Pet rat, class sweethearts stir up controversy

By The Associated Press

12.05.01

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Pet rats aren't allowed, but lesbian couples are.

Those were the conclusions drawn recently about yearbook entries by school officials in two states.

A high school principal in Salem, Ore., has banned a girl's senior picture from appearing in next year's yearbook because she used her pet rat as an accessory.

But in Dover, N.H., two girls will be listed in their high school yearbook as "class sweethearts" after the superintendent overruled the school principal and said same-sex couples were eligible for the title.

Sarah Ball, the Oregon teen-ager who posed with her rat, questioned her principal's decision. "He said it was distasteful and offensive," said Ball, 17. "But there's no rule that says I can't have my rat on my shoulder."

Rey Mayoral, McKay High School's principal, acknowledged that there's no rule regarding rats; however, he said state law gives him the right to censor certain school publications, including the yearbook.

"I'm sure no one said, 'By the way, there's no animals allowed in the senior yearbook.' But there are guidelines." Mayoral said.

"What would be next? Boa constrictors? Spiders?"

Yearbook adviser Rod Cutting said that in his 18 years in the job, he has never had any students photographed with animals.

Mayoral has offered to cover the cost of retaking the picture, but Ball said that's not good enough. The incident is another example of the school crushing her individuality, she said.

Ball said she's always strayed from the crowd, expressing herself through her look. By eighth grade, she was dyeing her hair different colors and wearing leopard print clothing. Still, Ball said, she wasn't trying to stir trouble.

"I just love my rat," she said. "I asked other teachers, even teachers that don't like rats, they liked it."

Ball, who's owned "Rotten Rat" for about a year, said she's being singled out because she is different: "There's a picture in the junior section with some guy with streamers taped to his head. There's a picture of some teacher kissing a pig."

Mayoral said the school maintains a higher standard for the senior portrait section, and he's willing to run Ball's rat picture in another section.

Ball's mother, Lori McMichael, backs her daughter's fight. "It's a good learning lesson for her that you need to stand up for what you believe in," she said. "I think she's being discriminated against."

Meanwhile in New Hampshire, seniors Nicole Salisbury and Ashley Lagasse will as appear as "class sweethearts" in the Dover High School yearbook after a decision announced by the superintendent yesterday.

Their fellow seniors overwhelmingly named Salisbury and Lagasse as "class sweethearts" when the yearbook staff conducted its annual survey to name students to categories such as "most artistic" or "nicest eyes." Salisbury and Lagasse, both 17, have been a couple for more than two years.

But Principal Robert Pedersen said the ballots asked students to choose one male and one female for the "class sweethearts" category, and he declared the results invalid.

"I considered it unfair to change the rules and intent of the balloting after the event," Pedersen said in a statement.

The yearbook staff opted to eliminate the category rather than award the title to the second-place finishers. Students began collecting signatures for a petition before Superintendent Armand LaSelva stepped in, saying the original results would stand.

"Even if there was confusion about the ballot, the senior class members spoke," he said.

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