Last week’s issue of the Baker Orange may have provided some controversy.
Three athletes were arrested. Commentary focused on alcohol issues at Baker University in a Baker Weekend issue. It seemed inevitable that the Baker Orange staff would receive some feedback. And we did.
Shortly after the issue was put out, the Baker Orange received two comments that were fairly similar.
They both talked about a statistic published on page 6B that claimed 127 cans of Red Bull could potentially kill a person who weighs 150 lbs.
In an issue with somewhat of an exposé on alcohol and a controversial story about a coach and athletic department having three athletes arrested, the most controversial issue was evidently a meaningless statistic on death by Red Bull.
One e-mail made the point that the e-mail was somewhat frivolous, while the other possessed genuine concern for the use of that statistic.
The Baker Orange staff has several responses to these unexpected reader comments.
The first is confusion.
Reader responses were expected this week. However, a mindless statistic placed to enhance a feature on student lifestyles was not the expected subject. It turns out you can never really judge what students and other members of the campus community will find noteworthy.
The second is appreciation.
While it may seem odd that these were the only two responses this last week, the e-mail from readers were indicative of a student interest and concern in what our campus newspaper writes.
Whether the comment be about something that seems insignificant or something that seems controversial, student response is a vital part of the communication process between campus journalists and the campus community.
A final response is concern, perhaps.
One of those who sent e-mails claimed he was unable to find the info on the Web site indicated.
If our attribution isn’t clear, that could raise questions of credibility, and we apologize if that source was unclear. No staff member tested the statistic, but we don’t suggest anyone drink 127 consecutive Red Bulls, either.