IGH ACRES COLLEGIAN LETTER TO THE EDITOR To the staff of the Highacres Col le:ian: Is the Hi:hacres Colle:ian worth printing? I think not! If High acres was a junior high school, this newspaper would be appropri ate. If Highacres was a high school, this newspaper might be appropriate. But Highacres is a college, and this newspaper is not appropriate. The quality of the last Highacres Collegian was a disgrace to High acres. Some improvement is need ed. How can the Hi •h acres Col I e be improved? I sympathize with the editors of the newspaper. They face, as all other student leaders on this campus face, the problem of student apathy. The editors cannot publish a newspaper without any material, although, in my opinion, that is what they did on November 8, 1968. The editors could use their good judgment and publish a news paper with material creditable to college students, even if the'news paper was published only once a month. The editors could decide what type of article is acceptable and then suggest to the reporters that they write this type of article. This plan may sound like editorial dictatorship, but the reporters do not seem to be creative or ambit ious. The reporters need a push! How can the reporters be creat ive and ambitious considering the atmosphere around Highacres? Just look around; investigate new fads; listen for controversial opinions. If a reporter could discover the worthless gossip printed in the last Hi:hacres Colle:ian, I'm sure the same reporter could use his amaz ing ability to discover some more pertinent facts. It's up to the re porters to go out and find the news. And there is news at Highacres! There is news in the activities of various clubs, sports events, and fac - ulty interests. These areas us ually receive good coverage; may be the coverage in these areas could even be condensed. (Club events could be written in one column, not spread out over the whole newspaper.) There is news in the opinions of students, not in the lives of students. ("We Don't Gossip, But—") The college world is conducive to original opinions. The college world is alive with con troversy about the war, drugs, free sex, student revolutions, etc. Don't we have opinions about these is sues at Highacres? There is also news in the world around us. The editorial of Novem ber 8,1968, "A Flag or a Doormat," was a good example of this, but there are more events happening every day. Wasn't there just a nat ional presidential election in the United States? If you read the Collegian (Highacres) you would have never known. So, reporters, wake up! The newspaper staff may say I have no right making these criti cisms. The newspaper staff may say the blame is not theirs, but the student body's. Can everything be blamed on student apathy? I agree, this is part of the problem, but doesn't the Highacres Collegian this is part of the problem, but doesn't the Highacres Collegian have a great responsibility to fight student apathy, not succumb to it. The students of Highacres are not entirely dead, and the life they have left could be sparked by a bet ter newspaper. Student life was revived at the two successful T.G. I.F.'s. Student life was partially awakened by the Coffee House. Students are continually coming a live at the dances. The Highacres Collegian, unlike T.G.I.F.'s Coffee House, and social activities, has the advantage of reaching all the students. A better newspaper could make the student body come alive. Start now and reach them with some thing worthwhile! EDITORS NOTE: The Collegian wishes to thank Miss Ancharski for her constructive criticism. Responsible opinions of students are always welcome. We regret that she finds the paper sub standard. Every effort has been made to cover all campus activity. Due to a significant time lag be tween the date the paper is written and distributed, most news, per se, has become "stale". For this rea son, many articles must be written in the form of an interpretive re view. The paper intends to report all club activities and we feel it unfair to lump all club news in a single column. No effort will be made to compete with the coverage of international events by daily publications. The main focus of the Collegian will be on the Uni versity. It is unfortunate that the "Gos sip Column", designed to add hu mor to the edition, offended anyone by its personal references. The staff has received both favorable and unfavorable comments on this feature. Opinions on campus are usually not expressed openly. We are, at least, happy that the Collegian prompted Nan c y to express her opinion—Unfavorable though it was. The editors solicit the opinion of other students on their evalu ation of the Collegian—or any other sub ject—and welcome suggestions. Furthermore, any student who be lieves that he can improve the con tents of this paper is invited to join the staff of the Highacres Col legian. PAGE 3 Sincerely yours, Nancy Ancharski
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers