'Ozone' article had a bad headline

Editor:

The title written by a member of the Wildcat staff to accompany an article from the Associated Press, printed in the August 29th article of the Wildcat was VERY misleading. ÒOzone Level Improves from Low to AverageÓ is not a summary of the article provided to you. An accurate title would have been,ÒOzone Decline Improves from High to Average.Ó

In rereading the article you will find in the sixth paragraph of the article Samuel J. Oltmans quoted as saying, ÒThe recovery really is a recovery to the levels represented by the long-term decline, itÕs not a recovery to levels that we saw in the mid-1970s.Ó In other words, the ozone level has returned to the level of the decline which we have seen since ozone measurements began in the mid-1970s.

I can only conclude that the person(s) responsible for writing the title did not read the article in its entirety. Given that most newspaper readers also do not read articles in their entirety, often relying on the headlines to inform them, the headline must provide an accurate summary of the information contained in the article. Intentional or unintentional misleading of the public can lead to intentional or unintentional failure to act on an issue when the necessity arises.

Please be more careful in the future.

William E. Wright

Graduate Student

Geosciences

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