SECOND GUESSES for paper of Friday 4/24/00

Spring Break beckons -- and so does opportunity. Any 105ers who want to get
a head start, or any Missourian staffers who want to catch up, have the
chance to do that next week. We'll have editors in the newsroom, but
precious few reporters or copy editors. Volunteers will be welcome. Check in
with the editor on duty, or better yet call in first to let us know your
availability. The city desk number is 882-5720. The copy desk is at
882-5744.

Now to return to reality:

-Today's paper, I think, is a classic Pretty Good for What It Is. It's an
edition whose news pages show little evidence of enterprise (except by the
editors) but a respectable response to last-minute assignments on the part
of writers, shooters and graphicists. The results are a cobbled-together p.1
centerpiece that at least recognizes the phenomenon that's on everybody's
mind this week along with uninspired but coherent reports from a handful of
meetings. Once we've returned from break, I hope we'll all be sufficiently
refreshed to generate some publishable ideas.

-The most interesting signs of life are in Sports. JOSE FLORES reports and
WRIGHT THOMPSON rants about the closing of Columbia College's men's
volleyball program. This coverage has already won e-mail praise from a
couple of parents of players. I hope we can manage a follow, along the lines
of the piece MATT JACOB did recently for the Post-Dispatch, that looks at
the intent and impact of Title IX. (I know we did one not so long ago, but
it's a timely issue now.)

I wish we could carry some of this life and passion into the front of the
paper. Let's do that, just as soon as the break is over.

George Kennedy
managing editor