Newspaper Page Text
%
Wednesday
September 6,
2006
How things work weekly
at the West Georgian
The Editor’s Box
With Bobby Moore
mioore7@my.westga.edu
On a regular basis. I
am asked a lot of questions
about how this newspaper
does its weekly operations,
so 1 would like toclearsome
things up for everyone.
If you are one of
the people who ask me
about some of the things
1 am going to bring up, I
hope that you do not feel
like 1 am calling you out
publicly. 1 am just trying to
make sure we are all on the
same page.
One common question
is how to submit something
to the newspaper.
As far as news goes,
I leave that up to news
editor Kristal Dixon. Her
email address of choice
is kristaldixon@gmail.
com, and she accepts
news submissions as
long as they are turned
in by Saturday at 8 p.m.
For Arts and
Entertainment submissions,
contact Jesse Duke at
zarkme@msn.com. We are
always open to publishing
concert reviews and stories
about local entertainment.
Ray Ross, the sports
editor, could also use some
help. Feel free to contact
him about covering sports
at rrossl@my.westga.edu.
It might be a good idea
to talk to him before you
cover anything just so he
can make sure that you go
through all of the proper
steps that are needed to
cover a sports story.
I handle the Opinion
section. I would prefer to
have submissions in by
Letters to the editor...
Response to Hahn's
union column
Dear editor,
You might want to
get your columnists to
actually have a factual
basis for their rants.
It gives them more
credibility.
This one was both
inaccurate and idealistic.
First of all, it’s
yellow journalism to refer
to a company without
mentioning the name.
I know she was
referring to Air Tran, and
I’m assuming she works
there and that’s why she
cTlfc West Georgian
The University of West Georgia
University Community Center, Room 111
Carrollton, GA, 30118-0070
Editorial Line: (678) 839-6527
Advertising Manager: (678) 839-4783
Editorial E-mail: uwgpaper@westga.edu
Advertising E-mail: paperads@westga.edu
On the web at http://www.thewestgeorgian.com
Opinion
Sunday night at the latest.
1 am all for political
debate, the sharing of
personal experiences and
college life. 1 see no need
to publish anything that
is mean spirited or could
potentially offend a large
segment of the student
body. This is “the student
voice", after all.
Also, 1 am going to
start enforcing the rule
about the length of a letter
to the editor, even if it is
from a school employee.
It would not be fair, for
example, to run a very
lengthy rebuttal to Sarah
Hahn’s article from last
week w hen she only w rote
an average length column.
If you have opinions,
complaints or anything
else, 1 am an easy man
to find. Just email
uwgpaper@westga.edu.
As for the people
who work for the paper,
we are not all Mass
Communications majors.
Larry Peel, whose name
has been all over this
semester’s issues, is not in
the Mass Communications
Program, so we must not
discriminate too much.
We do not run a social
club, either. If you need to
be published for a class, we
will help you out as much
as we can. If you turn in
quality material, it should
get published.
Once you get past
who can submit stories
and where to send them,
there still seems to be
some confusion.
chose not to mention the
name.
Secondly, unions
generally work for
people who work 40
hours a week. 25 hours
a week?!?!? What are
those slave masters at
Air Tran thinking? That’s
borderline cruel and
unusual.
Thirdly, I would like
to know who held a gun to
Sarah’s head and forced her
to market her skills to Air
Tran and what is keeping
her from going somewhere
else to find a job?
Matt Cooke
Assistant SID
Some people seem
to think that they have
to come to our Monday
meetings, the ones in UCC
room 111 at noon with free
pizza, to get assignments.
That is not true.
While we encourage
attendance at our meetings,
we have a Yahoo Group
where ideas are shared
(email me if you want to be
added to it). Also, reporters
work as freelancers, so you
could find your own news
if you have a nose for it.
There is also this
misconception that there
is this free-for-all where
two or three people write
the same story and we use
the best one. In a perfect
world, that might happen,
but as it is now we do not
have enough writers.
Also, we are students,
too. If you come by our
office during the week
and no one is around to
answer the door, do not
take it personally because
I doubt there is a student
run office on campus
where there is always
someone there. We plan
on posting office hours
soon, so that should fix
that problem.
Finally, I must add
that 1 know we have
plenty of room for
improvement. While we
are a learning tool and not
a professional newspaper,
1 think we can really
improve this semester.
Our section editors
work hard and I do not
think that it should be
overlooked that they give
up a lot of their free time on
the w eekend for their jobs.
Now if we do get
better, it might be in spite
of me, since I did spell
“football” with an extra
“b” last week.
Answer to last week’s
Rant and Rave
The question was
posed in The Rant & Rave
(Sept. 30th issue) “When
are the poster people
coming back?” The
answer to that question
is Thursday, September
7th.
Beyond the Wall
Poster Sales will be
outside the UCC from 8
a.m. until 5 p.m. In case
of rain, they will relocate
to inside of the UCC in
room 312.
Cheryl Cash
Auxiliary Services
Bobby Moore, Editor-in-Chief
Stephanie Smith, Advertising & Business Manager
Kristal Dixon, News Editor
Ray Ross, Sports Editor
Jesse Duke, A&E Editor
Josh Grubb, Photo Editor
Rebecca Cheek, Copy Editor
Elizabeth Bounds, Copy Editor
Kevin Dorsey, Distribution Manager
Erik Waters, Webmaster
Doug Vinson, Advisor
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances. ”
First Amendment, United States Constitution
Is limiting paper use
at UWG beneficial?
