CREDIBILITY AND PLAUSABILITY EXAMINED IN NEWS REPORTS OF THE MOHAWK INCIDENT IN OKA QUEBEC. kandace L. Harris, and mentor, Dr. Sandra Wills-Hannon, Department of Journalism, Howard University, Washington, DC. "Truthfulness and accuracy are not the sole determining factors in producing narratives. That which is objectively true may not be popular, and hence may not be believed." (Perelman, 1963) On July 11, 1990, an armed stand-off occured between several hundred Surete due Quebec police and a dozen Kahnasetake Mohawks. The conflict centered on the proposed expansion of a 9-holf golf course to 18 holes by the Oka, Quebec municipality, which infringed on "The Ancestral Pines," a forested area claimed by the Mohawks. The are was also a Native cemetery/burial ground. While the site was being barricaded, the Kahnawake Mohawks, a neighboring tribe, blocked access to a bridge leading into Montreal. Citizens from Chateauguay, a local community nearby, soon took sides. Canadian forces entered the "stand-off" along with the French and English Press. A policeman died from a gunshot received during the gunfire exchange between the Mohwaks and state police. Spectators and communities began to position themselves politically according to their readings of events at Oka. The research of Oka by Dr. William J. Starosta and Dr. Sandra Wills-Hannon analyzes thirteen version of "the story of Oka" form in-depth interviews. Starosta and Wills-Hannon argue that all contemporary political issues generate multilexical texts and note the hazard of proposing a single version of the "truth" of Oka. The story narratives were placed in the following categories: last sympathetic, neutral, most sympathetic, and transcendental.			In this aspect of the study, we realize that multiple explanations and judgments arise from the common historical texts, and variant readings of those texts. Analysis attempts to answer the following questions: Which story line was priviledged by the mass media? Which press reported what stories? Who might be affected by which stories are told, i.e., balance vs. excessiveness? What images may be perceived through interpretation of only partial explanations? Considering how the flow of information about Oka is received and interpreted within the surrounding communities, it is obvious that the press influenced what was thought as "truthful" and "accurate". Kandace Leigh Harris, a native of Oakland California, is a print journalism major and a English minor. Harris especially cherishees one significant memory of elementary school, and that was the slogan, "Reach for Your Horizon," placed along the school wall. This slogan exemplifies Harris' accomplishments since that time. Aside from her academic pursuits as an undergraduate, Harris works at Sojourner's Neighborhood Center College Mentor Program. She describes her work at the Center as a wonderful opportunity to begin the pursuit of her career goal as a teacher. After graduation, Harris plans to attend graduate school, where she will pursue a Ph.D. degree in English, with a concentration on African American literature. McNair Alumni