COMMENTARY By Matthew McKeown Capital Times Editor I spend so much time trying to layout the pages of this newspa per and coordinating everyone else’s writing that I often don’t have much time to actually write anything myself. I don’t have the time now either, but I have this half page hole to fill, so I’m writ ing. This will be my last opportuni ty to communicate with you as I wrap up my two-year stint here at PSH and graduate. For the last school year, in addition to being a part-time stu dent and full-time job-holder, I have edited this newspaper. I did n’t actually want the job; I offered my services to the Cap Times advisor, Crispin Sartwell, at the end of last school year. I just wanted to help out. However, no one else wanted the job, so I was nominated for the editorship. That’s the way things go around this campus it seems. Too few people really want to get involved with campus activities. And those who choose not to par TOYOTA THERE’S AN ECHO OUT THERE! Great looks on the outside, great room on the inside. Cruise the highway at 40 MFGT.very thrifty. Fower? Plenty! It’s a 1.5 liter hi-tech 16 valve POCH engine with variable valve timing (new) that kicks out 100 horsepower any time you want it. And best of all, Echo is the lowest priced Toyota! See You on the Other Side ticipate loudly complain that there isn’t anything to do here. Penn State Harrisburg does offer many avenues of enrich ment but, dear readers, you must seek them out. That said, I was more than ner vous when I was handed the huge task of running this newspaper. When I inherited it, the Cap Times was badly limping along. Only three issues were pub lished spring 1999 and one of those was an April Fool’s edition. The newspaper wasn’t given the dedication that it needed and was generally ignored as a serious resource for campus news. So my first goal was to struc ture a solid team of reporters and editors and anyone else who would be willing to put some time into rebuilding the Cap Times. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting too many people to show up to our first meeting last August. Only a half dozen people did any thing for the paper in the 1998-99 school year and in 1997 the Cap Times almost went belly-up for lack of participation. New flPlnancg'Flair) thru Toyota Motor Credit helps those with limited credit history buy or lease a new Echo or Celica. See dealer for details. <&> TOYOTA real values, every day. , vvWW.gettOyOta .COm So when 20 people filled the video lab for our first staff meet ing, I was overwhelmed but greatly relieved too. Then I set the standard that we have busted our butts all year to maintain: putting out an edition every two weeks. That may not sound like a big deal. Most small-town newspa pers publish an edition every week so putting out a campus paper every other week should be a breeze. On behalf of all the folks who have spent many a weekend in the office, let me just say that it is not. We can easily spend 25 hours on Saturday and Sunday alone piecing all the stories together, preparing the photos and ads and arranging everything on the pages in such a way as to make it as pleasing to the eye as possible. Though I am not here on week night evenings (I work then), I can say that the rest of the staff spend hours finalizing every thing, even if it means sticking around past midnight. Yes, we have let typos and TOYOTA-101 MORE VALUE/LESS MONEY TOYOTA ECHO ’EPA estimated 32/W City/Hwy autaiMtic. 34/41 Cin/Mwy manual. ] lie ( apilal 'l lines Wednesdax. April 26. 2000 *6 other mistakes through. I’m not happy about that, but on the whole I think we did a great ser vice to everyone who reads the Cap Times and I have nothing but praise to my staff for supporting me in my quest to make this newspaper the best it can be. Before I forget, I’d like to take a moment now and introduce a few of them. They certainly deserve the recognition. Cathie McCormick Musser has been by my side since last sum mer and was just as enthusiastic about relaunching the Cap Times as I was. She will be taking over as edi tor soon and I have every reason to believe the integrity of our work will continue under her leadership. Dan McClure and Nicole Burkholder have been rocks for me too. Most of the technical stuff went over my head but Dan could figure it out pretty easily. Nicole basically was a utility player doing everything from writing stories, taking pictures playing secretary and generally INTRODUCING THE ALL NEW holding the place together. The radio station guys con tibuted music reviews and news but their biggest contibution was just keeping us entertained as only they can. Thanks too to our adviser, Crispin Sartwell, who more or less let us run the paper ourselves but gave us guidance whenever we needed it. Additionally, I do want to thank the women in the Student Activities Office (Dr. Janet Widoff, Lois Cochran and Nancy Leister) for their support and help throughout the school year. And last, but certainly not least, I want to extend a big thank you to Joe Sukle and everyone at the Press and Journal in Middletown. The Cap Times is printed at their facility and they have met our needs every issue. So that’s it. It has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. Hopefully the experience will pay off with a sweet-paying job.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers