Last week, The A&T Register produced a paper that was, for lack a of better word, unsatisfactory.

Many people on campus were highly critical of the editors and writers for the many mistakes that we missed. I am here to set the record straight.

Basically, we messed up. Point blank. Originally, I took offense to everyone who took it upon him or herself to judge the paper to which I have dedicated so much of my time. However, now I realize that we were 100 percent wrong.

There are reasons why the paper did not come out the way it was suppose to. However, ultimately these reasons are simply excuses. As an editor for the paper, I realize that it is not the student body’s job to care about the reason why our paper did not come out error free.

As editors, it is our job, regardless of what may be going on in our personal lives, to produce a quality paper to the students and university community and this past week we failed to do that.

The process of creating a newspaper is no easy task. The hours we spend making a paper, the details we have to pay attention to, and the endless hours of reading and writing makes this a very unique process.

However, as a journalist whom often times will point the finger when someone is doing wrong, I am not going to shy away when an error is made. From spelling errors, and grammatical mistakes, all the way down to the way we judged the SGA report cards, I can see why the student body was less than pleased with the results of The A&T Register last week.

I cannot speak for the rest of the staff, but personally I was a bit embarrassed when I went back and saw the many mistakes that were in the paper.

There is no excuse that can be made for that. Personally, I do not want to hear it every second of every day, but I honestly agree the rest of you have the right to be upset with the newspaper. We dropped the ball.

However, please remember, we are still an award-winning newspaper. Things such as this do not, and will not, happen on a consistent basis.

The members of our staff have won more awards than we care to admit, in addition to scholarships, internships, and academic achievements. We play leadership roles in SGA positions, NABJ, The History Club, Greek organizations, Honors Societies and perform community service. These are some of the hardest working people on this campus and we all truly love our university.

We just so happen to be the people to deliver your news as well. We would never “bash” or “ruin” any student’s image or reputation on this campus just to gain readers.

So before you attack any of our editors or writers by insulting our personal character and integrity, ask yourself what have you done to become involved in the process of producing a paper each week.

Ask yourself, how many times you have come to a contributor’s meeting.

Ask yourself, when have you pitched a story idea. Ask yourself, when was the last time you made an attempt to reach out to the newspaper opposed to waiting for the newspaper to find you.

Yes, our job is to report the news of the campus, but with such a small supply of students willing to write for the newspaper, you have to be understanding when some things go unreported.

In any event, I personally would like to apologize for the many mistakes that were made in last week’s paper. However, realize that we are professionals and take much pride in our work.

We are open to criticism, but please be professional when approaching the people of The A&T Register’s staff about an error or mistake we have made. Thank you.

• TRUMAINE MCCASKILL