Saturday, October 11, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

UNLV newspaper to be investigated

Sexual harassment among staffers alleged

The UNLV student newspaper will be investigated next week because of allegations of sexual harassment among student staffers.

The majority of Rebel Yell editors have been put on probation, but they said they don't know why. The angry University of Nevada, Las Vegas students attended the newspaper's advisory board meeting Friday. They told the board they have been kept in the dark about the investigation and do not know why their jobs are on the line.

No one was fired Friday, but some students said they are considering quitting their jobs.

"None of us here are guilty of sexual harassment," said Irene Marquette, Rebel Yell opinion editor.

Mary Hausch, the newspaper's faculty adviser, said the investigation is a formal procedure the university performs whenever there is a suggestion of sexual harassment.

"Every year has its ups and downs," she said.

Ellen Kominsky, managing editor of the Rebel Yell, said she was sexually harassed by a former co-worker in late September. She said the incident started as a joke. "We're goofy, loud people," she said.

To relieve stress in the newsroom, Kominsky said staff members often post jokes about each other on paper and on computers around the room.

When a sexual comment was posted about Kominsky last month, she said she was not offended until a former male staffer inquired about the joke numerous times during the day. Kominsky said the student also asked her out on a date that same day even though she told him she had a boyfriend.

"I was so unbelievably uncomfortable," she said.

Kominsky said the student was later fired for insubordination during a meeting to discuss the incident with Editor Renae Judkins.

Judkins said the advisory board told her Friday to pull in the reins on her staff.

She said they will no longer post jokes about each other in the newsroom, regardless of the topic. "I think the situation was blown out of proportion," she said. Several staff members agreed.

Jeff Hoyt, arts and entertainment editor, said the group usually has fun together.

"We've become friends, and that's really something a paper like the Rebel Yell needs," he said. "It's the true college experience."

Living Editor Marites Velasquez said she questions the need for an investigation.

"We're all like a family here," she said. "I think it's been carried too far and it's gotten out of control."

Velasquez said the staff just received the university's written policy on sexual harassment within the week. She said they were supposed to receive the document at the start of employment.