Camera theft imperils
school’s newspaperThis is the second theft in a week
at Waialua High and Intermediate
In the past three years, The Waialuan has grown from a photocopied, stapled newsletter into a "real" newspaper that just won a statewide award and attracts readers beyond the campus of Waialua High and Intermediate School.
But half of what makes it a newspaper has now been yanked away -- with the theft of the three cameras used by students to document life at their school.
"I was shocked," Editor in Chief Lorin Milotta said as she laid out a scaled-down version of the next issue, which is due to the printers tomorrow. "I couldn't believe someone would do this."
The North Shore school was set to turn on its new alarm system Friday, after the completion of campus renovations. But when English teacher Gail Kuroda arrived on campus at 6:30 a.m., she discovered that burglars had already been there.
Someone had broken into the newswriting room and made off with the school's digital camera, a regular camera with telephoto lens, a third camera belonging to Kuroda and a stereo. She estimated the equipment's value at $1,000.
A week earlier, the social studies room down the hall was burglarized. Teacher Amy Boehning lost a digital video camera, a VCR, a laptop computer and a printer -- valued at more than $1,200 altogether. More devastating, she said, was the disappearance of hours of lessons that she had been taping as part of her bid for national board certification as a teacher.
"We haven't had any break-ins here for a long time," said Principal Aloha Coleman. "Then there are these two, right in a row. It's a big disappointment. How are we going to produce a paper without photos?"
Greg Kamisato, chair of the Language Arts Department, said the school can't afford to buy new cameras, and fund-raising is challenging for the rural community, hit hard by the closure of Waialua Sugar.
"It would be almost impossible for me to replace these cameras through the regular school budget, because there are other priority items," he said. "We need books. They come first."
But the monthly newspaper deserves support, he said, given how far it has come. Three years ago, when Kuroda took over as adviser, "entering newspaper contests was not even a thought," he said. Since then, the newspaper has doubled its staff to 16 students. Now published on newsprint in a tabloid format, The Waialuan now has the look and feel of a real newspaper.
It was recently named the top paper in the intermediate division of the 2003 Hawaii State High School Journalism Contest. The paper has become a force on the 750-student campus, spotlighting issues that have led to changes at the school, such as the opening of a new athletic training room, Milotta said. Local grocers and shops request copies for distribution off campus.
"Before, it was like people didn't even read the newspaper," said Milotta, a senior who joined the paper as a sophomore. "They picked it up and it immediately went into the trash can. Now, people read it. I love to hear people talk about issues we've covered and say, 'Wow, I never knew that was going on.'"
The digital camera allowed students to easily plug their pictures into their layout and cover events close to deadline. With all the cameras gone and a shortage of illustrations, Milotta and her colleagues are cutting this issue from 12 pages to eight. The students say they aren't sure how they'll come up with photos for their next issue.
Police have no suspects in the case, Kuroda said. To help Waialua High and Intermediate replace its stolen equipment, call Coleman at 637-8200.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
