LAT investigating Slater's story

The Times has sent editor and former reporter Jim Newton to Chico to try to corroborate reporting by the paper's Eric Slater that has come under fire. Slater's story in March about hazing troubles at Chico State has already been the subject of a Times correction and official dismay in the Northern California town. A story today in the Chico State student newspaper, the Orion, says that Newton has interviewed students, faculty and city officials. "I'm just trying to report the facts," said Newton. "I'm here to gather information." Student leader Michelle Dobin said Newton told her "he was here trying to talk to as many people as possible and to see if Eric Slater was ever in town" and that Slater's travel records aren't conclusive. His description of "California Gothic" architecture in Chico fraternity houses is one of the reasons Dobin suspects he never came, she said. Meanwhile, sources at the paper say Slater has been suspended pending an investigation, and the tone of his multi-versioned apology last week has not been well received.