U. of Ill. student paper 'anti-Semitic'

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- University of Illinois' chancellor is calling for changes at the student newspaper, the Daily Illini, for what he said is a pattern of anti-Semitic incidents.

Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Richard Herman is threatening to start a new campus paper to compete with the independent Daily Illini, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday.

"Seeing a newspaper intentionally or otherwise continue to spew out what is broadly seen as anti-Semitic comments is just not appropriate," Herman said.

Complaints have come into the university from alumni and outside groups over a series of incidents in the past two years. Most recently, the paper ran a letter to the editor that claimed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon once said he wanted to "burn every Palestinian child," even though there is no evidence Sharon said that.

The paper also has published a cartoon joking about big-nosed Jewish bankers and a letter entitled, "Jews manipulate America."

The paper's editors apologized Wednesday for running "inaccurate information," but outgoing Daily Illini Editor Evan McLaughlin denied the paper had an agenda.