Spring Break
It's close to midnight... and I get sentimental
Daniel Jacobs
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Opinion
In the four years that I have worked for the Sou'wester one of the few things which has remained constant is the combination of anxiety, exhaustion and anticipation I feel on Tuesday nights when we send the finished newspaper to the printer.
It's impossible to escape that feeling because despite the enormous amount of energy, time, and effort which the Sou'wester staff, writers, and myself put into the newspaper every week, once we send it to the printer it is beyond our control. By the time you, our reader, picks up the Sou'wester it effectively belongs to the community. Through reading and discussing the content of the newspaper, the Rhodes community extends ownership over it.
But the Sou'wester was never really property of the staff, writers, or myself in the first place. It is generated from the Rhodes community and delivered back to it. The news, opinions, ideas, events, and pictures that are contained in the Sou'wester are all a product of our collective community. What the Sou'wester staff and writers do is simply take that information, organize it, and present it back to the community.
As editor, I have strived to make sure that we collect and disseminate that information in an objective manner, while also trying to focus on issues which are significant and engaging to the campus community. You can judge the results for yourself, but I'm proud of what the Sou'wester has accomplished during the year and a half during which I have served as editor-in-chief. Through the hard work of our staff and writers, the Sou'wester has created thesouwester.org, a website we released last semester, as well as covered topics such as sexual preference, diversity, sexuality, and alcohol use on campus.
On a more personal level, working as editor has given me a broader appreciation of the Rhodes community. I still retain some of the cynicism with which I regarded Rhodes as a freshman and sophomore, but I have also come to respect the hard work and virtue of Rhodes staff, students and faculty. I may not completely agree with everyone's vision for Rhodes, but I respect the fact that they have the best intentions.
I have also had the pleasure of working with the dedicated individuals who make the Sou'wester possible. The staff and writers of this newspaper put in a tremendous amount of effort every week, and it is impossible to overemphasize how much I appreciate their hard work.
Ralph Macdonald, formerly our A&E editor, will be taking over the editor-in-chief position starting after spring break. I have complete confidence that he will be able to rise to the challenge of the editor's position. It is at times frustrating, but it is never boring. And in the future, when the staff of the Sou'wester listens to "Thriller" and makes that phone call to the printer (hopefully at an earlier hour than we have managed during my time as editor) I trust that the newspaper they are handing over to our readers will be a factual, informative, and engaging reflection of the campus community.
It's impossible to escape that feeling because despite the enormous amount of energy, time, and effort which the Sou'wester staff, writers, and myself put into the newspaper every week, once we send it to the printer it is beyond our control. By the time you, our reader, picks up the Sou'wester it effectively belongs to the community. Through reading and discussing the content of the newspaper, the Rhodes community extends ownership over it.
But the Sou'wester was never really property of the staff, writers, or myself in the first place. It is generated from the Rhodes community and delivered back to it. The news, opinions, ideas, events, and pictures that are contained in the Sou'wester are all a product of our collective community. What the Sou'wester staff and writers do is simply take that information, organize it, and present it back to the community.
As editor, I have strived to make sure that we collect and disseminate that information in an objective manner, while also trying to focus on issues which are significant and engaging to the campus community. You can judge the results for yourself, but I'm proud of what the Sou'wester has accomplished during the year and a half during which I have served as editor-in-chief. Through the hard work of our staff and writers, the Sou'wester has created thesouwester.org, a website we released last semester, as well as covered topics such as sexual preference, diversity, sexuality, and alcohol use on campus.
On a more personal level, working as editor has given me a broader appreciation of the Rhodes community. I still retain some of the cynicism with which I regarded Rhodes as a freshman and sophomore, but I have also come to respect the hard work and virtue of Rhodes staff, students and faculty. I may not completely agree with everyone's vision for Rhodes, but I respect the fact that they have the best intentions.
I have also had the pleasure of working with the dedicated individuals who make the Sou'wester possible. The staff and writers of this newspaper put in a tremendous amount of effort every week, and it is impossible to overemphasize how much I appreciate their hard work.
Ralph Macdonald, formerly our A&E editor, will be taking over the editor-in-chief position starting after spring break. I have complete confidence that he will be able to rise to the challenge of the editor's position. It is at times frustrating, but it is never boring. And in the future, when the staff of the Sou'wester listens to "Thriller" and makes that phone call to the printer (hopefully at an earlier hour than we have managed during my time as editor) I trust that the newspaper they are handing over to our readers will be a factual, informative, and engaging reflection of the campus community.
Be the first to comment on this story