| OPINION
| DECEMBER 2, 2005
Ongoing Legacy
The semester is over, but The
Shorthorn isn’t
Thursday, I began to clean out my editor-in-chief
office at The Shorthorn.
It may take awhile, considering all the stuff I’ve accumulated
during the semester. I have mounds of business cards and countless
binders full of papers I haven’t looked at in more than three
months. I have yet to disassemble my “lamp” (Christmas
lights wrapped around a coatrack).
Before I move back to my design editor cubicle where I will live
in the spring, I’ll rearrange The Associated Press Stylebooks
and phone books. I’ll take down picture frames and throw away
the box of Cheerios that may have been here longer than I have.
Today, my lucky bamboo will finally leave the office and see sunlight
again for the first time since the middle of August.
Among all the crazy things I found during the cleaning frenzy are
copies of Shorthorn issues from earlier this semester and printouts
of pages with correction markings.
We faced issues ranging from Hurricane Katrina to the tragic death
of a student. The wheelchair basketball team beat the defending
national champions, and a porn star came to campus. A Plus Minus
grading system was proposed, as was a flat-rate tuition system.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens with both.
Even The Shorthorn changed this semester. We introduced the comic
strip Noodles that ran every Wednesday. Sudoku was added to the
classified section, giving bored students something to do during
classes, after they have finished reading the articles, of course.
We continued The Shorthorn legacy that began in 1919.
I can’t describe the happiness I felt each time I saw someone
reading The Shorthorn this semester. It was more than knowing people
were recognizing the hours the staff spent putting the paper together;
it was pride in knowing people care about their fellow students
and what’s going on with the university.
It’s the goal of The Shorthorn to be the first and best news
source on campus. I hope we have lived up to that goal this semester.
Thank you for reading The Shorthorn. Thank you for your input and
suggestions. I hope they will continue next semester. The back-to-school
issue will hit stands Jan. 17, the first day of classes —
look for it.
Until then, have a good holiday break. Get some rest, and spend
some time with family. And, above all, if you have lucky bamboo,
make sure it gets some sunlight.
— Reneé Gatons is a public relations senior and editor
in chief for The Shorthorn
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