The Voice
The Coverdell Institute, through the American Democracy Project, and the New York Times have joined forces to bring a new service to students, faculty and staff at GC&SU.
Five days a week, the New York Times will be delivered to campus in boxes that will be placed in racks neighboring The Colonnade’s. It’s a program many are excited about, but we’re thinking twice about what it means for us, and the university community.
Faculty members have expressed a desire to have these papers on campus and, for newspaper people like us, that’s exciting. While their style is not usually flashy or visually interesting, their standards of design and content stretch across generations of journalists, often setting the bar of quality.
The New York Times is not an MTV publication. The articles are not always easy or fun to read. The pictures are not always the most interesting. The content of the New York Times, to some, is boring.
We challenge readers to find interest in the 20 page gray space of words, photos and designs of the New York Times. Raise your awareness. Read something you’ve never read about. Students might be surprised at how applicable some of the stories are to our lives.
A liberal arts education is based on discussion and debate. The New York Times, by distributing on campus, is empowering our students with fodder for classroom discussions. There has never been an excuse to be out-of-the-know, but now that one of the best newspapers in the world is just around the corner, the tired truth of student apathy in classroom discussion should end.
A new newspaper on campus means more competition for us. We, by no means, believe we are equal to the New York Times, but papers are papers, and we definitely don’t want community members, particularly students, going to the racks on Friday and choosing to grab a New York Times and ignoring The Colonnade.
The fine folks at the New York Times say placing a rack next to ours will increase readership. Prove them right. We’re still your source for campus news.
After all, you’ll never see a bout between President Leland and SGA on the cover of the New York Times. You’ll never read about Milly Vegas, GC&SU budget cuts, parking, or GC&SU Public Safety on their page one.
You can come to us for that and more, here at The Colonnade. We’ve been here for you and so far, you’ve proven you’ve been there for us.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Feb 18 2005. Filed under Our Voice.
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