For the next month a rag tag group of students proceeded to create
and publish a four page newspaper. Using typewriters and (with the
help of a few willing faculty members) "ditto paper" on
a school mimeograph machine, we churned out four hundred copies of
the newspaper once a week for four issues.
There were no computers and laser printers at the time and we had
no faculty sponsor to assist us in making sure we followed proper
journalistic standards and practices. In fact, the first issue came
out anonymously. After tremendous criticism, the staff of The
Dissenting Opinion put it's names on the next three
issues.
As a high school teacher today I can look back fondly on this event
as a major achievement in my life and the lives of others. In a "vox
populi" article in The Meteor at the
end of the year one student stated it "was the best thing that
happened in my four years at Hanford High."
At the same time, knowing what I know about journalism today, I can
honestly say we did a very poor job of making sure people didn't get
hurt by what we said. Sometimes your "opinion" is best left
to oneself. Although I do not speak for other members of the newspaper
staff, I can honestly say I am sorry for some of the words we chose
in writing the articles. I hope that, in sharing these materials with
you today, people will take that into consideration.
After all, Dr. Willard Roberson, former Vice-Principal at HUHS, and
one of those most severely attacked in The Dissenting
Opinion, later wrote in my yearbook: "I enjoyed
your underground paper. It showed some creativity."
So, enjoy these snippets and think back to the days when you waited
at lunch time outside the teacher's workroom for a group of us to
exit with papers in hand.
