Writing
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Editorial / Opinion
EXCERPT
According to the GAC’s website, “The Gateway Athletic Conference (GAC) is comprised of 18 schools who have joined together for their mutual benefit.”
If this is true, the GAC should be concerned about the fairness and competitiveness of every sport and school within its jurisdiction, and in order to do so, they need to switch from putting their schools into divisions based on student enrollment to basing the divisions on a power-ranking system.There are more factors to consider when creating divisions within an athletics conference than just school size, and the GAC should take this into consideration if they want to create the most fair and competitive environment.
Sports / Feature
EXCERPT
While many who step onto the Midwest Sport Hockey rink on game night on Feb. 17 don their well-worn skates and flashy outfits, the Head Non- Skating Official (NSO) Steve Brown does not. Instead, he avoids the center of the track, where players warm up and makes his way to a table sitting on the far side. He’s comfortable wearing his simple tennis shoes, jeans, a flannel shirt and a zip-up jacket. His white beard and grin make him instantly recognizable for all who’ve seen him before.
When Brown was younger, his friend invited him to a roller derby fundraising event, giving him his first exposure to the sport.
“It was an idea of something to do that you step outside the box,” Brown, whose derby name is Count Stephanos, said. “Everybody does baseball, basketball, football, whatever. Step out of the box.”
In-Depth / Politics
EXCERPT
Social media is a digital space where people can say what they want, communicate in real time and share ideas. It’s also a place where misinformation can spread just as quickly as the truth. Figuring out what and who to trust can be difficult.
"I used to think that social media was, and perhaps to some degree it was, educating the populace, making more information available more quickly," Metro columnist at the St. Louis Post Dispatch Tony Messenger said. "But these days, I find that the disinformation on social media is hard to overcome."
Battling misinformation is a challenge for both politicians and journalists, voters and media consumers - especially in today’s political climate.