re we unpopular? :

1 was a time when I was feeling a bit depressed about the future of the

paper. As the summer semester came to a close, the OP was rather understaffed .

   

and underappreciated. We weren’t getting many contributors, a lot of our

_ articles were sub-par, and the paper seemed to suffer from an overall lack of
fresh ideas and new blood.

Thankfully, things have made a decided change fe the better in recent

- months. We hired a dynamic new sports editor, Garth McLennan, who has
consistently churned out some great stories for our once dormant sports
sections. We’ ve also seen the rise of the LOLeriffic “Other” News section

thanks to the great work of our own resident T. Herman Zweibel, “Salty” Liam —

Britten. And some talented new regular columnists have emerged, like Ducan .
DeLotenzi, Patrick MacKenzie, and Mark oe

   

OSE AEE

 

Our “cash for features” eimmick seems to on ee off a eaiegly
as well. We now offer $50 to anyone who writes us a decent article of over
1,500 words, and judging from recent issues, students have responded most
my to the incentive.
_ And of course the regular OP staff hasn’t been disappointing either. Fine

opinions continued to be churned out by the ever-sassy Dr. Sex... er, I mean,

Laura Kelsey, and one can’t beat Luke Simcoe’s coverage of awesome indie

_ bands I’ve never heard of.

Despite it all, it would still be a stretch to say the Other Press is a hue

success. We're successful and competent at what we do, but people aren’t —
exactly banging down our doors to get involved. Even letters to the editor are

rare. It’s not just an OP problem, though. Hell, last week the SFU newspaper

had to run letters to the editor from other schools just to fill the space. And of _

course one can’t talk to a student politician these days without hearing weepy
tales of five percent voter turnouts and below quorum meetings. __

If I may take a page from Hillary Clinton’s book, I’d like to start a
conversation on this subject. Why do you believe students aren’t as interested -
in things like student newspapers and student government as much as they used:

to be 20 or 30 years ago?

Obviously we all have busy lives of our own, and we have: to pick and choose
our priorities amid an already packed schedule of work, school, family, and
friendship obligations. But what’s made student stuff fall so far to the bottom of

- the scale? |

_ It puzzles me, because from a student perspective I don’t tisk the social :
environment is much different now than it was in past decades. The issues

may be different, but there are still a lot of important debates to discuss, and

 

a consistent lack of forums for youth opinions to be heard. Similarly, there is
certainly no shortage of ambitious young people with solutions and ideas to
share. So why are student papers and student unions so unpopular? _

Are we perceived as too elitist? Too intimidating? Too irrelevant? Let me

   

know, dear readers.

J.J. McCullough

_ Editor in Chief of the Other Press

EEE SRS NS EE RSS UE SIN RES

 

 

Intorestei in current events? Like to dig up dirt?

f well then, perhaps you should

/ BECOME THE OTHER PRESS’

Tepontng Writing! Actual money!

Earn $240 per month as a student AS
Email J.J. at editor. otherpress@gmail. com