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Save The Slant!
{March 13, 2003}

A little background..

On Tuesday, March 10th, "The Satirical Newspaper Of Vanderbilt University," The Slant, published and distributed an issue of their paper made to look like the general student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler. The headline: "GEE DEAD." The cover story proclaimed that the "Death of beloved Chancellor rocks VU."

The paper was obviously a joke.. but it fooled a lot of people. The Hustler normally publishes on Tuesdays and Fridays.. but didn't plan an issue for that day since the previous week was Spring Break. The Slant printed up their copies of "The Vanderbilt Huslter" and dropped them on the Hustler's racks. Wackiness ensued.

Some tight asses on campus whined that it was "sick" and not funny at all. I thought it was fantastic.

Chancellor Gee sent out an email to the Vanderbilt community:

Dear Colleagues,

Imagine my surprise when I picked up what was purported to be the Hustler, our excellent student newspaper, and saw the headline "Gee Dead." After checking my pulse, and making sure that I did, indeed, fog up the mirror, I am relieved to tell you that the headline, the newspaper, and in fact, the entire issue, was untrue and not produced by the real journalists at the Hustler. As in false. As in, "Gee Lives." To paraphrase the great Mark Twain, reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated.

But, if you are the skeptical, conspiracy-minded type, I suggest you check out: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/chancellor/

With all best wishes for many more years at Vanderbilt,

Gordon Gee

The image of the photo of the Chancellor holding the "GEE DEAD" newspaper as if it said "Dewey Defeats Truman" just wasn't enough irony for me, so I went over to the Chancellor's office during my lunch break.. and I killed him! (Ha ha! See, that's a joke too. Not a very good one, but what did you expect? I'm not witty enough to smash watermellons.)

Today, a message on The Slant's website says, "The Vanderbilt Student Communications Board is considering on Friday afternoon an application by an editor of the Hustler for the position of Editor in Chief of The Slant.... With full knowledge of how deeply sorry we are for the harm we caused, and the recognition that we have learned from this mistake, I am asking each of you to email the Board members and let them know that the student body of this University and the world abroad accepts our apology, wants The Slant to keep going as it was before this happened, and s the current leadership."

This is a tragedy. Regular issues of The Hustler are humorless (and therefore worthless). While The Slant isn't the most honorable, prestigious publication ever.. it IS funny.. and they have plugged www.ChadMRiden.com for free.. so I like them.

I sent The Vanderbilt Student Communications Board the following message:

Dear Vanderbilt Student Communications Board:

I'm writing to ask that you decide to keep Brad Ploeger as Editor in Chief of The Slant, and the current staff in place just as it has been. They're just some kids trying to have some fun.. and they publish a great paper. They have apologized saying they are "deeply sorry.. for the harm we caused" and that they "have learned from this mistake."

I realize that a lot of people are upset about the fake Hustler edition.. but try to put emotion aside for a moment and think about what really happened here: it was a joke. The bottom line is that this was a masterfully planned, well executed, already classic college prank. Was it in poor taste? Sure. Was it a risky move? Yes. Should they be punished for this? I don't know.. but should they lose their paper? No.

That paper was glorious. It made me wish I had the imagination and resources to do such a thing when I was in school. It made me wish I was a part of their team.. It made me wish I had bought ad space.

Chancellor Gee himself had a good sense of humor about it. The picture of him holding the paper that he put on his web page was not done in anger. Look at the man, he's grinning like he can't control his excitement. His page generally gets about 50 or 60 hits a day, but that day there were 38,385 accesses to the Chancellor home page. Even the Drudge Report linked to it.. why? Because it is a great story.

It should have been obvious to everyone that it was a farce. They spelled it "Huslter" in big bold type right there on the front page and everywhere else it appeared. The by-line said it was "the student crossword of Vanderbilt University.." Anybody with the perception of a blind fish should have noticed that right off the bat. The people mad about this are mad because they were gullible enough to fall for it.

Vanderbilt's image was probably improved by this event. The widespread perception of stodgy snootiness was shaken up a bit. You may not be able to keep the students from showing up at your football games late, wearing shirts and ties like dorks.. you may never live down the ties with the "Confederacy" or Commodore's railroad baron ways.. but at least don't tell the world that the freedoms of speech and of the press don't exist at your institution.

--
Thanks for putting up with my crap,

Chad M. Riden,
Lame, Nashville-based jackass comedian and regular Vanderbilt Slant reader

http://www.ChadMRiden.com/
http://www.MangyDog.com/
http://www.NashvilleStandup.com/

If you'd like to send a message of for The Slant, here.

I figure us smart asses have to stick together.. otherwise the serious, responsible citizens will prevail.

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