Dear students,
For better or for worse, another semester is upon us.
For those of you who don’t know me yet, my name is Emily and I’m the editor-in-chief of The Crow’s Nest. I’m a senior journalism major from Bradenton, and I’ve been writing almost as long as I’ve been reading.
This summer, I interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and the summer before that, the Bradenton Herald. Last year, I was managing editor of The Crow’s Nest. I’ll even admit I submitted poems to Sigma Tau Delta’s “Papercut Literary Journal.”
But enough about my resumé. I read and write plenty of things. The news is by far my favorite.
I’m going to recite the age-old mantra of Crow’s Nest editors past: We’re a campus newspaper written by students, for students. But here’s why this year matters more than ever.
We just welcomed Dr. Steven Currall, the seventh president of the USF system.
We’re building a $33-million residence hall on Sixth Avenue S.
We’re celebrating our 50th anniversary as a student publication. (But somewhere along the way, the volume number we put on the front page got confused. More on that during our celebration in October.)
Most importantly, this is the final year our campus will operate with its own accreditation. In July 2020, our campus will merge with Tampa and Sarasota-Manatee to become one university under a single accreditation — a huge change that will generate lots of debate and controversy.
On top of that? These are turbulent times for college newspapers.
Our annual budget is funded by Activities and Services Fees. Twice in the last three years, Student Government has made significant cuts in our allocation.
This year’s budget was slashed by 23 percent. Our staff positions were reduced from 12 to 10, and our circulation from 15 issues a semester to 13.
And who knows what plot twists we’ll face as the semester unfolds?
While we don’t wish for more allegations of sexual misconduct, violence on campus, close-call plane crashes or newspaper-trashing professors, it’s our job to report them and tell you why they matter.
Along the way, we’ll keep you entertained with fresh takes ranging from public education to the sentience of Disney characters.
We’ll highlight the best places and events to check out in the community, and we’ll celebrate our diverse students: those who live on sailboats, rollerblade to class or host concerts right in their backyards.
We publish every Monday, but our website, crowsneststpete.com, is updated regularly. We’re always looking for new stories to tell — and new contributors to report them.
Come pitch your ideas at one of our contributor meetings every Monday at 5 p.m. in SLC 2400, or send us an email at usfcrowsnest@gmail.com.
We look forward to keeping you informed this year.
Sincerely,
Emily Wunderlich
