In light of a photograph's placement in the Sept. 11 issue of The Daily Collegian, Black Caucus, also on behalf of other minority populations, is voicing concern regarding the representation, or misrepresentation, of our multicultural community. This column sheds light on one particular incident, yet this is a concern that will never cease. Regardless, if one considers oneself a minority and is conscientious of symbolic representation such as this, it is quite obvious to the regular person off the street that this Collegian page looked blatant and intentional in representing the African American people as it did. Black Caucus' four objectives to the page are as follows:

The picture is out of focus, off-center and just looks ridiculous.

The picture does not include an article. And as far as I know, when a newspaper displays a photo only, it is one that is clear, unique, and tells a story without words. That wasn't the case in this situation.

The caption under the picture calls the Meet the Greek event a "show and tell" and a "carnival." Those words minimize, and even degrade, the groups presented at the program, which on the contrary was a very motivational and inspiring event for those in attendance. To add to degradation, the two men from Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. in the picture are not named as well.

Last, but not least, and probably the most severe inaccuracy, was the placement of the article. It appeared on a local and state page, and was surrounded by two totally unrelated articles. The first article read "Police technology to be upgraded" and the second said "Residents angry with 911." The placement was so precise that it seemed apparent that the articles and the picture were together.

The picture shows two fuzzy black male faces surrounded by words of police and 911.

It is quite obvious what comes to mind when one sees something of that nature. This appalling Collegian display is perpetuation of a racist stereotype of black men and crime. Now, when the case was made on the part of the Collegian editors after our complaint, it was explained that the reporter who was supposed to write the story had a death in her family and thus could not complete the assignment. I totally understand and can sympathize with her situation; yet, still operating in the paradigm in which we do, the show must go on. If there was not going to be a story, there should not have been a picture published, especially not a horrible one that definitely reflects negatively on the Collegian.

Maybe the intentions of the editors and those who put the page together were not screwed up, but the outcome certainly was. And the Collegian stated that it would not apologize publicly for the so-called mistake. However trivial as this "mistake" might seem to some, it is not trivial to those who find themselves misrepresented in the media on a regular basis. And this definitely is not the first mistake the Collegian has made in this particular area.

And so I ask, how does this paper take responsibility for reporting accurate news and information, and when will it be time to take accountability for lack of knowledge, training, and sensitivity in issues outside of the majority interest? Is it right for the paper to pick and choose when it wants to be a professional publication and when it's more convenient to just be a few stressed out students working hard who make mistakes too, as Collegian editors have said. We need reliable, equitable and consistent coverage of our events. However, so far we have seen consistent errors, missing information and lack of coverage of news pertinent to us.

We do not ask for special treatment, only fair treatment when covering stories pertaining to our multicultural community. We are open about making suggestions on how newspapers, specifically the Collegian, can better understand and report cross-cultural stories or events. For instance, one suggestion would be diversity training for all reporters, not just the one diversity beat reporter assigned to cover "minority" news and events.

That is not fair treatment.

However, I do acknowledge the fact that the Collegian is attempting to address our concerns. I'm confident that Black Caucus and other minority populations do not and will not tolerate misrepresentation now, or in the future.