also, if he has no affiliation with the univeristy, which has been reported by the editor, why was the strip featured in a college-run paper?

clearly, by remaining anonymous and the editor not requiring him to idenitify himself, they knew exactly what they were doing.

this isn’t the first time this editor has been under fire for obscenely offensive material and it doesn’t suprise me in the slightest.

I grok that, perhaps, this artist was reaching for absurdity. But bathroom humor is crass, not absurd. So is the unnecessary use of “Latina”. Does her ethnicity make it more shocking? No, it misdirects. First, you’re shocked at the idea of urinating on people… no, no… kidnapping people for the purpose of humiliation. Add in the hot topic issue of immigration and what you’ve got is a miasma of infantile rudeness that’ll shock the ‘rents and the grand’rents because what they find funny must be boring because it required thinking and attention spans.

I guess you and R. Kelly both can appreciate the comedic irony of grown men peeing on little girls.

I agree with Derek Johnson.

I agree with Barry, But I also think they should LEARN from their mistakes, Right??

This comic is not The Recorder’s first brush with public outrage. Last February, an opinion piece was published detailing how less attractive and overweight women “may benefit” from being raped. The author of that piece resigned as the paper’s writer, The school board apologized on his behalf, and Rowan went back to work as editor. Fast forward to September and now Rowan is again facing the school board, who is “appalled by the stunning lack of sensitivity and awareness displayed by Mark Rowan” (this is a quote from a letter written by Lawrence D. McHugh, Chairman, Board of Trustees and CCSU President Jack Miller) If these guys had to get involved, you just know Rowen should just apologized already.

“I don’t think people should be expelled from college for publishing things that other people don’t like.”

I also agree with Matt. I didn’t say the editor SHOULD be expelled, I said they should “use the threat of expulsion”, if that doesn’t work maybe he should step down as editor.

I don’t think people should be expelled from college for publishing things that other people don’t like. If the publisher has a problem with the editorial direction of the paper, they should fire the editor and find a new one that fits with what they want.

“I don’t know, Matt, once the cartoonist’s name is exposed, maybe editors or syndications wouldn’t want to deal with a cartoonist that’ll make them look bad.”

I doubt that artist will ever produce anything that deserves a syndication deal, but I don’t share your desire to start blacklisting people from the industry based on distasteful cartoons they published in college.

A few comments.

1) I think what’s behind this cartoon is likely the racism and misogyny of self-centered (most likely white male) egotism, not the racism and misogyny of animus towards Latinas.

In other words, the cartoonist didn’t draw this cartoon because he (or she) personally loathes Latinos, but because he wanted to make fun of “political correctness” by creating the least “politically correct” cartoon he could come up with.

That doesn’t mean it’s not racist and misogynistic — as I’ve often said (most recently here), being bigoted doesn’t require animus. In the case of this cartoon, while I believe that the cartoonist’s intention was to tweak “PC” sensibilities, choosing to do so in this way shows a callous indifference for the feelings of readers who aren’t white men that is itself so enormous that it amounts to misogyny and racism.

2) Wow, are some of the people defending this cartoon stupid.

3) I don’t want to see the cartoonist (or editor) formally punished or sanctioned. I think the outcry and widespread criticism are the appropriate response; and I hope that the activism leads to positive steps like the creation and funding of an alternative newspaper.

4) I’m made nervous by the folks asking the college administration to step in and fire the editor/defund the newspaper, because I think these practices, if generally accepted, will be used against student newspapers that take radical positions or criticize college administrations.

I was wondering this myself. Also, although nobody has said it, sometimes in cartooning a little infamy is a good thing.