Senioritis

I guess I should mention that I’m keeping a blog this quarter of my progress on my final project for Evergreen: a senior thesis that encompasses my four years of academic learning and experience in the Cooper Point Journal student group. It’s off to a slow start, but the idea is that I’m writing on tons of different topics related to my learning inside and out of the CPJ, and at the end of the quarter I will compile it into a magazine format to share with future members of the CPJ and to include in my transcript.

The idea behind it is really to justify the amount of time I’ve spent at the CPJ– I have been involved with it for four years now, and I feel confident in saying that I have learned at least as much in the CPJ as I have over four years of academic work. And that’s not out-of-the-ordinary for anyone involved in the CPJ.

But it’s difficult to convey that on a transcript. Without explicitly conveying what I have learned at the CPJ, my transcript looks like a seemingly random collection of academic experiences: literature, writing, linguistics, France, France, France, musicology, psychology, journalism, web design… and really what ties all those things together is the CPJ, which isn’t mentioned at all.

By doing this contract and writing about what I’ve learned at the CPJ and how I’ve tied in academics, someone who looks at my transcript can (hopefully) plainly see an organized path of learning and how I’ve grown as a leader and communicator.

I’m pretty excited about this. It makes me feel a lot more confident about my transcript AND it fills the writing void I’ve had in my life for quite some time.

Here’s the blog!

Background

Though I’ve spent the past two days back from the Holy Land in a jetlagged and mostly-sleep-filled haze, I have also been trying to ruminate on an incredible trip. Many of my fellow travelers kept blogs and have been writing more extensively about their experiences, but (not to discredit their writing) I’ve been avoiding their sites so that when I sat down to write my own thoughts they would be purely my own.

–

I’m going to start with some background:

I just got back from a week long trip to Israel put on by a group called Project Interchange, which is a division of the American Jewish Committee. The trip was offered to two groups: students of campus media studies, and California student leaders (who may be in student government or coordinators of student groups). I went as part of the Campus Media group.

This was an all-expenses paid trip funded by AJC, which is in turn funded by private donors and organizations. For an editor of a news publication, taking the trip rose some questions about ethics and legality. I spoke to my former newspaper advisor, my current newspaper advisor, the Director of Student Activities at Evergreen, the Student Press Law Center, my friends and fellow editors, and of course, the entirety of the Cooper Point Journal staff. I vowed not to go on the trip if the entire group did not reach consensus on the decision. If one person strongly believed that it was unethical to take the free trip, I would not attend.

All members approved, however, and we all agreed that it would be an excellent learning opportunity, even if it was one-sided and propagandizing. It may even help me understand Evergreen’s divestment and BDS (Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions) movements. Other writers volunteered to cover stories for our paper that involved Israel or BDS, just in case my bias got in the way of accurate reporting in the future.

I was heartened by that response and accepted the invitation. Incidentally, the Student Press Law Center said that it was unethical to take a free trip to cover a specific story, but it was not unethical if the trip was for the purpose of learning, rather than reporting.

And with that, I embarked on this journey barely one month later. Coming soon: detailed accounts and analysis of experiences during the trip.

Year 3, Quarter 3 and some questions about ethics

Last year at this time I was in France. I was on my second week with my host family, all of whom I loved dearly. I miss France terribly, but luckily I am so busy lately that I hardly have time to think about that.

I’ve been working more than I thought was possible– schoolwork, that is. I’m pretty much a despicable slacker when it comes to school, even when it involves my favorite subjects and things in which I have an invested interest. But in general, I have done pretty well with that major flaw– I have still accomplished a lot and learned a ton, made great friends and been able to continue relationships with teachers and mentors. However, I always wondered when all of that was going to catch up with me.

It’s not necessarily that it all caught up with me this quarter, but I certainly don’t have the freedoms that I did. I’m pursuing an ILC (Independent Learning Contract) this quarter with my advisor at the newspaper as subcontractor/sponsor. Her vast knowledge continually astounds me and I am really lucky to be working with her, especially since she is retiring after this quarter, which ends in June. But (and let me put this delicately…) this shit is fucking HARD. I haven’t worked so hard academically for such a sustained period of time in quite a while, maybe since high school, and I’m out of practice, to say the least.

My advisor has given me a certain amount of wiggle room in the past couple of weeks, but if I don’t figure out a time management system soon, there will be consequences and hell to pay. It doesn’t help, as I told her this morning, that I have a limited interest in information gathering and news journalism in general, and so far it’s difficult to get beyond the belief that I’m mainly just doing this contract for the benefit of my position at the newspaper. She maintains, however, that what I learn in this contract will carry through my entire life for the enrichment of my interaction with others and my own character building, and I believe her. I am going to stick it out and make the most of this experience.

The upshot of all this is that it seems like I’ve been doing a helluva lot of writing lately. I wrote a couple essays for…

oh wait, let me back up.

