Page 77 - Phoenix2002-03

COMMENTARY Wednesday, November 20, 2002 - Page 5 An advisor's farewell to the current editors Terry Dalton praises The been one or two editors whose majority two semesters was plenty. readers after the paper appeared on Phoenix editors for a job judgment] did not always have Putting out the paper every two campus Wednesday afternoon. well done. faith in. weeks is often a troublesome Most people, of course, offered no But most of the other top editors endeavor. Reporters sometimes feedback at all. Every now and then, one of my have been like the two current co- miss their deadlines. Section Others might compliment them faculty colleagues asks me why I editors-in-chief, seniors Ed editors don't always show up to do on an article, editorial or the color allowed a certain story or Schultheis and Matt Hurff. If The layout. Computers and printers fail photos that graced our photograph or commentary to Phoenix were a jewelry store, Ed at the worst possible moments. The Homecoming issue last month. appear in The Phoenix, McDaniel's and Matt would be diamonds. Big adviser pesters editors with Non-student reaction, what there biweekly student newspaper. Or eleventh-hour story ideas. And so was of it, tended to be fairly why 1 didn't catch an especially However, the store's hours are on. negative, which has also been my As I waited in the Forum for grievous error in the paper. nearly up now, and this edition of Through it all, these two experience, ere 30 seconds to register fo T patiently explain to these The Phoenix is their last one. Ifind managed to retain their spirit, their If journalists at any level relied critics that, contrary to what they it hard to picture this newspaper level-headedness, and their sense on positive reader feedback 10 keep lasses, one word came to mind I may think my job is, I am not the without Hurff and Schultheis at the of humor. And they always got the them going, most of them would escrihe my final class registration inersweet. editor of The Phoenix. Or the controls. They practically live in paper out. be dead in their tracks by now. It publisher. Or the owner. I am the newspaper office, that cozy So what's the bigdea!' you ask? just doesn't happen very much. On one hand, it was sad to real ze that next semester would be m simply the adviser. In saluting the work of these est. In that capacity, I try to provide If journalists at any level relied on positive two wonderful student-journalists, a lot of advice, but [ see very little reader feedback to keep them going, most who have been so incredibly easy But on the other hand. it w; of what appears in the paper prior to work with, I would also like to lso a moment of relief lind happi to its publication. And that's the of them would be dead in their tracks by welcome the folks who will be css to know that soon the trial way I like it. Yes, it can be painful replacing them. nd tribulations of paper writing to see bad mistakes in the paper. now. It just doesn't happen very much. The new co-editors-in-chief are eSI taking, and the endless sylla us-assigned Or to read a commentary that] junior Erin Romanski, another ver. reading would b wish had been expressed in a little space around the comer from Getting the paper out meant putting valued veteran of the commentary different way, a less hurtful way. Gtar next to the soda machines. in dozens of hours every-other section, and sophomore LeRoy In all honesty, I am just plai Those misgivings aside.J remain a Matt has been co-editor-in- weekend. McDuffie, who has handled editing ired. J am tired of being confine staunch opponent of what is chief for the past two semesters. And a "weekend" on the student jobs in both news and sports over nside classroom walls and bein commonly called "prior review" - Before that, he helped run the newspaper calendar does not mean the past three semesters. old what to read and when. I or examining newspaper content commentary and sports sections, Saturday and Sunday. That was Erin and LeRoy are ready for ired of stressing out over mine hings. before it leaves campus en route to He has been a superlative when they go t started. The the challenge and are backed by a the printer. member of the staff for three years, finishing part usually happened solid, if not overly large nucleus of Iam tired of allthat comes wi Prior review is often a a reassuring and steady hand on a sometime between I and 5 a.m. staff members ranging from ing lin overachiever. I am tire euphemism for censorship, and no ship that has not always sailed in Tuesday morning when they took freshmen to seniors. f only being able to work a part newspaper adviser worth a plug calm seas. their 16 pages of news, sports, But more help is needed, so if ime minimum wage job and th nickel wants to get into that line of Ed's tenure has even exceeded features and commentaries to you have any interest in becoming onstani reminders of school loan work. Censorship, at any level of Matt's, and dates to the first Centaur Press in Westminster, part of student journalism at nd other bills that 1 will soon hav journalism, is about as American as semester of his freshman year. He, exhausted but proud. o start paying. Saddam Hussein. too, had been a stalwart with the Typically, Ed would leave me a McDaniel, please give Erin or Most of alii am tired ofbelng LeRoy a call, or stop by my office But there's another reason why commentary section before rising phone message that I'd listen to in in 217 Hill. And remember, your ectlOOistwhoisreminded . I resist