Travis Marmon
I have been on the Voice editorial staff since early in my freshman year. In that time I have seen great writers and editors come and go, some articles lauded and others heavily criticized. The identity and feel of the paper changes practically every semester. But one thing that is always constant is a series of questions, criticisms and misconceptions that need to be cleared up every year (if not every week). Recent events may have amplified these mistaken ideas about what the Voice’s role on campus is, but I feel that these need to be corrected sooner or later. So today I’m writing to clear the air of mystery surrounding our newspaper.
First of all, and this cannot be emphasized enough, we always have been and always will be a student-run newspaper. We are not an administrative puppet. The extent of our affiliation with administration includes: one, Dr. Nancy Grace answering journalistic questions we might have and occasionally forwarding emails to us; and, two, editor-in-chief applicants interviewing with the Publications Committee, who have no say whatsoever in the final hiring decision. That’s it. The deans have nothing to do with us. President Cornwell has nothing to do with us. If they did, we certainly wouldn’t be as hard on them as we have been during my entire time on staff.
Which brings me to my next point: it is not our job to make the College look good. Our entire purpose is to inform you, the readers, of what is going on around campus, warts and all. Tour guides grab issues of the Voice at their own risk. If they happen to pick up one with an article about the College being a bad return on its investment on the front page, that is not our problem. If anything, we pride ourselves on being honest about the College and not just writing eight pages of fluff every week. We know that students don’t love every single thing about this school, so why should we act like it’s a utopia?
This next misconception has been baffling me a lot lately: we do not write the security briefs. I will never understand why students think that we determine what goes in that box every week. Do people think that we hang out in the Wellness Center every weekend waiting for underage drinkers to come in? Do you see us on Beall Avenue recording every slur shouted from a passing vehicle? Security and Protective Services sends us security reports, and we edit them for spelling. That is all. Also, as much as we all like to have a laugh at certain security briefs once in a while, they are not a joke. The purpose of security briefs, much like that of a police blotter in your local newspaper, is to keep you informed and aware of the things that happen here for your own safety. Yes, sometimes it’s a frat house setting off a fire alarm by burning popcorn, but just because silly things happen doesn’t make assaults and harassment any less important. They just share a box because they are all security matters.
Finally, we are open to constructive criticism and suggestions. As a “voice” for the student body, we encourage you all to share your ideas with us. It’s why our email addresses are plastered all over the paper. We’re also glad to discuss the Voice in person — in fact, many of us rarely shut up about it. We just relish the fact that you bother to read our free newspaper that we bust our asses on a weekly basis. We don’t get paid to do this. Just knowing that you read the Voice and it actually made you think about something is much appreciated. We know we’re not perfect and that we can’t cover every story on campus (having a Tuesday deadline for a Friday release does that), but we always want to improve.