Looking back on the past year of my lead-role of the kaleidoscopic Setonian newspaper, I feel as if I have achieved three F’s. These three “F’s” do not necessarily rate the quality of each printed newspaper in 2009, but basically establish a rating of emotion and sentiment. I promise not to bore you with a sentimental reflection. I will merely educate and force you to endure my endless wit and humor one last time as I conclude my final issue as editor in chief of the Setonian.
By Tiffany Gilbert
Editor in Chief
Looking back on the past year of my lead-role of the kaleidoscopic Setonian newspaper, I feel as if I have achieved three F’s. These three “F’s” do not necessarily rate the quality of each printed newspaper in 2009, but basically establish a rating of emotion and sentiment. I promise not to bore you with a sentimental reflection. I will merely educate and force you to endure my endless wit and humor one last time as I conclude my final issue as editor in chief of the Setonian.
The first of the “F’s:” “Fright” originated from day one as my very-educated and well-respected advisor informed me that since I was about to take charge of a student publication; I personally would be liable for each and every piece of information printed in the school newspaper. Then he assured me that there are plenty of lawyers capable of defending student editors. At that moment, I felt like I had the potential to be the juicy antelope appetizer for a pack of hyenas. To be more realistic, the same anxiety and confusion filtered through my brain four years ago when I finally realized after a week of classes that Admin and Maura are in fact connected buildings.
I surely revealed fear the day I first saw a cockroach down in the Setonian office. I had been told there were others that inhabited our workspace, but I had never met any. I do believe the shrieking and lightning-fast dash out the door did provide enough evidence of terror. I was never a huge fan of thumb-sized scuttling critters nor was I a fan of those same deceased critters that clustered together in the paper supply box as a final resting place. Luckily I never had to root through the paper box to replace any printer paper, thus far. Looks like I have left a “present” for future staff members. When they do find it, they can thank me later. I will still be enrolled here another semester.
Once I brushed off the frightening emotions that seemed to envelop my soul, I began to feel my second “F:” “Frustration.” Frustration ultimately replaced the weaker emotion of fear and entered my life. Organizing meetings, assigning articles and photos, meeting deadlines, explaining why deadlines are important, emailing, copy editing, gray scaling photos, flipping through the AP Style book 10,000 times, chasing stragglers, writing replacement articles, identifying anonymous quotes, flipping through the AP Style book again, taking pictures at midnight, and changing misspelled names were just a few of the tasks I had to tackle all at once to make sure one issue of the paper was produced.
I was grateful to have such a helpful staff, but of course classes and homework are other priorities in a full-time student’s life as well so along with commitment, time management was also an essential aspect of paper production. Time management was not always on our side though. I am painfully recalling the instance last semester when we finished production at 5:00 a.m. on a Wednesday morning in April. I remember sleeping on the couch in the lounge for about an hour from 4:00 to 5:00 as Maddie and Chelsea placed a few last minute touches in the layout. That was incredible and I still thank them for their hard work that early morning. As we all three emerged from the dungeon, we were awkwardly greeted by some early morning workers in McKenna confused to find three college students awake before sunrise. Needless to say, I did not attend class three hours later that day. Oops.
One would think those late hours and overly-frustrated workloads would pay off so our loyal readers would have a perfect newspaper to flip through. Wrong. Numerous times, I so proudly pranced into my apartment with a fresh copy of the Setonian. I would gladly share the copy with my enthusiastic roommate who I thought was jumping for joy at the chance to read the latest news. Actually, she ripped through the thin paper like a scavenging raccoon. “What page is the police blotter on?” She inquired.
That brings me to my last achieved “F,” also known as the “finale.” I am not talking about my victory in the hallway chair races we used to have in the bottom of Sullivan at 1:00 in the morning, or the remote-controlled monster truck I borrowed to terrorize the other staff members hard at work. I am talking about the whole enchilada. The entire year, piece by piece, production, newspaper, and staff all wrapped up and rolled together like a burrito (since I am on the Mexican theme). It is one of those things that you do not appreciate until it is all done. I dreaded the hassle and the frustration that set hurdles in my way preventing a smooth production. Once the paper was delivered on Thursday, every three weeks for the past year, I finally felt a sense of accomplishment; regardless if that specific newspaper quality showed it. The staff and I are appreciative for the many compliments from faculty, students and community members. The readers are the reason we interrogate, spy, blackmail, write and produce each Setonian. It really was an exceptional experience and I thank everyone who ever read a 2009 Setonian newspaper, even the police blotter.