Spring Break
From the editor's Desk
Moral Obligation
Jennifer Elizondo
Issue date: 5/15/09 Section: Opinion
I would like to thank everyone for their responses to the most recent issue of The Cougar. We greatly appreciate any feedback we get from the community as it helps us to better represent members of the community.
In an answer to many of your concerns about our article regarding Coach Johnson's leave of absence (Assistant baseball coach replaces head coach during leave of absence) "telling all," as one reader put it, was necessary because a newspaper is meant to inform its reading community about important matters. I, and many others, feel that when someone who is responsible for a large number of students, many under the legal drinking age, gets into legal trouble as a direct consequence of alcohol is something that the community should be aware of. I had no problem publishing the article revealing that Coach Johnson had his run in with the law. However, a follow-up article, detailing how he has grown as both a responsible adult and commendable role model to impressionable young adults is also warranted.
I received comments suggesting, since we printed this article, we should also print crimes that have been committed by other faculty and staff members. I realize the readers who wrote those comments were being sarcastic. However, if those crimes would have an impact on student well being, printing those stories would be necessary. For example, if an employee of the school were charged with assaulting another person with a deadly weapon, everyone would have a right to know.
In my time on The Cougar staff I have personally dealt with no fewer than two stories that NEEDED to be printed. In those cases, one involving the shooting of a deer with a bow and arrow on campus and another dealing with an alleged rape that occurred in the dorms, I was hindered at every juncture; in one case the police told me that, despite being a member of the press, I wasn't "entitled" to information. "Entitlement" isn't a criterion for providing crucial information that could potentially protect people living in our community.
In an answer to many of your concerns about our article regarding Coach Johnson's leave of absence (Assistant baseball coach replaces head coach during leave of absence) "telling all," as one reader put it, was necessary because a newspaper is meant to inform its reading community about important matters. I, and many others, feel that when someone who is responsible for a large number of students, many under the legal drinking age, gets into legal trouble as a direct consequence of alcohol is something that the community should be aware of. I had no problem publishing the article revealing that Coach Johnson had his run in with the law. However, a follow-up article, detailing how he has grown as both a responsible adult and commendable role model to impressionable young adults is also warranted.
I received comments suggesting, since we printed this article, we should also print crimes that have been committed by other faculty and staff members. I realize the readers who wrote those comments were being sarcastic. However, if those crimes would have an impact on student well being, printing those stories would be necessary. For example, if an employee of the school were charged with assaulting another person with a deadly weapon, everyone would have a right to know.
In my time on The Cougar staff I have personally dealt with no fewer than two stories that NEEDED to be printed. In those cases, one involving the shooting of a deer with a bow and arrow on campus and another dealing with an alleged rape that occurred in the dorms, I was hindered at every juncture; in one case the police told me that, despite being a member of the press, I wasn't "entitled" to information. "Entitlement" isn't a criterion for providing crucial information that could potentially protect people living in our community.
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