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Page 4 Clarion The Clarion | November 14, 2008 Want more BC news? Help us out! by John Padgett Contributor Did you catch the article in The Clarion recently about Lizzie Borden’s trial, as re enacted by Pastimes, the History Club at Brevard College? What about the article updating you on actions taken by the college’s Board of Trustees at their meeting last month? Or recent actions by SGA? Or if you missed those articles, have you at least read any reviews of current movies or music CDs in The Clarion? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, it’s probably because none of these articles have actually appeared lately in the pages of The Clarion. In fact, lots of things happen at Brevard College that never make it into the pages of the student newspaper, for all kinds of reasons—including deadline pressures, lack of space, and not enough time to get around to certain articles. But the main reason some things don’t get covered in the newspaper is that no one bothers to write about it and submit it to the newspaper Sometimes the shortfall comes from a staff member who says he or she will write about something and then never follows through—or submits an article too late, after the deadhne. Other times, however—and this is important to understand—no one else who is not on the staff bothers to write about it either The Clarion, to be sure, has a small staff. In the past five issues, 42 articles with bylines were written by just 10 regular staff writers, a number which does not include articles by “contributors” (people who are not regular staff members). And even for these staff- written articles, most were written by just four staff members: II by Johimy “Stats” Lange, 10 by Joe Chilton, and four each by Backo Babic and M. A. Dozier In other words, every other staff writer had three articles or fewer in the past five issues. Less than one article each week. Clarion staff members obviously do need to step up and contribute more, but in the meantime, the rest of you—readers of The Clarion—can likewise do more to ensure that this newspaper continues to live up to its mission of serving the Brevard College community, as it has since 1935. Here is what you can do to help: • Write and contribute articles. This may seem a no-brainer, but any time your club or organization is doing something significant—sponsoring a tournament, hosting a speaker, planning a service project or fund-raiser—why not write an article about it and send it to The Clarion? Orbetteryet, two articles—one to preview the event before it happens, and another to report about the event after it has happened. Which leads to another point... • Plan ahead. That is, look at a calendar and plan according to the Clarion’s publication schedule and deadhnes. The paper comes out on Friday, but the deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. the Wednesday before—so if you want to let the campus know about an event to occur, say, next Thursday, you would need to submit your preview article at least eight days prior (Wednesday the week before) for it to appear in the paper the Friday before your event. So plan ahead. • Write letters to the editor. Most newspapers, college or otherwise, welcome readers’ letters for their Opinion page, and The Clarion is no exception. We get so few, however, that you may not realize that we run readers’ letters. If you have a strong opinion about something, anything from the state of the global economy to the need for spicy fries at every meal in the caf, why not state your case in a letter to the editor? • Let editors and staff members know what’s going on. Another way you can help The Clarion is simply to let staff members know when news happens. Get in touch with an editor or a staff writer and tell them about it. • Join the Clarion staff. Finally, of course, there is the option of formally becoming a member of The Clarion staff. You can even get academic credit for it by enrolhng in COM 106 (section 01), though you can be a staff member simply by showing up at meetings and writing articles on a regular basis. This semester, staff meetings are at 9:30 a.m. onMondays inMG 115. Next semester, meetings will take place at 12:30 p.m. on Mondays. All students are welcome to attend meetings. By the way. The Clarion needs more than just reporters. We also need business people, photographers, cartoonists, and layout/ design staff as well. So get involved. Do your part. And help The Clarion do a better job reporting the news, sports, arts and life at Brevard College. Dr. John B. Padgett is the faculty advisor for The Clarion. 885-7886 or 1 '800-395-help w^vi>.br«v/4indwo4t>ert$o$nter,com
Brevard College Student Newspaper
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Nov. 14, 2008, edition 1
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