Recently, Iowa State’s very own Block and Bridle club facilitated a forum in an effort to put to rest the misconceptions swirling around lean finely textured beef.” The Daily covered the forum and wrote an excellent article that was on the front page of the next day’s paper. As an avid reader of the Daily, I was sure to grab a copy and read the nicely written article about the previous day’s event. A few days later, to my dismay as well as a large majority of my fellow College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students, the Daily published an editorial that left many of us feeling cut down and betrayed.

While I disagree with much of what was published, it is important to understand that this is an editorial, meaning opinion. This is much different than the initial article written about the event, as the editorial was simply the editors’ personal thoughts on the issue. The editorial process is a long-standing way for the public to share their own perspective on an issue, and as much as we may disagree, others’ opinions must be respected.

The big topic on everybody’s mind was why are they slamming the beef industry? After all, calling it a “pow-pow summit” doesn’t exactly make it sound like a forum to educate the public. Feeling agitated I made a phone call to see who had written this slanderous piece. It was during that call that I was informed that of the seven individuals who make up the editorial board, none were in attendance at the forum.

Consulting the Daily was the next move, and they were glad to offer the time to meet with myself and a couple of my peers. At the top of our list of concerns was how someone could develop a piece about an event they never witnessed and then have it published.

During this meeting we were quick to discover the true idea behind the editorial. It was not meant to put the beef industry under bad light but rather to question the motives of the political “celebrities” that were there promoting it. The editors we had the opportunity to meet with that afternoon were very courteous and more than willing to open their ears to us. However, I would challenge the Daily, since the purpose and reasoning behind this piece was so incredibly misconstrued, to issue a rewrite of this editorial.

With almost 30,000 students on this campus, a bad representation can spread like wildfire. As the next generation of agricultural professionals, it will be our job is to supply the world with affordable and safe food, fuel and fiber. We are passionate about what we do and proud to be part of the greatest agricultural school in the nation.

Oh and just a little reminder: #BeefisBeef.