Fact or fiction?

Rumors and gossip have been with us forever, and neither is going away anytime soon. But too often rumors, partial information, misstated facts and even outright lies find believing ears. The result? Decisions made based on bad information.

In an effort to provide accurate information and to dispel rumors at Southeast Missouri State University, a special Web site has encouraged members of the university community to ask questions and get good answers.

The Rumor Mill @ Southeast has been fielding questions for five years. The questions are monitored and answered by Ann Hayes, the university news bureau director. It has been an interesting five years for Hayes. Some of the questions have been off the wall, but many of them have been sincere efforts to get good information. In some cases, the questions have alerted the university to concerns or problems that have needed attention.

The effort to deal with rumors head-on is a good one. There should be more programs like The Rumor Mill @ Southeast. Such an effort would be good for any taxpayer-funded entity. Anything that helps balance coffee-shop talk is worthwhile.

For some time, the Southeast Missourian has been considering a similar question-and-answer format for readers. Now that column is about to become reality. Like The Rumor Mill @ Southeast, the Southeast Missourian's column will welcome inquiries about anything and everything. Every effort will be made to provide well-founded and useful information in response.

To get started, go ahead and ask questions. Call the Speak Out line (334-5111) and identify the call as a question for the "Fact or fiction?" column. As soon as we have the answers to these questions, we'll make the "Fact or fiction?" column a regular part of the paper (on Page 2A every Monday).

Here is a good way for readers in the area served by the Southeast Missourian to test the validity of information they hear but wonder if there are facts to back it up.

Call "Fact or fiction?" at 334-5111. We'll make every effort to get the best information possible.