I've heard a lot of comments offline about our decision to write an article about the infamous "slut list," which is at the center of the Millburn High School hazing issues.

I've heard and read a lot of comments about the actual list itself over the last few days. It's been a range of opinions from "it's not a big deal" to "it makes my stomach turn" to "it doesn't really exist." Most of the people who are saying these things, though, have never actually seen the list.

To me, it seemed important for people to understand what is on that list in order to have a better opinion. Knowledge of the list's contents means people can stand behind an opinion of "it's not a big deal" or "it makes my stomach turn."

It's also why we wanted the story out there before people attended the Board of Education meeting Monday night. It would allow people to be more informed about the issues on which they were about to speak.

There was no intention to embarrass anyone, which is why the names were left out of the article. There was no intention to sensationalize the issue, although I can understand how people may feel that way.

My editors and I spoke about the issues around the article and the reaction for about two hours on Monday. Included in that discussion was how we would explain why we ran the article. In hindsight, we should have run an editor's note on the article with our reasoning.