On April 1, The Tartan delivered its satirical publication, The Natrat, to Carnegie Mellon. The publication, funded entirely by the Student Activities Fee, contained material which many members of the campus community found offensive.

A comic strip on the ninth page used a derogatory term to describe African-Americans and mentioned “running them over.” The comic said:

“I was just out driving and I hit a [expletive] on his bike,” said one character.

“Only one?” responded the other.

This brief but pointed cartoon was enough to upset members of the campus community.

“I saw a very small part of [The Natrat] and was offended,” said junior history student Caryl Tuma.

Diana Henderson, a senior electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering student, described the comment as regrettable.

“The [Tartan’s] Board needs to reevaluate what is printed and the process of approval,” she said. “I believe The Tartan has a long way to go toward regaining the confidence of the community.”

The Tartan has been criticized for racial insensitivity in the past. In their February 23 issue, they printed an editorial in opposition to the singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the black national anthem, at university-sponsored events.

“[The two things] made me question what their motives are,” said Jenneca Ward, president of the National Society of Black Engineers and senior electrical and computer engineering student.

In an e-mail sent to student organizations, Student Body President Dan Gilman wrote, “We are a community that prides ourselves on the diversity of our faculty, staff, and students. Carnegie Mellon is a much better environment due to the great accomplishments of people from all different races, genders, sexual orientations, and creeds. There is no place on campus for the type of language used, as well as the message sent by this recent publication.”

In a letter to the campus community, Alex Meseguer, editor-in-chief of The Tartan, responded, “The Tartan finds this incident deplorable and in no way does it represent the official opinion of The Tartan’s staff.”

Director of Student Activities, John Hannon, said, “I’m incredibly concerned, disturbed, and distraught by the content and the choice to publish it.”

Hannon spent much of Friday working with The Tartan. He hopes the campus community will be able to work through the incident.

Meseguer said staff member Bob Rost drew the comic and had a substitute on-hand in case the drawing was not acceptable. He also said that he did not see the comic in The Natrat before publication, because a tight deadline and limited staff kept him from reviewing all of the content.

“I should’ve caught it,” he said.

Jim Puls, The Tartan’s managing editor, would not deny seeing the comic in place before the issue went to print.

When asked by The Pulse, “Did you not see it, Jim?” Puls said, “I wouldn’t say that.”

“It shouldn’t have been published,” said Meseguer. “We failed to uphold our standards.”

This is not the first time The Natrat has offended members of the campus community. Last year, it poked fun at the night-time janitor in the University Center. Two-years ago, it contained a picture of Student Activities Coordinator Denise Fazio’s head atop another woman’s naked body. According to Cam Crews, former Tartan sports editor and Carnegie Mellon graduate, The Tartan’s editorial staff was required to attend a sensitivity class by a University Committee on Discipline because of that incident.

At tonight’s Student Body Presidential Debate, Rashan Walker, junior business student and contributor to The Tartan's comics section, asked the candidates for their thoughts on the strip. All candidates expressed concern.

Candidate and student senator Kristina Wiltsee said, “We really need to work with all media outlets so it doesn’t happen again.”

Candidate Jason Pock said, “There was a lot of material in there of poor taste.”

Pock also said the incident was one of a series of mistakes and characterized the issue as “frightening.”

Candidate and student Senator Erik Michaels-Ober said that though he is a strong proponent of free speech, the issue was not funny.

The Tartan received a special allocation of $2500 from the Student Senate on March 18 to publish The Natrat.

Michaels-Ober, who voted in support of the allocation, said he was not aware of the past problems with The Natrat.

“There was no indication it would be like this,” he said.

Michaels-Ober said the event is unfortunate and that he would not have supported the allocation had he known of the problems. He said he would not support funding for future publications of The Natrat to be included in The Tartan’s funding from the Student Activities Fee.

“$2500 should be deducted from their budget this year,” he said.

Megan Flocken, chair of Senate's Funding and Recognition Committee, said she still supports the special allocation given to The Tartan. She said that because of the organization's high turnover, she considers student organizations on a year-by-year basis.

Nicholas Scocozzo, chair of the Joint Funding Committee, said “I don’t want things that are offensive to be funded by the Student Activities Fee.”

However, he said that he would not have voted against the special allocation knowing of The Natrat’s previous problems. He also said it would likely be discussed by the JFC, but wouldn’t necessarily impact funding for The Tartan.

Saturday, in reaction to The Natrat, the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity is holding a protest rally entitled “We Will be Heard” at the fence at 10am. The fraternity expects all minorities on campus to unite in support of racial harmony and civil rights.

Dean of Student Affairs, Michael Murphy, supports the event.

“I think the rally is an important time for members of the campus community to gather and share their views,” he said.

Murphy applauded the people setting up the rally, and said the content printed in The Natrat is not a reflection of the thoughts of students at Carnegie Mellon.

4/4/04 Correction: University Center Director Marcia Gerwig was incorrectly identified as pictured in a previous issue of The Natrat. However, the picture was of Student Activities Coordinator Denise Fazio.