Page 6 :ymz?mcymcym<.ymcymiymi>mcymcymf. To the Ed Dear Collegian Editor I am currently a senior English major here at Behrend. Being that my major is focused in Creative Writing, I was required to attend the Carolyn Forche poetry reading held in the Reed Lecture Hall on October 24th. As an English major, it is fair to say that I have attended more than your average share of poetry readings (both on and off Behrend campus), and felt that Forche’s performance was by far the best I have ever seen. And I was curious to find out what others thought. To my dismay, I opened that week’s Collegian to find that absolutely nothing had been printed about this event. Even more curious than before, I inquired at the Collegian office as to why the event had not been covered. The response I received came as somewhat of a shock to me. Basically, I was told that the Collegian did not run an article on this event because it took place before the deadline for articles. At the time I inquired, I was in a hurry and did not have an opportunity to actually think about this excuse until I sat down to do my homework later that night. It was at this point that I did a double take and thought what is wrong with this picture? So, once again, I examined Thursday’s addition of the Collegian and discovered that there were five stories covering sporting events that had also occured before the deadline for articles. Now that I had completely discredited the excuse offered to me as to why an article was not run, I tried to compose other possible reasons for its exclusion, the only thing I could think of was perhaps that the Collegian staff felt a poetry reading was not a newsworthy event So, the true English major that I am, I headed straight for the dictionary and looked up the word news. According to the third edition of The American Heritage Dictionary, the word news is defined as “information about recent events.” Then I looked up the word newsworthy and found it to be defined as anything “interesting or important enough to warrant news coverage.” Carolyn Forche won the Yale Younger poetry award for her first collection of poetry, Gathering the Tribe. Her second poetry collection received the Lamont poetry selection for 1981. And her newest book of poetry, The Angel of History, is being compared by critics to T.S. Elliot’s The Waste Land. (For those of you who do not know, The Waste Land is considered to be one of the most important works of poetry produced in the 20th Century.) 1 suppose it is possible, being that I am both an English major and a poet, that I am slightly biased towards this subject matter. However, it seems to me, that the arrival of a poet of this magnitude on Behrend campus is just as newsworthy, if not more so, than whether or not the girls volleyball team team won their match. Personally, I suspect that the reason an article was not run is because of apathy on the part of the Collegian staff. And, in fact, I can empathize with this. I know that I, personally, would not want to cover a seminar in which the speaker would be covering the genealogical history of Henry VIII’s third wife. However, if this is the case, I know at least a dozen English majors who would be more than willing to write something up for your paper and save your staff the monotonous boredom of sitting through something they would not enjoy. All you have to do is ask. So, please, in the future, try to include articles covering events of this nature. It is not fair to exclude even the smallest portion of your audience simply because you may not appreciate the subject material being discussed. This week in cartoons ... \ ,y \y\wt. ■4 4» ft ifp^h ISI.-.V'Q Opinion ,-- I>t , You lIA JE A It.o>Mße itor Sincerely, Amy Jo Huffman Owo® jP i£v. S.GWE Wilr fi£ KS 15A ikr'"} Thursday, November 9, 1995 The Behrend College Collegian Published weekly by the students of The Pennsylvania State University at Erie, The Behrend College Editor in Chief Jennifer V. Colvin Business Manager Jennifer Heilman News Editor Danielle Murphy Sports Editor Nick Zutovich Assistant Sports Editor Juiie Stocker Entertainment Editor Joe Mottifio Photography Editors Sheila Bickel Joe Siler Opinion Editor R. Cari Campbell Hi Advertising Manager Jeremiah Bull Copy Editor Michelle Giuendl Advisor Mrs. Cathy Master Artwork Brad Martin Collegian Staff: Ryan Bogart, Chad Clouse, Mice Coursey, Priya Daugherty, Eddie Edwards, Doreen Pouts, Brian Gregory, Ericha Hagenbuch, Bryan Harkins, Adda Kovaty, Steve Landon, Adam Levenstein, Matt Plizga, Colette Rethage, John Rossomando, Joe Ryan, Sean Siekkinen, Angie Yu. Photographers: Dave Boulos, Coleen Gritzen, Bob MisuHch, Chris Nelson. Dan Nowicki. Postal Information: The Collegian is published weekly by the students of The Pennsylvania State University at Erie, The Behrend College; first Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building, Station Road, Erie. PA 16563. 814-898-6488 or 814-898*6019 fax. ISSN 1071-9288 Letter Policy; The Collegian encourages tellers on news coverage, editorial content and university attairs. Letters snouid oe typewritten, double-spaced and sgneo oy no more man two persons. Letters should be no longer than 406 words. Letters should include the semester standing and major of the writer. Ail letters should provide the nd phone of the writer for verification of the fetter. The Collegian reserves the right to edit letters for length and to reject tetters. Letters submitted to The Collegian become the property of the newspaper. The Collegian is published every Thursday durihothe frwwMwiv”| • academic year on recycled paper.
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