Obviously, this is the time of year where that phrase “back to school,” sales and textbook fees are abundant to the point of annoyance. However, I’m going to skip all that and chat about something that normally doesn’t come up until autumn: change. The changes being made around campus are not only noticeable to returning students, but to the freshmen and transfer students as well, thanks to various construction rigs blocking off a good portion of Recitation Hall. Speed humps have been constructed on the two crosswalks in front of Sykes Student Union. Stone has been installed along the lower block of Church Street…for some reason. Perhaps due to massive complaint of students who have been literally “stuck in the mud” crossing Church Street after a rainstorm? I thought that was what crosswalks were for….
And lastly, one of the more noticeable changes to this campus – Ramsey and Sanderson buildings are no more! I know that we’ve imagined the dorms gone for quite some time now, but during my time living in West Chester over summer, the rubble was cleared bit by bit from the foundations of the sites leaving nothing but two blank spots of ground flanking the sides of Lawrence Dining Hall [maybe now WCU will finally forward my proposal of a campus helicopter, since we have the landing zone cleared].
My point to all this is that change is more constant than the turning of leaves or seasons. And of course, I’m going to tie this into our beloved student newspaper, The Quad…
The Quad is changing. We already have a new logo, thanks to our new Art Director, and we’re planning on switching printers, which will give us an entirely new look. We’ve also had the largest staff turnover this semester than I’ve seen in my time here, and everyone is enthusiastic about making the paper better for the students. This is where all of you come in —
We want to know what you, the student body, want in your paper. As much as we love our advisor, Dr. Thompsen, we’re proud that The Quad can call itself a completely student-run newspaper: “by the students, for the students.” So tell us what you want!
How do you do that? [Insert mental image of Vanna White in displaying-something mode here]1) Come see us at the Involvement Fair on Sept. 8. We’ll have various editors staffing our table throughout the entire five-hour-fair. Come by and find out what we’re about, browse through some recent issues, and tell us what you would like to see.
2) Come to one of our meetings. We hold meetings in our office [2nd floor of Sykes] every Tuesday from 3:30 to 4 p.m. These meetings are open to absolutely everyone on campus – whether you write for us, want to write for us, or just want to see what’s coming up in The Quad.
3) E-mail us. Our website [wcuquad.com] lists our entire staff and how to contact each of us.
Here’s to a new school year, with all the changes it may or may not bring!
peace to you all,
-tara t.