So I’ve applied to be the Editor in Chief of the Cooper Point Journal (the newspaper of the students of the Evergreen State College) for the 2011-2012 school year. I’m scared shitless.

That pretty much sums it up.

So I wrote a couple essays for that application, and I’ve written some papers about what I’ve been reading for my contract. I will post whatever I can here (if it doesn’t seem completely out of context).

Also, I would like your feedback on something, my dear, possibly fictional, readers: If or when I become the Editor in Chief, I will consider myself a journalist. Typically, journalists are advised to keep their own convictions and opinions under wraps, so that they don’t interfere with their ability to remain neutral with a story or an entire publication. The editor in chief needs to, in some ways, represent the integrity of their newspaper or publication, remaining neutral and impressionable on all fronts.

I have heard that journalists are required by the newspaper they work for to remove any and all political signs from his house or yard, remove bumper stickers, and not present any character-defining information or opinions online or in social networking media.

I have deleted a lot of information from my Facebook page and have considered deleting my Twitter account altogether. But the issue of my blog remains to be discussed. I can’t imagine not having this outlet, and I think it’s important for my creativity and my sanity for this blog to exist. But I haven’t thought much about how to keep it and still remain a credible editor. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated: should I delete the blog altogether? Should I keep it but make it private and only invite those I want to see my posts? I could make it private and encourage those who wish to see it to email me and I can invite them. Or should I just throw caution to the wind (because, let’s be honest, I don’t really express many opinions, let alone controversial ones, on this blog at all) and keep the thing?

And just out of curiosity, what do you all think of these unstated regulations of the impartiality of journalists? Are they legitimate? To what extent?

The past can be the future. Why go back?

Introducing the first thing I have posted on my wall (REAL wall, that is–NOT Facebook) since I have moved into my apartment:

The very first issue of the Cooper Point Journal (CPJ), the paper for which I am the print managing editor (there is a web managing editor for, obviously, the web edition). The CPJ is a weekly publication put out by the CPJ student group, but more broadly, it is a paper by and for the students, which is most important. The CPJ accepts any type of content from anyone enrolled as a student at the Evergreen State College, which is very cool. We have two advisors, but they don’t have any say over what goes in the paper (nor does any other faculty member). The student group is comprised entirely of students who put out the web and print publication, as well as students to manage and maintain the business side of things. We only receive a certain amount of funding from the Student Activities department of the school, and the student activities funds come directly from students through tuition, so the paper is quite literally BY the students, in all senses. Students in positions of responsibility receive a learning allotment most weeks of the quarter, which enables them to spend the time that they do at the CPJ.

The CPJ is not a “job,” and we do not get “paid.” We don’t even “work.” We have responsibilities, and are held accountable for those responsibilities by the mere fact that we are members of the organization. We don’t need to know a certain amount before coming into a position at the CPJ (seriously, I am a managing editor after only 3 years of being involved in journalism of any sort; that tells you something), but we are encouraged to learn while we’re at the CPJ–hence the designation of the CPJ being a “learning laboratory.”

Anyway, as my position indicates, I am responsible for the print edition of the paper, which is weekly. The first paper came off the presses today, and I got to watch it happen. I was given a copy right then and there, with that picture on the cover that I took and the cover design that I did. I was (and am) so proud of that thing.

So… why do I feel guilty? The thing about the CPJ is that, since we don’t “work,” we don’t have hours, so technically we are at liberty to leave whenever we want. But since we are responsible and accountable for certain tasks, they should be priority. Plus, there is always the chance that more may come up, or tasks may be delegated, and there is the real looming responsibility of the actual publication. So “leadership” (the business manager, associate business manager, editor in chief, associate editor, web managing editor, and print managing editor) are usually under the impression that other members will be (or should be) as dedicated to producing the overall result as we are. Well, frankly, sometimes they just aren’t.

That should be fine with us. I mean, technically their position has certain responsibilities assigned to it, and if they take care of those they are free to lead a life. The problem is that we get so caught up in what has to be done, and usually we are so short-staffed, that we feel the need to delegate tasks to these people that somehow have gotten done with their section early.

…Ok, I’m tired of explaining this, so the short version is that there is A TON of guilt-tripping in the CPJ. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone.

I felt the guilt pressure almost all of last year in my various positions, as well as this past summer when I was at home having a normal life when everyone else was at the office having responsibilities in which I was expected to take part or share.

So though I never told anyone when I came back this year, my ultimate goal is to never guilt trip someone. If someone is done and says something like “…so…I think I’ll head out now,” I can respond with no more than, “all right. If you find you have more time, let us know if you’re free and we can give you something to do.” That’s it. Because I am so fed up with these people being presented with that situation of someone wanting to leave and saying, “well… ok… it would be great if you could stay a while longer, because there’s a lot left to do…”

What BS. Suck it up and do some work yourself. Last night was production night, and I felt like I did a ton because we were short-staffed and people left. And I was fine with it. I am at the CPJ because I have an extreme passion for journalism. And I want that passion to show through my drive and motivation to put out a quality paper without too much perfectionism. Actually, I can’t imagine what it would be like if we had a full staff. What would I do?!

