The
ugly side of a great change
The newspaper that you are holding in your
hands right now, the On-line Forty-Niner,
is not going to be the same newspaper again.
Hold on, do not panic: the change is a change
for the better. The Forty-Niner Task Force,
which is a faculty-only committee formed
by the journalism department Chairman William
Babcock, decided to make the newspaper an
independent student publication, starting
in Fall 2003.
Well, what does this mean? It means that
next year, regardless of department or major
studies, every student will be able to write
for the Forty-Niner.
I personally feel sympathetic toward the
decision of the journalism department. I
think that it is, indeed, a wise decision.
You see, I am not actually a print journalism
major; the emphasis of my major is public
relations, which is a place I am proud being
part of. In this sense, I am alien to the
newsroom. I simply write my weekly column
and turn it in to my editor; she takes care
of the rest. However, I still feel accomplished
because I know that I contributed something
to the campus community.
So, to see new people from various departments
share their perspectives and stories with
the rest of the school community would be
an exciting feeling. Can you imagine the
joy of reading such an independent newspaper,
after all, which is highly diverse in content?
I whole-heartedly agree with what Chris
Burnett said, “In the long run, we are going
to be a lot better off.” And, I encourage
every member of the campus community - including
you, the reader - to take advantage of the
new change by sharing his or her writing
talents with the Forty-Niner.
However, there is another side to the change
about which I feel very resentful, and it
concerns the very process of how the policymaking
was handled. I rail against the fact that
student editors, who are the essence of
this newspaper, without whom the paper would
be nothing, were denied the right to vote
on the proposal.
Dr. Babcock is a fine chairman who has done
positive things for the journalism department,
including this new change. However, the
fact that he denied student editors the
right to vote on the proposal, just because
of a potential conflict of interest, is
an unwise way of thinking, one that opposes
the fundamental principle of journalism:
the freedom of expression.
This despotic way of policymaking, the journalism
faculty must know, is not appreciated by
students. The newspaper, after all, is the
cherished product of their persistent hard
work, and student editors fully deserve
to be on the committee. I believe, like
William Mulligan, that the students were
treated unfairly.
What concerns me even more is to know that
editors Alisha Gomez and Kimberly Pasquis,
to protest the lack of student representation,
resigned their positions for next semester.
They are excellent editors, who had done
an amazing job of leading the newspaper
this semester. All I want to say is that,
regardless of the circumstances, Alisha
and Kimberly should stay because - maybe
not the faculty but - students and the rest
of the school community need them.
Nonetheless, dear readers, the new change
is a change that will benefit you. We have
a fresh On-line Forty-Niner awaiting everyone
next year, and your valuable input is anticipated.
Barlas Esin is a journalism major and philosopy
minor at Cal State Long Beach. He can be
contacted at besin@csulb.edu.
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