copies returned to the office, the Courier suspects
another unrelated group might also have been responsible.

It's not the first time MEChA has been implicated in interfering with the press.

In two separate 2002 incidents, MEChA was accused of stealing thousands of conservative
newspapers at UC Berkeley and UC Davis after they ran articles critical of the group.

At the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley, MEChA members were accused
of stealing 7,500 copies of the student paper and returning them in garbage bags to
the newspaper's offices.

Student newspapers are frequent targets of theft or destruction, with 30 to 40 incidents
each year, said Mike Heistand, legal consultant at the Student Press Law Center.

"What once started as something of a college prank has become a genuine problem
for student media," he said.

He added that people see stealing student papers, which are typically offered for free
on unsecured stands, as "a quick and very efficient means of preventing the message
from getting out they don't want to get out."

Even if a paper is free - the Courier advertises the first copy as free with subsequent
copies costing $1 - people have been prosecuted for stealing them.

A bill criminalizing the theft of college papers was passed by the state Assembly
earlier this month and is expected to also find support in the Senate.

todd.ruiz@sgvn.com

(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4444