These ideas are wrong. Newspapers should striv Editor’s Message Volume 14, issue6 November 21-December 5, 2007 University life has a few timé-ested constants. One is unsatisfactory cafe- teria fare. Another is a critical of lack sleep time. Perhaps the most pervasive, however, is the ‘hell-week’, Everyone has them. For some it occurred in fate October. For others it might be four consecutive weeks in November. You know the drill: two essays due in a week, followed by a presentation and a midterm the next; or, four midterms Gand two fabs in a week and a half... Because we all have these mind-splitting adventures to undertake, | commend you for having the time to read this paper, You must really be ahead of the eight ball. Perhaps you don’t have the _ time, and you're procrastinating right now. I say this to you then: Word, you ‘Bsuper-duper cram ninja. In this issue you can look forward to some familiar columns, some sweet reviews, and a whole lot of Canadian chest-thumping over the might of our noble Loonie. We also have some new contributors flexing their ideational skills. Despite this paper’s playing fast and loose with journalistic conven- tion, these contributors still see fit to print their ideas here, We thank thera, for that and thank you for stil! tuning in. Now, ! realize that the fast issue and the one preceding it caused quite the stir on campus. I've seen a pretty good mix of outrage and admiration: outrage at our gail, admiration of our principal. At the end of the day which category you fall into has much to do with your conception of taboo, I'd fike to offer a few more words of clarification. The cartoon was a response to the ideas presented in my October 14th Rumbling Echo column. The caption in the cartoon relating it to my column was too small and caused confu- sion, It looked like the cartoon had ne context. That's my fault. { apologize for the lack of clarity. Also, the fact that the cartoon was anonymous fed to suspicions that we manufactured it for the sake of controversy. Some people also thought the author might have been the plunderer of OTE’s accounts. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Cody Willett MANAGING EDITOR outrage. Alazar Shaam Semere PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Haakon Sullivan NEWS EDITOR Michelle Martins ARTS EDITOR Tabatha Lundhoim PHOTO EDITOR: Mitchell Grant Cady. Willett Editor in Chief Mircuere. Grant Puoro Eorror Some of you know me, some of you don’t. Some of you have seen me sitting at a table in # the hallways with my ® fellow editors push- @ ing the paper. Some of — you have even asked @ me different questions e this year on what’s S going on within the | concrete and glass of- fice we calt our world here at Over the Edge. { have done my best to answer your questions but there is something { think we are still An apology. As the Photo Editor here at Over the Edge ] believe we here owe you, our members and readets, a heartfelt and sincere apology. We have dropped the ball, we have allowed ourselves to be cen- sored for the safety of the general student body and we have printed things that go far beyond being “aver the edge” to the point where we have honestly and unjustly offended many, if not Cover Image- All images courtesy of Google images, photoshop work by | MU Slee ee A creek runs through Rainbow Fall, McBride, BC in autumn. Editor Proro Courtesy of Becxy Buixrip e to be as clear as pos- ¥ sible, especially when controversial material is involved. | guess my desire to include any student perspective on ideas advanced in our paper trumped the due diligence of rejecting the comic on basis of its anonymous origin. Without adequate context, the effect | imagined was compromised. Without an author to blame, people were confused. ! apologize for the confusion and anxiety caused by this lack of discretion. Over the Edge will no longer print anonymous materials if we feel that they might result in similar moral That said, 1 hope that the principal of my decision to print the cartoon and subsequent exchange was not lost. Without a rehashing of my entire response from last issue, 1 do think that it’s necessary to make a few things clear. We are living in tumultuous, ugly and challenging times. However, it is in times of the greatest distress that the greatest triumphs are to be had. To make our much-needed difference in this world we must not only be informed, but we must also be deliberative. We must engage each other. We must enrage each other. We must do so with a diversity of ideas, We must do so with a respect for differing perspectives. The ‘Fox News’ style of attacking the person instead of the argument must stop. No wonder the well of discourse has been poisoned to the point where people are turned off by the talking heads in mainstream media. Real debate is only constructive when respect for another's point of view is upheld. Real debate can be had on this campus. Indeed this campus is the incubator of freshly hatched ideas and approaches the world needs us to tackle her problems with. My intent with the cartoon was threefold. It was to get your attention. It was to make an example of those willing to tet anger channel into personal attacks rather] than sharp arguments. It was to get you talking. Hopefully I’ve succeeded in all three. Hopefully we can act as a conduit for that much needed discourse! to take off on campus and in our communities. Hopefully you participate in this most noble duty of civil society: Speaking your mind. owing to many of you. A ino Needed Apolog then at least some o you. When you asked for an apology yo got what I believe was poorly penned back peddling and justifi cations for argument trying to justify ouf reasons for offending you and printing things - that while they ard well within our right to print - should no have been printed any way out of courtesy for those that would see i whether they wanted to or not. For all those reasons above I, as the Phota Editor of Over the Edge apologize for ou behavior here at OTH and our lack of con sideration toward yo our readership, in al manners this semester I write this in hope! that, if you are stil reading this, there is a chance that we may yet impress you this yea and in the future as we have made a solemr promise among our selves as Editors, Dir ectors of the Over the Edge Newspaper Soci ety, fo step up our jour nalism and reaffirm ou journalistic integrity to deliver fo you, ou society members and readership, the mediur which you rightly de serve.