Our advisor once said, when we were anticipating the switch to our primarily online medium, that “Jo can put out a print paper by herself. So what you guys need to focus on is the website.” And, though that probably wouldn’t be something I’d prefer in the heat of the moment, it sounds a little daringly awesome.

It won’t happen. The CPJ is a students’ paper, not a student’s paper. [If you don't understand that line, please leave this blog. Now.]

And I don’t want it to happen. I am so caught up in the awesomeness of the ‘voice of the students thing’ that I never want to give that up. Why would a publication function any differently?

It seems like every time I find something new about Evergreen, I react to it like I did when I got my Mac: Why would ever go back to how it/I was before? In fact, that happens with many facets of my life.

Why would I ever go back to a school that gave grades and pushed a competitive learning environment?

Why would I ever go back to a life without barbershop music?

Why would I ever go back to being involved in a newspaper that wasn’t by and for the people?

It’s so important. I realized this when the EIC was working on launching the website today. Before, I had been rather caught up in how the site would look, and how it would function, blah blah blah, just so that people would want to look at it and come back to it and become a member of the site, etc. But now, I want it to look very rustic and work-in-progress-like, so that people will instead come up to us and say something like, “btw, that website of yours… uh… sucks.” Then, I will be able to tell them [quite honestly, mind you], “I’m so glad you think so! We would love to have your expertise, or at least some input about it!”

Does that sound dorky? Because I think it sounds really exciting.

Tell me, where do the children play?

I’m back! things are incredibly hectic here. This is a summary of what’s been going on… it was originally an email to my lit teacher from back home : )

My class is very good… It used to be absolutely amazing, and then it got a little monotonous, but it will pick up. My seminar leader IS definitely amazing, though, and I couldn’t hope for better. I recently talked to him to see if I could stay in his seminar next quarter, because I don’t like any of the other three teachers as much at all. Communication goes a looong way at this school! My schedule is like this:

Tuesday AM: Lecture or workshop. If it’s a lecture, it means that one of the teachers (we have 4) stands up and talks about how the book we’re reading relates to his or her general field of study. One of the teachers is an anthropologist, so when we were reading Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe), she talked about what culture meant to people and how it is formed. If we have a workshop, it means that we break into small groups (4 or 5 people) and discuss specific aspects of a book, like how the language works, or how metaphors add to the text as a whole, or comparisons and contrasts with other things we’ve read. 

Tuesday PM: Seminar. This goes much like our lit discussions last year. The group is about 20 students plus the seminar leader, and he does as little “leading” as possible. We pose questions that came to us during reading, and then talk about those, and discuss and sometimes argue. More specifically, we look at the characters and their actions, decisions, and words (since the class is called “Character Studies.”)

Wednesday AM: Writing Seminar… possibly my favorite class time in the whole week. We have an essay due every other week, usually about 4 or 5 pages long. So one week, half the seminar (group A) will submit their rough drafts, and the other half of the seminar will critique the papers and make comments. The following week, group A gives the seminar leader their final drafts, and group B submits their rough drafts, etc. It is SO helpful and interesting to see everyone progress!

Friday AM: Seminar.

Friday PM: Lecture or wrap-up session. We have cookies and tea and we talk : ) it’s great! Sometimes we watch a movie instead.

Life is great outside of class too : ) a couple weeks ago I got a position on the newspaper staff. I applied for three: Copy editor, letters and opinions coordinator, and page proofer. I got the position of page proofer and I love it! I didn’t even know when I applied that it was a paying position, but it is! I’m still not sure how much it pays, but I’m just happy to have a little income, so anything is nice. The paper comes out once a week, and I pretty much only have a task on production nights, which is Wednesday… so on Wednesdays I’m working on the paper until at least 3 AM. But it works out perfectly because I don’t have class on Thursdays! Also, I look at the pages once they’re printed, so I don’t have to be looking at a screen the whole time, which I love. 

Dorm life is good too… I live on the top floor of the highest dorm, which happens to be the highest point in Olympia : ) All I can see out my window are the tops of very green trees, which is so calming. There are only five people on our floor, which is nice and quiet. The top floor is reserved for high schoolers who come and stay the night, so we get to meet a few of them and encourage them to come to Evergreen. The food is not as good as any of us hoped, but there are a few options, so we can usually find something we’re happy with. 

I don’t have as much spare time as I hoped… we have at least one book to read every week and an essay to either write or revise (my dad still helps me with essays! it’s so great!).