If you’re currently reading this article, you’ve probably noticed that our newspaper has done a lot of growing in the last semester. Our staff is covering heavier topics and attempting the type of stories that real, professional newspapers do. 

Over the past few weeks, it has come to the staff’s attention that the topics we are reporting on are less than pleasing to the students directly involved. Students frequently request that their names or quotes be withheld in situations where they may be presented in a negative light (namely drug-abusing athletes and rule-bending candidates). 

I urge these individuals to acknowledge that, just like our student newspaper, we now exist within the professional world. Most students are above the legal age of 18, and are, therefore, adults. The actions and decisions that we make henceforth are those of a mature and capable mind, and we should be held accountable for those actions.

Many students believe that because they are still in school, they are able to behave however they please, that mom or dad will write a letter to the principal and be able to pardon them for their childish wrongdoings. 

I firmly tell you all that this is not so—that just as my staff and I are responsible for the things that we publish in this newspaper, you all, as the student body, are responsible for the decisions you make and whatever reputation those decisions may establish for you.

The decisions we make now do affect us for the rest of their lives, and yes, potential employers have the right to be privy to those things. So, if you are unhappy about they way that you appear in a news article, I strongly urge you to reconsider your own actions and own up to your mistakes with humility and integrity. For it is not the newspaper staff’s fault that you were caught smoking weed or cheating the system. You wrote that story.