Corsair staff offers mea culpa

On Wednesday, May 4, The Corsair printed an issue that included a front-page story detailing Santa Monica College students' reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden. However, there was an error concerning the front-page photo of bin Laden, where the photo caption incorrectly referred to SMC's A.S. newly elected President Harrison Wills. The error was not meant as an intentional or malicious way of slandering Wills; it was a systematic problem with The Corsair's layout process, and the Editorial Staff take full ownership over the mistake.  The process of our layout process has now been updated to ensure this sort of mistake is avoided.

"I feel like everyone at some point has dealt with a rumor or being misrepresented," said Wills, recounting his experience of having students at SMC call and text him about the front-page error. "But being in a public position, you invite a level of scrutiny into your life."

"When it's this outlandish, and you can tell it wasn't on purpose, it's a lot easier to forgive," said Wills.

Some students, however, were not as forgiving as our President.

"I've spotted more than a couple of mistakes in the newspaper, and it does take away from the paper's credibility. It makes me lose interest when there's basic, simple mistakes," said Raymond Jimenez, 19.

"The newspaper needs to carefully review the final product before putting it out," said Phamous Berry, 33.

But while a small core of students considered the error one to take seriously, it should be said that a great deal of students and faculty alike found the error humorous and amusing.

"It's a mistake! We all make them, and what you need to do is learn from it and just move on," said Mitra Moassessi, Professor of Mathematics and Faculty Association President.

"You can't bee too strict on college newspapers, because they're students who are still learning; by making mistakes, they'll learn what to look for and what to avoid," said Roberta Giordano, 24. "This kind of thing prepares student journalists before they go off to work for professional newspapers."