June 24, 2011

Mountain View Patch
Jose Antonio Vargas met with the Mountain View High School newspaper staff on May 11, and told the 35 teen journalists, “I’m an undocumented immigrant.” He told them that only a few people knew, and asked that they keep it secret for a while.

For the next six weeks not a murmur, whisper, tweet or status update suggested the teenagers guarded privileged information for Vargas, 30, a former Oracle editor-in-chief and a 2000 graduate of MVHS.

Kevin Troxell, a 17-year-old entertainment editor at the Oracle, says he saw the shock on Vargas’ face after he told the teens that he was undocumented. “He seemed surprised to tell us. He kind of put his hand over his mouth as if to say ‘what did I just say?’ …Oracle is a tight knit group and we are all friends. He’s a friend and an Oracle, and that was the reason we wanted to keep his secret.”
> Vargas’s revelations may be a victory for immigration advocates, but not for journalism
> Los Altos High School student paper posts video of Vargas Q&A

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