To the Editor-in-Chief of “The Review,”
While I appreciate the need for the freedom of the press, I have to say that I am less than pleased with your most recent editions of “The Review.” “The Review” is meant to be a newspaper that highlights the main events going on throughout campus. The goal, as you may know, is to reach out to many people on campus and keep them updated about things that they may not have known otherwise. However, recently it seems that the goal of “The Review” is not to promote the events on campus, but to spread gossip and tension throughout the St. Vincent College community. I am more than aware of the current issues that have caused strife between the SGA and “The Review,” and it seems that these events have gotten wildly blown out of proportion. Yes, “The Review” has the right to publish whatever it sees fit each addition. However, I advise those who oversee “The Review” to take caution in running a paper based upon fiction and scandal. As you may be well aware, “The Review” is funded mainly by SGA, but other parties also contribute to the financial well-being of the paper. If I am not mistaken, a Mr. James Valvano also generously contributes to “The Review,” through his advertisement, and keeps up with the goings on at St. Vincent through this publication. He is not the only alumnus who does so. There are scores of other alumni who read “The Review” and take the articles written in it to heart. Let me be blunt when I say that “The Review” has a duty to the school to publish articles that reach a wide audience and give a good impression of the institution that funds it. This is not meant to be taken as a condemnation of any real news that might paint a less than perfect picture of what happens at St. Vincent, but that each edition of “The Review” should shed more positive light than negative. Each writer, photographer, and even you will receive a degree from St. Vincent College in the years to come. And each of you will go into the “real” world with nothing more than your name and where you earned your degree. You will make contacts, get jobs, and more based upon what you have done at this school, so why spend unnecessary time writing libel and spreading pernicious rumors, rather than promoting the institution to which you owe every shred of credibility that you will have as a professional? So, before you write that scathing article of how your rights as a publication have been violated by the tyrannical government that is similar to North Korea and China, please remember that you chose this institution to learn professionalism. Further, while you may be experiencing duress over not being able to unfairly blast former Executive Board members, let me remind you that the Executive Board are no more than representatives of what the student body decides is appropriate, and not, as you referred to them, “delegates.” This is a private institution and there is no reason that the SGA cannot enter into executive session and go off the record for deliberations being made. The need for debate before coming to consensus often occurs in meetings, and I believe that SGA has the right to do so. To be perfectly honest, I can hardly blame them for wanting to go off the record, as opposed to being misquoted and dishonored in the paper. Finally, let me say that while you are enjoying the success of “The Review,” there are other ways to get people more interested in the articles that you write. “The Review” was meant to be enjoyed by all students, not merely utilized as a place for you to express your personal feeling and thoughts. That, sir, is what blogs are for. So, please stick to facts and real news, as it would benefit the entire St. Vincent community, and may also result in more copies of “The Review” being read, and less ending up in the garbage. I hope that my words of concern have been heard.
Cordially,
Elizabeth A. Hogan