2008 Woodie Awards
Alumna responds to recent events
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Letters to the editor
I'm writing today to first congratulate the Cauldron staff on a job well done during the past year. You have covered tough stories in tough times, facing resistance from all sides.
It was with sadness that I learned that the student government, and by extension the student body, had handed over financial control and general oversight of the Cauldron to a university administrator (and in doing so put a number of other campus organizations in a bind) in the form of an ill-defined publications board. Based on my seven-plus years of experience in scholastic journalism, I can honestly say that I believe this is the first step toward administrative control and censorship of the student press.
It is a real shame that the students of the University of St. Thomas have allowed this shifting of control from student to administrative hands to happen. The Cauldron is the students' newspaper, not the administration's newspaper, and the student body should fiercely defend that role.
The primary responsibility of the press is to serve as a watchdog who keeps an eye on the government. This is true whether that press be the largest national paper monitoring the actions of the federal government or the smallest college paper monitoring the actions of the campus administration and student government. The ability of the Cauldron to do that is being threatened, and only the students can change that.
I hope the university community--students, administrators, faculty and staff--still strive, as they did when I was a student, to have the best university possible. Without an independent student press, however, that dream will never be a reality. An independent student press is necessary at any university that wishes to prepare students to be good citizens.
Despite the resistance the Cauldron staff must continue to cover the hard stories, keeping an eye on the truth and serving as a watchdog for the student body. And the student body must defend the Cauldron's right to do that. As Walter Lippman said, "There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and shame the devil." Kudos to the Cauldron for following that law.
Valerie Prilop
Class of 1998
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Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Cauldron editorial staff. All other columns and opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the author.
It was with sadness that I learned that the student government, and by extension the student body, had handed over financial control and general oversight of the Cauldron to a university administrator (and in doing so put a number of other campus organizations in a bind) in the form of an ill-defined publications board. Based on my seven-plus years of experience in scholastic journalism, I can honestly say that I believe this is the first step toward administrative control and censorship of the student press.
It is a real shame that the students of the University of St. Thomas have allowed this shifting of control from student to administrative hands to happen. The Cauldron is the students' newspaper, not the administration's newspaper, and the student body should fiercely defend that role.
The primary responsibility of the press is to serve as a watchdog who keeps an eye on the government. This is true whether that press be the largest national paper monitoring the actions of the federal government or the smallest college paper monitoring the actions of the campus administration and student government. The ability of the Cauldron to do that is being threatened, and only the students can change that.
I hope the university community--students, administrators, faculty and staff--still strive, as they did when I was a student, to have the best university possible. Without an independent student press, however, that dream will never be a reality. An independent student press is necessary at any university that wishes to prepare students to be good citizens.
Despite the resistance the Cauldron staff must continue to cover the hard stories, keeping an eye on the truth and serving as a watchdog for the student body. And the student body must defend the Cauldron's right to do that. As Walter Lippman said, "There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and shame the devil." Kudos to the Cauldron for following that law.
Valerie Prilop
Class of 1998
-----------------------------------------------------
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Cauldron editorial staff. All other columns and opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the author.