July 7, 2008

 

A fond farewell...
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

  
 
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 

 
 

 

O, a rainy afternoon many years ago, two
bright young teenagers took a trip to down to
old Douglas College, located in the heart of
New Westminster. One of them was named
Mathew, and he wanted to be a student. So he
went to the registration office and filled out
some paperwork while his friend sat in the
hallway. Being the curious type, the friend
naturally picked up a copy of the campus
paper and flipped through it aimlessly.
“CARTOONIST WANTED” said one page.
Why, I could do that, the kid thought to
himself. He drew portraits of the prime
minister doing funny things on the back of
some nearby index cards and stuffed them
into the mail slot of the newspaper’s office.
And a week later he was hired.

That’s the story of how I first got
involved at The Other Press which must
have been, geez, six, almost seven years ago
now. I was 18 at the time, and fresh out of
highschool. I’m now 24 and have earned two
degrees from SFU (in fact, this may be as

I’ve never actually been a student at Douglas.
Once I was hired as this paper’s cartoonist I _
simply never went away). My tenure at The

most—too long, probably — but as I look,back
I can honestly say it has been one of the most
enriching and educational experiences of my
life.
Nostalgic “looking back” pieces are
always boring, I realize, and I’m sure you,
Mr. or Miss Average Student Reader, could
probably care less about how I feel about all
learning, living, laughing and loving I’ve
done in my years at this paper. Yet I put my
gushings to print only because I really want
you to understand just how much it pays to
get involved with your student newspaper
while you still have a chance. You meet such
genuinely brilliant and interesting people, and
forge relations that will last, if not a lifetime,
at least well into your professional career.
You read such insightful articles and essays
about all manner of topics, and hopefully
have your mind broadened in the process.

     
 
   
   
  

 
 

’ : _ one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that
good a time as ever to drop my biggest secret:

__ad at the bottom of this page, and check your

: _ Douglas email for more info on how you can = |
Other Press has been a great deal longer than | _  .

_ So yeah, what else can I say? Thanks to

_ everyone who has made my time at Douglas

   
    
   

And, perhaps most importantly of all, you
learn so much about the practicalities of the
newspaper industry, everything from how to
properly capitalize place names to how colour
printing works.

I hand over my job as editor in chief to
the very talented Liam Britten, this paper's
former humour editor. I'l avoid the obvious
clichés about how “he may be funny, but he
takes his job seriously” or whatever, but in
all honesty he has, despite his position, truly
been one of the OP’s most impressive and
skilled editors in the past year, and I have
little doubt that he is a completely worthy
successor.

Laim’s rise occurs simultaneously with a
few departures, including Angela Blattmann,
our longtime production editor, Luke Simcoe,
our almost-equally longtime arts editor, and
Laura Kelsey, our very skilled and spunky
assistant editor. Replacements will thus have
to be hired, and Liam’s team will thus be a
great deal different than mine, but if there’s

this school never fails to disappoint when it

comes to generating talent. Take a look at the

get involved.

 

so special. I hope I leave this paper in a bit
better state that when I started, and I hope
at least sometime in my long career I wrote
something that made you smile, wonder, or
think —even if only for a moment.

Until we meet again,

J.J. McCullough
Editor in Chief

P.S. Er, and don’t forget to read my weekly
column in SFU’s student newspaper, The
Peak, where I now work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Other Press is H ; Ri NGI

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