Clearing the air and kudos to the Arrow

I want to take a few minutes of your time to clear up something regarding an article I wrote Monday about SEMO soccer player Meg Herndon, who was critically injured in a scooter accident Sunday and is fighting for her life at a St. Louis hospital.

The information in one paragraph of the article should have been attributed to the university's student newspaper, the Arrow.

The information in question is as follows: Herndon was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish hospital in St. Louis and underwent surgery, according to a hospital official. No details of the operation were available.

I assure you it was an honest mistake. I was not trying to lead anybody to believe that I had obtained the information personally. I was mistakenly under the assumption that the information had come from SEMO's official university website, not the Arrow's website. Regardless, it was totally my fault, and in retrospect, I should have attributed the information regardless, whether it came from an official university source or from the Arrow's news staff.

This might not seem like a big deal to many of you, but in our profession, where accuracy and accountability mean everything, it is a big deal even if it was totally unintentional.

While the information in that paragraph was accurate, it was obtained by the Arrow, specifically sports editor Erin Neier.

I personally want to apologize to Erin, who I have gotten to know the past year during our coverage of SEMO athletic events and who I totally respect.

Erin is fine young journalist who is doing a terrific job not only reporting on the tragic story of Meg Herndon but also reporting on SEMO sports in general.

And let's all keep praying for Meg to make a speedy and complete recovery.