Lecturer dismayed by school flier flap

Michael Miller

Members of the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation are lambasting

a decision by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to prevent the

display of a flier advertising this weekend’s Distinguished Speakers

Lecture Series talks.

At the district board meeting Tuesday, Jaime Castellanos,

assistant superintendent of secondary education for the district,

announced that he had ordered the district’s middle and high schools

not to display the flier about author Eric Schlosser if they received

it. Although the popular library lecture officially centers around

Schlosser’s book “Fast Food Nation,” several community members were

concerned about another of the author’s nonfiction works, “Reefer

Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market,”

which questions U.S. drug laws.

Since the board meeting, Schlosser and two members of the library

foundation have criticized the district for what they view as an

excessive act of censorship.

“I think it says much more about the school district than it does

about me or my work,” Schlosser said. “It dismays me how opinions are

formed without people reading the author -- criticizing or trying to

block him without having read his book. That’s a poor example for a

school district to be setting.”

Castellanos said that he first learned of the Schlosser event from

an e-mail that a community member sent him, expressing concerns about

the author’s views on marijuana. At the board meeting Tuesday, a

number of parents requested that the district not advertise the

lecture.

The library’s advertisement for Schlosser’s lecture mentions only

“Fast Food Nation” and makes no reference to “Reefer Madness” or to

the author’s often controversial stances on drugs.

Still, Castellanos and Newport-Mesa spokeswoman Jane Garland said

the district would discourage schools from posting the flier, due to

the number of parents who have voiced objections to Schlosser’s

views.

Jason Sherr, the chairman of the library’s lecture series, said

the flier clearly stated that Schlosser would be talking about

non-drug-related issues.

“‘Fast Food Nation’ is the topic, and that’s what he’s talking

about,” Sherr said. “Someone might ask a question about marijuana,

but it’s certainly not planned.”

Sherr added that teenagers could be trusted to draw their own

conclusions about controversial topics.

“People don’t give high school students enough credit,” he said.

“They’re a bright group.”

Schlosser noted that despite the provocative nature of much of his

writing, he intended his lectures on Friday and Saturday to focus on

the craft of nonfiction and not specific social issues.

“These are works of investigative journalism,” the author said.

“They’re not Michael Savage-, Michael Moore-type polemics. I think

the best lesson I could teach to these students is to learn the facts

before you come and express your opinion.

“If there’s any point of my work, it’s not to push any political

point of view. It’s to get people to think.”

Castellanos and Garland said that they had not read “Reefer

Madness” but decided to withhold the flier due to the unease of

parents regarding the drug issue.

“If we err on one side, we’ll err on the side of the families who

are concerned about their kids being exposed to [Schlosser’s] work,”

Garland said.

The Newport-Mesa district office receives fliers on a daily basis,

and only a select few end up on school campuses. Whenever a school

receives a flier, it must send it to the district office for a stamp

of approval. By Thursday, none of the schools in Newport-Mesa had

received the Schlosser notice from the public library, which does not

commonly advertise with the district.

Still, Castellanos said the district would retain its order to

keep the flier out of schools.

“I have not read the book, but until we have a chance to review

it, the flier’s not going to go out into the community,” he stated.

The Newport Beach Public Library’s Distinguished Speakers Lecture

Series often enlists controversial writers to speak to young

audiences. Each speaker gives a lecture for general audiences on

Friday and Saturday, with an extra seminar on Saturday morning for

high school students. Among the other presenters on this year’s

calendar are Joe Klein, author of “Primary Colors,” and conservative

columnist Christopher Hitchens.

Jene Witte, a member of the library foundation, said she had

received complaints about speakers’ views in the past but none like

the recent controversy.

“I always say, ‘Have you ever been to any of their lectures?’” she

said. “No, they haven’t. Have they read any of their books? No, they

haven’t. They’re only responding to book titles.”

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].