Jasmine Cabanaw: Gone, but not Going Far
As the end of my term as co-editor approaches, I’d like to echo the sentiment of former Arthur editor, Miranda Rigby. When her term was up last year, she said she was, “gone, but not going far.” This is one of the beautiful things about Arthur newspaper; the door is always open if you want it to be.
When I started with the paper in September, I didn’t know a single person on staff. At this point, the Arthur staff feels akin to family.
Being one half of a co-editor team has required a special kind of dedication, to the point where there are jokes that Sara and I have become the two-person-single-entity S&J. Having Sara as my co-editor made the job enjoyable; it felt less like work and more like something I loved.
However, being co-editor certainly had both ups and downs. The work week was always longer than I expected, and there was the constant effort to maintain a balance with the content of the newspaper. It turns out that the saying is true – you can’t please everyone.
One week we’re accused of being leftist hegemony, and the next we’re being called the Sun Media of Peterborough. I’d like to think this means we achieved our goal of being balanced. We didn’t want to silence a single voice, even the ones with which we disagreed.
A lot of people don’t realize that Arthur really is a student newspaper, and that it exists as an essential service, as a platform for students to raise their voices and to engage in dialogue. When people venture out to our story meetings, or when they submit articles, they tend to keep coming back.
Despite being co-editor for only half of the academic year, I was able to leave a lasting impression. Sara and I designed the first Arthur internship program and had our first intern, Alice Froude.
We’re hoping to establish the program as a way to earn a half-credit towards one’s university degree. We also met and partnered with the Journalism Department with the goal of integrating the newspaper into course curriculum.
I have a lot of faith that the next co-editors, Sara and Pat, will build on the foundations that were set in place this year. It’s sad to leave an organization that I love, but really, I’m not going far. Especially considering that my other half, the S of my S&J, will still be around. And since we’re a single entity, I guess that means that a part of me will still be here, too.
Sara Ostrowska: You’re Stuck with Me, Trent. Sorry.
Out with the old and in with the new, right? Shit. Well, I’m sticking around and I hope that’s alright.
When I got elected last year, past editors approached me with sentiments of misfortune. One said something along the lines of “welcome to your cage” and the other laughed at my optimism. Being an editor of Arthur has a reputation of being awful, stressful, and life-draining. And it is. I think you have to be into S&M to enjoy this job. Seriously. I’m kinky. I love this job.
Working with the staff and volunteers this year has been amazing. Everyone has grown to become friends, no matter how long they’ve been around. Tuesdays were busy for me with school, but I always looked forward to story meeting at the end of the day. Pizza, laughs, and stories: where can that go wrong? I’d like to thank all of our wonderful staff and volunteers for being such a positive, enthusiastic, and awesome team to work with.
Working with Jasmine has also been really positive. Every day I got to come in to work with this wonderful woman and I’m so sad that she’s leaving at the end of this summer to go back to California. She’s older than me (but she won’t let me tell you how much older) and I’ve never felt any sort of unequal power dynamic. For me that was really eye-opening because as younger students, we tend to experience some sort of age-ism in professional environments.
Jasmine has taught me that those who say demeaning things like “she’s only worked at Pizza Pizza” are the immature ones. Don’t ever let someone walk over you like that. Jasmine’s inspired me to never let that happen again, and I hope the fact that I’m a twenty-year-old woman in a position of influence and authority is inspiring to you, as well. We’ve been great partners and we’ve learned a lot from each other.
Last semester, I never knew I’d get to become so close with Jasmine. I love her and I’ll miss her.
Next year will be really exciting to work with Pat. We’ve got a lot of great ideas to improve both our news and culture coverage. There’s going to be more local news and we’re going to continue our emphasis on coverage that is unique to Trent.
We’ve heard that some of you want some more pop culture, and we’ll try our best. We’ve heard that you appreciate that we publish diverse voices, and we’ll continue to do that. We’re going to be bringing you more multimedia coverage with videos on our website and voices on Trent Radio.
We’re going to be partnering up with many student groups, local organizations, and Trent departments to bring you the best newspaper we can. Thank you for giving us the chance; we won’t let you down.
Patrick Reddick: I’m No Jasmine, but I’ll Try
My mom always told me that if I ever got a job as a journalist for a newspaper she would disown me, so I guess running to be editor of Arthur is my last act of rebellion against my parents before joining the so-called “real world.” You can’t stop me now, ma!
I wish I were that cool.
No, the real reason I decided to run for editor is because I am not ready to leave the Peterborough or Trent communities, and even less ready to leave the one that has been built at Arthur this year. Whether it was Tuesday night at story meeting, on the weekend during production, or some other time I was just dropping by the office, I loved the time I spent with my colleagues, and I’m excited to add to these memories.
I’ve had the privilege of working with two of my best friends this year, and many of the people I’ve met or gotten to know better this year are people who I now do not want to imagine a life without. So I made them make me their boss.
If you’re reading these editorials in a linear fashion (or saving the best for last) then you’ve already heard a little bit about some of the great things Sara and I have planned for next year. For me, increasing our coverage of Trent junk, or just junk in general that Trent students give a shit about is a top priority.
I might get myself in trouble for what I’m about to say, but, honestly I fucking hated this paper when I first came to Trent. I didn’t see myself in what was supposed to be the student press. My attitude changed in my second year shortly after that “Not A Nice Girl” debacle that some folks might remember. I won’t get into specifics, but people were pissed about a piece Arthur ran. No surprise there, right?
Well, I was walking outside of Bata and I saw some chalk graffiti written on the wall above the door to the bookstore. It read: “Not A Nice Girl doesn’t represent me!” But what really got me was the chalk graffiti someone else had written in response that said “yes, but it represents someone.” It struck me at that moment that the people being represented in the paper had gotten off their ass and represented themselves. Their voices were being heard because they were speaking for themselves.
I care about the Trent community, and I want it to create a paper that speaks to its members about their concerns without excluding any of the diverse and important voices that ought to be heard. I want to do exactly what those editors I hated did and create a space where people can speak for themselves. I hope you will.