The View
From My Front Porch
With Larry Peel
larry@ioncinema.com
Somewhere we left
the Information Age
behind, and I missed the
memo. I kind of liked it
there, the new connections
and the all-new ways to
communicate, learn and
even meet people.
My social life went
from nothing to booking
two weeks in advance in
no time Hat.
There were of course
drawbacks to the new
technology, as we all had to
leant to be computer savvy.
The U.S. Postal
Service had to raise the
cost of stamps because
email became all the rage
and everything started
being done online. I guess
that is where the Digital
Age began.
1 don't even get bank
statements in the mail
anymore; I go online
anytime of the day or night
and find out exactly how
broke I am. It is enough to
make trees sigh in relief.
The “paperless
system" has been talked
about for years. The
concept is one of the the
heart and soul issues of
Governor Sonny Perdue’s
tenure at the helm of the
state’s government.
With no pardon for the
pun, “on paper” the idea is
simple and should work
well. Put everything you
possibly can into binary code
and store it in cyberspace
or on giant servers so as to
save the precious resources
of our planet.
Sounds good, eh?
Well, if only it were that
simple. The fact is that
even with the clipboards
that can register the
pressure of digital pens
and servers that can hold
billions of equivalent
sheets of data, there is still
a need for paper copies of
documents.
The University of
West Georgia has begun
attempting to go to a
paperless system as well,
especially in the English
Department.
The first week of class
was spent with professors
apologizing for syllabi
being on line and comments
of the aggravation and
frustration at the new
system. According to my
instructors, each one is
allocated a certain number
of sheets per semester for
their use in totality, and that
severely limits the amount
of “hand-outs” and reprints
of important texts that they
may provide students.
On the surface,
this may appear to be a
grand environmental and
financial gesture; save the
forests, cut office expenses
so that students can have
lower tuitions, etc. But
does that train of thought
actually make the distance,
or does it derail at the
station?
Let’s look at this
responsibly, shall we?
Instructors have certain
amounts of information
that they are required to
pass on to us as students
in order to facilitate our
education.
This information may
be in the textbooks, in
supplemental readings, via
online resources or straight
from the minds of the
professors. This information
can only be disbursed in so
many ways.
We already pay
ridiculous prices for text
books. Now we may need
to purchase additional
texts because a professor
can no longer simply copy
a single chapter or a few
pages from a text and pass
them out to the class then
any amount saved in tuition
is lost to publishers.
If the instructor places
the text on electronic
reserve at the library, they
either have to have the
students each print their
own copies ortrust that each
and every student took the
time outside of class to go
to the library, wait in line
for a computer, then read
and understand the text
prior to its discussion in
class. Yea, that'll happen.
The end result of this
entire cost cutting appears
quite simple. The same
amount of paper will
ultimately be used. The
university will ultimately
still purchase the same
amount of paper, the entire
production line of the paper
manufacturing structure
will still gain their profits.
What changes? The
students front the bill and
the University System can
make a tiny profit off the
Copyright Notice
The West Georgian, copyright 2006, is an official publication of the
University of West Georgia. Opinions expressed herein are those of the
newspaper staff or individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the
views of university faculty or staff
Letter Submission Policy
The West Georgian welcomes letters to the editor l.etters may
be mailed to: Editor. The West Georgian University of West
Georgia, Carrollton, GA, 30118, or sent via electronic mail to:
uwgpaper@westga.edu.
All letters must be signed and include a phone number and mailing ad
dress for verification purposes. Letters should not exceed 350 words and
should be submitted by 5 p.m the Sunday prior to publication Editors
reserve the right to edit for style, content, and length
deal. It is a sly tactic, but
I am sure the students at
Richard’s Business will
appreciate it.
First, we are all forced
to place money on our
Wolf Bucks cards. That
money is taken from our
(or parents) credit cards
immediately, and held by
the university until we use
it. The funds students place
on their cards is likely held
in an escrow account at a
local bank. This account
undoubtedly earns interest.
There’s profit number one.
Then we are charged
5 cents per page for each
sheet we print for our
classes. Accounting for
the price of paper, ink.
electricity, depreciation of
the machines, copyright
fees and the student
assistants that watch
us perform our tasks.
I conclude (very non
scientifically) that each
sheet of copied information
likely actually costs the
University at most 6 cents
per page to produce.
Therefore, a profit of
1 cent per page times the
hundreds, if not thousands,
of sheets printed per day
by students. That’s a nice
little sum. Even if the profit
is less than one cent it still
adds up.
I am quite certain the
University does not run at a
loss on printing expenses.
This of course does not
even count the occasional
student who has no funds
on their Wolf Bucks card
and must therefore pay 10
cents per page to use the
cash only copier in the
library to copy items.
Students face enough
expenses each year
with the rising costs of
books, now the rising
cost of tuition, essential
academic supplies such
as calculators, pens
notebooks, blue books.
Scantrons and the like
without having entire
departments turn on us
requiring us to print our
own courseware as well.
No one is saving any
trees here, so lets not even
kid ourselves.
The end result of all
this is once again simple
business. The university
as an autonomous entity is
similar to any corporation
in America and therefore
must run in the black.
The fact that it
may result in red-faced
frustration from the
academic staff and red
ink in the checkbooks
of students is probably
irrelevant.