Conference Report in the Statesman?

sldw5@cc.usu.edu

The April 2nd edition of The Statesman was led by the story, ‘Hinkley announces new youth program’. This story was a synopsis of the recent Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Semiannual Conference. It is the opinion of this writer that the editorial staff of the Statesman erred in printing the story based upon the writers understanding of the First Amendment and its implied separation of Church and State. The writer understands that the majority of the students on campus are of the LDS faith, and this article explaining the main points of the Conference would be very welcome to those who were not able to see or hear the proceedings. But is The Statesman the best place for this information? The Statesman is a newspaper serving Utah State, a public university with many exchange and foreign students of various ethic and religious backgrounds. To devote the front page to a report on a single religions gathering without reporting other religious information is unfair to those left out. The best solution to this delemma is to not publish articles relating to religious matters unless it directly affects the University. In this way the Statesman is not seen as another source of information for the LDS church.