The semester began with several revolutionary changes. First, we eliminated the use of courtesy titles in columns and editorials (Mr. and Ms.). Then we told the copy editors to allow writers to use italics for stylistic purposes. As for the writing itself — whatever. People are certainly more interested in how words look than what words say.
And so ends the Clegg-Craver Opinion Page coalition. It was hard. It was frustrating. Some of you made our lives a living hell. Then again, the former state chair of Students for McCain no longer submits columns to this paper on a regular basis.
You left offensive and profanity-laden comments on the online section that we’d overlook and then get criticized for approving. You whined when we took too long to approve your comments.
You submitted letters to the editor with logic so dubious that we sometimes felt our page was mistaken for a massive graffiti wall. Some of the conclusions you drew were so comical they became almost impossible to avoid referencing on a daily basis. Before Election Day you submitted guest column after guest column urging us to (surprise!) vote, as if somebody without the motivation to participate in the nation’s political process would for some reason read the 800 words you wrote about how great that process is.
But isn’t that what journalism is all about? An imperfect world will logically lead to imperfect commentary in the Opinion Section.
But fear not readers. It’s not your fault. It’s their fault.
We live in a country where leaders legitimize stupid ideas, from a president who wants to write discrimination into our Constitution to a mayor who believes spring can be implemented before the vernal equinox at his word.
They use us; they exploit us.
Which is why we were so proud to preside over a number of writers who understood this. From the liberal, excuse us, progressive Kyle Szarzynski, who commented extensively on Barack Obama’s blatant campaign contradictions, to the conservative Ryan Masse, who appropriately ridiculed the Healthy Wisconsin plan, which would have cost state taxpayers a whopping $15 billion.
Gerald Cox gave a thoughtful and intellectually stimulating defense of gay marriage from a Christian perspective. Conversely, Sean Kittridge decried the influence of religion in law, citing the death of a girl at the hands of parents whose religious beliefs forbade them from administering proper medicine.
These were just a few of the moments that made us proud during our time editing. Not all papers can boast an Ayn Rand objectivist on staff, and most attempt but tragically fail to find intelligent and articulate anarchists to write.
Even the writers who were less politically inclined affirmed our faith in the ability of the UW campus to produce genius. Todd Jasperson wrote eloquently about livestock smugglers in Wisconsin and a drunken driver in Indiana who would make the average Wisconsinite feel sober. And despite criticism, the two articles we ran on Lucky apartment complex discussed crucial generational shifts that every college student should appreciate, for better or worse.
Another one of our moves that brought controversy was our decision to remove the college political organizations from biweekly spots on the page. Again, we did this in the spirit of opening up the dialogue to the opinions of students, as well as to drive competition for more substantive discussion of the issues by political leaders, who are still welcome to submit guest columns but are not entitled to a scheduled campaign spot.
Only one of us is sticking around. Craver, who will be in France next semester, will be replaced by Joey Labuz, who allegedly read “A Separate Peace” in Spanish. His Spanish skills will unlikely be extraordinarily useful in the context of his new job; however, his uncanny skill with crossword puzzles will be a welcome replacement of Craver’s spell-check-dependant editorship.
The most important thing you guys can do is seriously consider writing for the Herald. If you enjoy writing and you have opinions, it can’t hurt to submit a piece. 600-800 words. Preferably about a local topic. Just do it.
