With a new year and semester officially under way, these early days of January are always ones of optimism. The slate gets wiped clean, and everyone gets a new crack at things.

It’s in that spirit that I’d like to address a topic that caused quite a buzz through campus in the final days of last semester. As many of you may recall, shortly before the semester break Raymond Keeler, a sports columnist for this paper, wrote what became a controversial piece filled with some outlandish and racy comments.

As editor of this publication, I am ultimately responsible for all content that appears in The Daily Eastern News. As editor of one of the country’s top daily collegiate newspapers, I should have held Keeler’s column to a higher set of standards.

While his comments were made with humorous intentions, this paper is and should be above personal attacks and toilet bowl humor. It’s for that reason that I’m personally apologizing for some of the statements made in Keeler’s column.

But while I will apologize for the handful of indecent comments throughout his column, I will not apologize for his criticism of specific athletes and coaches.

Keeler did cross the line of good taste on a couple of occasions in his column. But when it came to his criticism of the women’s basketball team’s play and the performance of the players on the men’s basketball team, he pinned the tail right on the donkey.

It was Keeler’s criticism, not his vulgar comments, that outraged this campus the most. After receiving several complaints on the phone, via e-mail and in person, it was obvious that Keeler’s outrageous comments weren’t what upset 99 percent of you who took the time to pick up the phone, wrote an e-mail or stopped me in person.

In fact, most were agitated by the mere concept that Keeler would have the nerve to wonder why the women’s basketball team has such a terrible record and how head coach Linda Wunder still has a job. Many also were shocked Keeler would have the audacity to come out and say point guard Rod Henry had no business starting for the men’s team.

I have received claims that Keeler should have been more “school-spirited.” In fact, one opens by directly asking, “What happened to having some school spirit?” The letter goes on to demand that Keeler should have more “support” for the school he attends.

News flash – this isn’t junior high, and reporters at The Daily Eastern News are not on the pom pom squad. Newspaper reporters are not cheerleaders. It is not a sports writer’s job to show up at a game, root for the home team and provide biased coverage.

A journalist’s responsibility is to cover an event and report what he or she sees as the truth. Ray Keeler attended several men’s and women’s basketball games and saw a winless women’s basketball team struggling to perform and a point guard on the men’s team who was failing to get the job done.

And the fact teams or players are “trying their hardest” or “playing their hearts out” has no bearing on the truth a journalist must report. The fact is, college athletes and coaches are paid to perform. Coaches are paid a salary to do a job, and athletes are rewarded in the form of scholarships.

When both commit to that agreement, they also are held to certain expectations. Just as you won’t catch a columnist for the Chicago Tribune patting the Bulls on the back for their 6-25 record, you won’t find a columnist at this paper showing sympathy for a women’s basketball team that has gotten off to a horrific 1-11 record and currently holds a 13-game home losing streak.

The bottom line is simple. The duty of a journalist is to serve as a watchdog for the community and keep readers informed on what’s taking place around them. It’s for that reason this newspaper’s longstanding motto has been “Tell the truth and don’t be afraid,” not “Ignore the truth and keep everyone happy.”

Criticize Keeler’s tasteless comments all you want. I personally apologize and guarantee that kind of content won’t make it into this paper again. But when it comes to criticizing teams and players for poor performance, Keeler was doing what any other true journalist would do – his job.