The PSU Student Publications Board has re-hired Napoleon Linardatos as editor for the Portland Spectator after hearing several complaints.
Linardatos’ hiring on April 23 was part of annual appointments of editors for all student publications.
The week before, the board appointed four other editors: the Vanguard editor is Erin Lloyd, a senior English major; the Rearguard editor is Dimitris Desyllas, a graduate student in conflict resolution; the Portland Review editor is Rebecca Rich, a graduate student in linguistics; the Graphic Design Center will be managed by Mara Kelly, a senior majoring in graphic design and painting.
The meeting on the Spectator editorship began with open discussion. The Rearguard editor, Dimitris Desyllas claimed that The Portland Spectator used erroneous numbers in an article about Food For Thought.
Emily Garrick, vice president of ASPSU, said Linardatos’ story about the Wallace/Zhu fund-raising party should have made it clear that the accusations were alleged. Garrick participated in the fund-raising event.
Desyllas also made accusations about Linardatos’s outside activity that might be considered anti-gay. “For him to continue to talk the way he talks is very disrespectful and it is not journalism,” Desyllas said.
Linardatos said that he is actually “pro-gay” and that his off-campus actions were jokes. “I have a right to make jokes,” Linardatos said.
Sandra Wilde, chair of the Publications Board, suggested that Garrick and Desyllas could file formal complaints.
Emma Easley, a student board member, and Garrick questioned Linardatos’s ethics as an editor. Easley and Garrick wanted to know if he felt it was right for a writer to use resources she acquired while working for another paper and using them for a different publication without informing the subject. Napoleon responded that it was valid because the article was a personal account.
Elizabeth Kutza, a student board member, raised a concern about the number of credit hours Linardatos is taking, and whether or not he is just taking one course to qualify as editor.
Linardatos, who is currently working for Wells Fargo, is also getting his tuition paid by Wells Fargo. Linardatos says that he is still deciding what kind of degree he wants. “I don’t plan to take classes just to be editor,” Linardatos said.
The board later went into executive session to deliberate on the re-rehiring of Linardatos. Board member Walt Amacher moved that the board appoint Linardatos as editor with the stipulation that he must consult with his advisor Judson Randall when potentially libelous material is being considered. The motion was approved seven to one, with Garrick opposing it.