Carnegie Mellon University President Jared Cohon is establishing a commission to review the contents of an April Fools' Day edition of the student newspaper that sparked protests on campus.

		Previous articles CMU slur brings apology (April 4, 2004) Racial slur in campus newspaper roils CMU students (April 3, 2004)

Cohon announced yesterday that the commission -- expected to be composed of one alumnus, three students and three members of the faculty and staff -- will make recommendations about possible disciplinary actions as a result of The Tartan's special edition.

Michael Murphy, CMU dean of student affairs, said the commission will look at "the whole of the incident, the organization and their operating structure." The weekly student newspaper issued a special edition yesterday expressing shame and regret. It has ceased regular publication until the end of the term. If it does resume this spring, it will be only for special carnival and commencement editions. It does not publish in the summer.

On April 1, the Tartan put out a 12-page broadsheet edition called the Natrat -- Tartan spelled backward -- that included remarks regarded as racist and sexist.

They included a racial slur in a comic in which a character expresses approval of a black person being hit by a bike, poems about raping a teacher and mutilating a woman with an ice skate, and a graphic illustration of female genitalia.

About 75 people protested the racial slur at a demonstration Saturday on the CMU campus.

The paper is hosting a forum on campus at 5:30 p.m. today to hear students' opinions.

Editor Alexander Meseguer and most of the editorial board have not resigned. Meseguer said staff members have not called for his removal.

"I'm planning to stay if the organization lets me," Meseguer said. "I don't think that the benefits of my leaving outweigh the benefits to the long-term stability and health of the newspaper."

Meseguer, who said he feels "drained, exhausted, emotionally destroyed," added, "I understand that we've committed a grave error. We are taking actions to remedy the situation and take responsibility for it."

He said the issue traditionally is The Tartan's most popular. About 6,000 were printed and distributed, but Tartan staff members have retrieved about 1,500 of them.

In his statement, Cohon said, "While academic freedom ensures that we can exchange ideas and opinions freely, being an educated person means treating others with respect. In general, over the last few years especially, we have come to be a community that is inclusive, respectful, caring and compassionate.

"It pains me, therefore, that we have students here who would conceive of and publish such a thing, who could possibly believe something like this was funny or ironic, or who don't duly assume the full thrust of responsibility that they have as leaders of a student newspaper."

In addition to the "horrible" cartoon, Cohon said that "much of the April 1 issue was hateful and offensive to women, gays and lesbians, Hispanics and other individuals."