Editorial: An apology
	From the April, 2000

By Lisa Parker
Silver City Sun-News editor

I made a mistake and owe an apology to the Center for Biological Diversity -- which they very politely informed me of Thursday. In Thursday's edition of the Silver City Sun-News, I wrote an editorial blasting the Center for what I called careless and possibly unethical behavior -- based on the wolf pup naming contest they are holding. Now, I have more information, which I should have obtained in the first place, and have to apologize.

I stated the Center would not be awarding contest prizes to the children who win. That is incorrect. The Center will be awarding three top prizes for "most original artwork and wolf name." These prize winners, and their families, will be "treated to a weekend in Wolf Country" -- an all-expenses-paid trip to a bed and breakfast in the wolf recovery area. That does sound like a nice prize.

I also said that the Center would be sending other prizes, one each for each newborn wolf pup, to teachers of students who win in the naming contest. Those prizes are photographic prints of a wolf. I said that the Center was telling students their prize would be sent to their teacher to be hung in the teacher's classroom, and this could possibly be unbeknownst to the teacher. Wrong again.

The Center says clearly in their flyer that "Kids who participate outside a school program need only identify themselves by name, address, age and grade." No information about teacher or school is asked for if a student is entering outside of a school-mandated program.

So the only teachers who could possibly receive a wolf print will be teachers whose schools have voluntarily participated in the contest.

I do apologize to the Center for these mistakes, and for the assumptions I made based on them. I relied on another newspaper's account of this contest, and that account was not complete. I also relied on a verbal conversation with a Center representative, but did not have good enough information to ask good questions. I believed otherwise, and am now paying the consequences.

I also extend an apology to the readers who rely on what we report. This is one of those lessons learned the hard way. I will remember it for a long time.

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