To the editor:

The crew of the shuttle perished for the second time in our history on Feb. 1. The sadness has to fill everyone’s heart in Lawrence as it does mine. The lead story in last Monday’s paper was about the rival game at KU. I would be willing to bet even Roy Williams thought this to be heartless and in very bad taste.

I find it hard to believe that the staff at the Journal-World thought sending a person to taunt the Tigers was even worth the money they put into getting the story. The grandson of James Naismith just recently claimed his grandfather would be ashamed at the unsportsmanlike conduct of fans these days. This shows someone wanted to taunt the Tigers and rub salt into the wound before the game was even played.

Please use some common sense, after what happened on Feb. 1, the loss of seven astronauts to the families and to the entire world was far more important. Couldn’t the story have been put on the Lawrence & State page, Sports page or not run at all until after the game, in light of the shuttle disaster? Twelve children lost a parent in the accident. It was in extremely poor taste that the rival story was placed in the paper before the loss of the Columbia.

Marsha Pomes,

Lawrence