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Show Majority Of One e, Btoy i3, ms 5 f" Council: A Maer Of An 'In' Decision year, they were merely sophomores. sopho-mores. Free Press After completing the pep talk and tracting, we began to discuss the freedom of the high school press. The teacher informed us high school papers couldn't be too lax, because the paper was a training ground in the essentials rather than a place for experimentation. It is in college, we were told, where the experimentation takes place. At least that is what some of us have been led to believe. But even that assumption may no longer be true. I often wonder what J. Bauman, based on the views he has expressed, express-ed, would be writing in his columns after the recent activities of the Publications -Council. I think that Last Thursday the Chronicle recruitment re-cruitment tour stopped at the hallowed hal-lowed halls of South High School. The ramps looks about the same as those I used to have to run up and down to get to classes. Amazingly enough all the old hiding places were there and the teachers gave me the same stern looks which I identified with their nature way back in the good old days. The purpose of my visit was billed bill-ed as a Chronicle recruitment drive. Two of my colleagues and myself did our best to stress the multitude of advantages of working for the Chronicle and then we find out most of the students weren't to be coming to the University next once again, he'd attempt to put personalities aside and speak out against the group, because of it's freedom from politics, have seemed to disregard the purpose of this newspaper or any other campus rag. This Is The Point Slowly, but surely, I've come to the point I'd like to make. The Publications Council, in my opinion, has done it again. Their decision to make the editor's contract for a full year seerns to ignore the purpose of the Chrony. Increasing the term of office is supposed to improve the quality of the paper. "Quality of the paper be damned!" The Publications Council Coun-cil seems to have made an evaluation evalu-ation which must have required a great deal of pain. Apparently, the council has chosen the quality of the paper over the once periodically changing experiences which were available to staff members and the University community. The selection of Ralph Mabey as editor last year would have seemed to be based upon another premise. Despite the respect which I have for Ralph, I wouldn't claim the best quality paper available would have resulted through only his appointment. Initially, Ralph had no claim on any blood link with Pulitzer and no direct seances with Hearst. If his appointment was not a step toward ending Taylor type journalism, based on Ralph's political po-litical beliefs, then the appointment must have been on the assumption the editorship and its experiences weren't limited to any one clique and the role of editor was one from which any indivdual could grow and learn. Emphasis Changed Quality seemed secondary to style and experience last year. This year, without any major consultation with , staff members, the term of office was extended. Claims by the council coun-cil that the staff was consulted are ' as valid as the contention any one individual can represent the staff's beliefs. By asking an editor, who was the first in many a year to serve a full year, his opinion and a few others the council chose again to disregard staff sentiment (as the many columns which were written during the ensuing weeks demonstrate) demon-strate) or any view of studentbody. Pub Council has offered to hold a meeting with the staff members to allow staffers the right to air out their disagreements. These can be considered as being a few weeks too late and inappropriate. It is not the purpose of Pub Council to seek views after the fact or if not on that, it isn't proper for the council coun-cil to place itself in a position above the editor. Some Politics My major is political science. Through the Chronicle, this year, I've been able to do everything from write columns to editor's notes, from dummying the editorial page to helping to type up the Calling U's The reason was the staff which we started with at the beginning of the year. As this staff of another becomes firmly meshed into the Chrony machinery, the Horatio Alger story on the staff will become less and less likely. The game of musical chairs and .. hats would be in use les often. It seems a little late to ask for ' a reversal of the laws given from : the mount by the council, instead, - Miss Lobell, I implore you. in a , manner a little more reasonable than some did to Ralph last year, - to shake up your staff periodically. ' On the assumption the Chronicle .. isn't out to gain any Pultizer Prizes, rather to create a few Pultizer Prize journalists. |