I really don’t like columns much. That’s probably why I’m writing this way past deadline.

I mean, who really cares what this guy working on the school newspaper thinks? My opinion is not any more valid than the guy next to me in class. Well, maybe just a little. I mean, after all, it’s in black and white newsprint for all to read. It must have some value.

The opinion of the media is often too easily accepted as the “almighty word” only because it has the power to make it so.

Newsprint and television are a powerful means of spreading information, to say the least. Some people believe anything they see or read in the news, never bothering to question, simply because, well, it’s on TV or in the paper.

Journalists make mistakes too, usually unintentionally, sometimes otherwise.

There are a lot of things one could complain about when it comes to the media.

Who are these people that tell the news?

Believe it or not, most journalists are pretty honest people just trying to make a living.

They work hard to fill the pages each day with news of interest and value to their readers told in a truthful and ethical manner. This is not easy and often involves staying up into the early morning hours editing stories and designing pages. Any member of The Chart can vouch for this.

Often running on a small staff, we somehow manage to get the paper out 12 times a semester. Sure there are sometimes a few mistakes here and there, but remember, we are human too.

The staff produces the paper with a sincere effort to provide students with a quality product.

If it were not for The Chart, I wouldn’t have moved so far away from home to attend Missouri Southern. I chose Missouri Southern based on its student newspaper. It only makes sense to attend a school with a good student paper if one plans to make a career of print journalism.

Here I am, three years later, pursuing a different career and still working on the staff, not because I have to, but because I have chosen to be part of the team.

The Chart staff really is just like a team. We have our weaknesses and differences but we are in it together.

I admittedly have not been as active with the paper as I once was, but I still have found it impossible to give up. I’ve tried to convince myself many times that I need to quit and focus my efforts on classes. Working on the paper doesn’t help me graduate and graduating has never been more important for me than it is now.

Every semester I have found myself struggling to fulfill my obligations for classes because of my work for the paper. I’ve seen countless other staff members and editors during my three years here go through the same situation. It’s easy to put classes aside when one is needed by their team to help out. The fact is, no one wants to let their team down.

As former editor Philip Martin reminded me earlier this week, The Chart is like the mafia; the only way to get out is to die, or graduate.

Please god let me graduate soon.