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High school journalists left hanging

by Jennifer Deitz Berry

Forty-seven Palo Alto High School journalism students were stood up by two speakers expected to present their side in a contentious debate over a proposed media center.

Journalism teacher Esther Wojcicki -- who supervises the school's award-winning newspaper, The Campanile -- invited Jack Koch, president of Save Our Schools and Community Assets, and Beth Martin, a member of Paly's sports boosters, to visit her class last week.

Wojcicki extended the invitation after Martin called to discuss what she saw as inaccuracies in a student's opinion piece published in the Weekly. The article, written by a Campanile staff writer, came out in favor of the proposed media center and reflected the views of many student journalists at the high school.

Journalism students are at odds with members of SOSCA and Paly's sports boosters, who have been vocal in their concerns about handing over 20,000 square feet of school land to build a media center run by an outside organization. But the journalists say the center -- which would be shared by students and the larger community -- would give them access to state-of-the-art technology their school wouldn't otherwise be able to afford.

In anticipation of discussing the issue, Wojcicki left the class period free Tuesday, Nov. 20, and students waited restlessly for almost an hour in expectation of the school activists' arrival.

"If he doesn't have time to show up and debate this important topic that he feels so passionate about..." complained senior Aaron Cohen, Web and news editor for the Campanile.

"I think it does show a lack of respect for the students and their viewpoints and their time," Wojcicki said, after both speakers failed to show up.

Both Koch and Martin apologized for missing the meeting. "We feel very, very badly about it," Koch said. "It's very unprofessional, it's not in character."

Koch said he was picking up relatives and was stuck in holiday traffic around the airport. He attempted to reach Martin by phone, but was unsuccessful. Martin was on the high school campus that afternoon, but since Koch had not returned her phone calls to confirm the meeting, she'd assumed it was cancelled and left.

As a peace offering, both Koch and Martin have volunteered to buy pizza for the class. They have also asked to reschedule the meeting, which is now slated for Dec. 6.

The essay in question was written by junior Lauren Dickey, a page editor for the Campanile. "Media Center: a Valuable Plus for Paly Education" was published in the Weekly on Oct. 31. In her essay, Dickey discussed how the center would benefit high school students.

Midpeninsula Community Media Center (MCMC) has offered to build and staff a $5 million media facility if the district will donate school land. At school board meetings in recent months, debate has raged over whether the Paly campus is the best location for the center and whether it's worth giving up school land knowing students will need to share use of the facility with community users from around the region.

Dickey argued the center would offer benefits to students that the district would not otherwise be able to afford. She said the equipment and staffing would make it possible for teachers to integrate video in education and introduce a media literacy program. Also, she wrote, it would improve vocational education opportunities, strengthen the school's film program and give students experience broadcasting to a wider audience.

"I thought she did a pretty good job generally," Koch said of the essay. "The general tenor of it I thought was slanted, but it's an editorial, for crying out loud."

Dickey mentioned Save Our Schools and the sports boosters, saying members of the groups "object to the possibility of school land being used for non-school purposes and are worried such a building would prevent future expansion of athletic fields."

In her closing sentence, Dickey said she did not want to see the opportunity for a media center squandered by "uninformed objectors."

Martin and Koch took issue with how Dickey had represented the two groups' roles in the debates. "We're not opposed to the media center at all," Koch said. "In fact, we support a media center."

He said SOSCA simply felt it was important to consider other alternatives before agreeing to build a center of this size at Paly. For instance, he suggested, maybe a satellite center at the campus and a main center elsewhere would serve students' needs while also leaving more land at Paly available for other uses.

In conversations with the Weekly, Martin has said she also questions whether building the media center at Paly is the best use of space. MCMC proposes building a 20,000-square-foot center on the southern edge of campus currently used as a parking lot.

Martin has been active in organizing efforts to raise money for improving sports facilities. When plans for expansions were being drawn, sports boosters members were told the area now proposed for the media center was off-limits, Martin said. But if the space is available, they would be interested in expanding further.

Martin said there is a critical need to make more room for sports. Existing facilities were built decades ago, well before the rise of women's sports, and no major improvements have been made in the last 30 years. As a result, men's and women's teams are fighting for space in the over-used pool, gyms and fields. Practices often run before school and until 9 p.m. at night in order to accommodate all the teams.

Martin said her main frustration with the essay was that Dickey had not contacted the leaders of either group to hear their side before writing. "As a journalist she probably needs to check her facts," Martin said. "I felt like she owed the courtesy to Jack and to Cathy before she stated how they felt. I think her story might've had a different angle." (Cathy Jensen is president of Paly's sports boosters.)

Dickey returned fire after her critics failed to appear before the class. "If he had conviction in his cause, he would've shown up," she said of Koch, questioning why he would "cause such a stir" before first speaking to students to better understand their views on the media center.

As for Dickey's view on what the best use of Paly's land would be: "To get students to explore a career option is more important than a parking lot or a football field."

E-mail Jennifer Berry at jberry@paweekly.com