Welcome back from spring break, Pioneers! We hope all of you were able to rest and recharge a little for the remainder of the semester. We want to acknowledge that the start of the break was very difficult, to say the least, for the cast and crew of “Newsies.”

Having an accident occur during a production is a true nightmare coming to life for those involved in theater, and the fact that this accident occurred in our relatively new and very expensive playhouse is incomprehensible. As students, our hearts go out to the cast and crew. We hope you all are able to get the mental health help that you need and are able to heal from this situation. Be easy on yourselves as you transition back to school and work from break. Prioritize yourselves and your mental health because at the end of the day that is what is most important.

With this being said, we want to stress the importance of news during difficult situations like these. As a newspaper, our job is to report the news and inform the campus community, which is even more important during times like these as information can get misconstrued, causing negative impacts. Fake news can cause and intensify social conflict, leading to violence. Getting facts straight in instances like these are important even for individuals who experienced the event themselves, as these facts give them more understanding.

Being contacted or approached for a story like this can seem very intrusive and even inappropriate. These feelings are valid.

 However, we want to stress that we are simply doing our job and would never try to monopolize off of individuals going through a tough time. No source owes us anything and we would never want to make anyone feel that they have to answer questions when they are not in the headspace to. It is okay to say you are not comfortable and we will not take it personally, as we hope you will not take it personally when approached for a story. We see you all as people with impactful and important voices, not stories.

Reporters are humans, too. As students we are still learning and are by no means perfect. We again extend our love to the cast and crew of “Newsies,” and happy week eight, Pioneers!