the temptation to go over to the top rung of the paper - a my office about 9 o'clock Tuesday work for The Phoenix won't be time spin that DO one . stories, etc. in The Phoenix prior position he has occupied for four morning, giving me the exact time examined by the adviser prior to ect and that there is no ratio to publication. It's called trust. consecutive semesters. of delivery. Then, after a few hours publication. Unless, of course, you ason why one should be a per Simply put, Itrust the editors to do Since 1990, the year I arrived of sleep, they'd be off to class. want me to. ecticnist So in a sense, all perfectionist, the right thing. And they usually do. on campus, no other Phoenix editor Remarkably, almost nothing -Terry Dalton is a re just plain Irrational. During my dozen-plus years of has served more than three seemed to really bother them. Not journalism professor and There advising this newspaper, there have semesters in a row, and for the vast even the feedback they'd get from advisor to The Phoenix n the Forum were all of three peopI when I ar Big picture is often ignored during finals ived at 9 a.m. [was in and out a !O register ere in only tWO minutes. With finals looming in the not believe. things I do to it. countless times in the past, I've This was unlike freshman year so distant future, I've begun to ask Seriously. though, with every- To a similar end, Iam glad that found it bears repeating more and hen my registration time wa an ound 12 p.m. OIl a Thursday myself a question that has surely thing taken into consideration, it's most of those I love still have their more everyday of my college life; he line into the Porum stretche plagued philosophers since the be- good to be alive, especially when health as well. It is great to have spent these past !' far back as Glar. ginning of time: Do finals RE- the alternative is factored in. While it seems to be a lot to ask three years at Western Maryland And II lunch line had begun t ALLY matter? As someone who lost a very for those around you be healthy and College (that's not a typo, folks), orm. so there were students line All right, so maybe this ques- happy most of the time, I seem to and I look forward to spending the tion has only plagued slacker col- have this going for me, and for that, rest of my senior year on its cam- rp WHiting for their turn at regis ation or to get into Glar. lege students such as me since the I am also quite thankful. pus. beginning of time, but it is still a Of course, none of the above Here, I've learned more than I Incidentally, the lunch lin would mean much of anything if I could have ever hoped or dreamed ~oved faster than the registnuio question worth examining. me. didn't have people to care about in of, both inside the classroom and Now, before anyone gets out of the first place, and for those people out (mostly out. it would some- If r recall correctly, I waite control about this, let me say that I I care about, I am thankful. times seem), and for that Iam truly omething like an hour in that line do, in fact, understand and respect lowe a tremendous amount of and FOREVER thankful. My final registration marked the surface value of final exams. ltd of an era. After all, we are all bere credit and thanks to my family and So, there is a mere sample of 10 s to, above all else, achieve in our lowe a the list of things for which I am Soon I will not 00 here that don' studies and make the best out of the thankful for in life, and I seem to bunges made to things nor will I ced 10 be changed, $27,000 we spend to stay here ev- tremendous amount add new things every day. round to see those things that nee of this, In light I seriously ery year. I of credit and thanks doubt something so temporary as o be changed go unchanged. However, Ido worry that some- Most of you will understan times people lose sight of the big Mike Wiles to my family and final exams should get anyone vhat J urn referring to without giv down. As long as we all keep our picture in life, especially around dear family member this year, I've friends ... eyes on the big picture, life should ng an example or two. this time of year. come to see just how important and be that much more manageable for However, just because 1 hav So, I wanted to briefly reflect nuduated does nor mean I will no upon a few "big picture" issues valuable living this life, despite its friends (even those I can only stand all of us. 'erne back once in a while. about half the lime), and I could not Oh, one more thing I am thank- (Mom and Dad: after I do this re- many hardships, is. I look forward to returning n Also, I must say it ls good to have made it this far in life with- ful for: this column. Without it, I flecting, J'1l get back to studying. -ampns periodically for Home have my health. Even when every- out them. would have surely spent the last Promise). thing else seems to fail me in day- What is more, I know they will hour or so studying. So thanks, oh oming, alumni events, and othe Ironically (or not), fall semes- all conti.nuc to help me make the ctivities hcre on The Hill to-day life (read: I seem to fail ev- ter finals occur during a time of erything in day-to-day life), my most of myself, and for that as well, so great First Amendment. year where we should all be thank- body seems to have decided to stick I am truly thankful. -Mike Wiles is a senior Staci George is a senior ful for what we have. with me, despile the downright evil And, although I've said it English major ommunications major. Or so Hallmark would have us