Washtenaw the Voice Staff

February 6, 2012 The Washtenaw Voice needs a lie-saving bone-mar- row transplant. or DNA-level testing—in just 10 months. time. However, I cannot help but News A5 TO THE EDITOR: SHAME ON THE VOICE While skimming The Voice, I read and became extreme- ly disturbed by the security notes brie titled, “Child Endangerment?” While the idea o unsupervised chil- dren was upsetting enough, even more problematic and disturbing was the described response o the vaguely described law enorcement per- sonnel involved. By police, did the reporter mean campus security, the Ann Arbor police, or the county sheri’s department? In any e vent, law enorcement person- nel are considered manda- tory reporters in the state o Michigan, and i the situation were as conusingly described (LA building?, park- ing lot?) whoever responded to this call was remiss in their responsibilities. Considering the source, I contacted Campus Security to veriy this account and was inormed that the situation had not been accurately described in the paper. The chil- dren had not been let in a car and there were more details. I am now wondering what oth- er inormation in this short article was incorrect? News should be accurately reported. The act that these were news bries does not lessen the responsibil- ity o the paper or those who compile the inormation. The campus saety and “police” were portrayed in this brie account as being negligent, a portrayal which eects campus perception o the caliber o both campus security and local law enorcement. It also conveyed the impression that these entities do not take ei- ther child saety or Michigan Law seriously. While I am less disturbed about the con- tent o the brie, I am disap- pointed in The Washtenaw Voice. Patricia R. Hill, PT, MA Physical Therapist Assistant P rogram, Director Wash tenaw Community College Ben Solis Managing Ed itor For the past two years, The Washtenaw Voice has covered the Washtenaw Community College campus smoking ban like a blanket. We know the rules, regulations and what kind o trouble students or employees can get into i they are caught lighting up on campus. So it would make sense that I would know better than to smoke on campus, seeing as how I know exactly what it means or my college and newspaper career i I get kicked out o school or smoking. Well, just because I know that I shouldn’t do it, doesn’t mean that stopped me rom lighting up a ciga- rette last week in ront o the TI building. As you can gues s already, I was caught red-handed at the end o my smoke. Not only was it embarrass- ing and startling to have the director o Campus Saety and Security pop out o nowhere like a CIA agent, but it puts ev- erything I do here at The Voice into an ethical paradigm. Fortunately, I was only given a stern verbal warning, but it could have been a lot worse. Some o you may ask why I am outing mysel i I didn’t get the maximum punishment. The answer is because as a mem- ber o the press, whatever that means, I am obliged to ollow all o the rules that I clear- ly know like that back o my hand. How can I write articles asking students to ollow the rules, or else, i I don’t? I believe in personal re- sponsibility and accountabil- ity, and I am willing to admit when I screwed up. So i you eel you need a smoke on campus, learn rom my example and just wait till you leave the college. Trust me (I’m a journalist), I know exactly how stressul a nicotine t can be. But i you take you college career seriously, hopeully you’ll butt out with me o campus EDITOR’S NOTE: As part o our duties as the campus newspaper at Wash ten aw Co mmu nit y College, The Voice makes every attempt possible to inorm it’s readers when incidents and crimes occur. However, it is almost impos- sible or our reporters to do a responsible job reporting the news when the inormation given to us by Campus Saety and Security contain more redacted details than inormation on the incidents. The report eatured to the let o this letter is an example o just what we are let to deal with on a weekly basis when trying to report the news on campus. We’v e tried repeatedly to work with campus security ofcials and others responsible or protecting us here on campus and apparently this is the best they can do. That’s not say campus security is poor or not doing its job, but whe n colle ge ofcia ls ail to provide critical inormation to the public, it makes our jobs very difcult. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act does not restrict the disclosure o any o this inormation and under the Freedom o Inormation Act, our newspaper has a right to view those reports in ull. It should be up to the judgment o this publication and it’s editors in charge to make the deci- sion on what inormation is included in our reports. The Voice is committed to putting an accurate account o what happens on this campus out or our readers and doing it in a timely manner. However, when we are ille- gally prevented rom provid- ing all the detail, we simply cannot to our jobs eectively. Matt Durr Editor The Washtenaw Voice Strike one on me for smoking on campus A f ew hours o f di sco mf ort to sa v e a lif e? Coun t m e i n check out our new website! washtenawvoice.com

Washtenaw the Voice Staff

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