Until we meet again

By Eric Lorenz
Editor-in-Chief

Well that’s it, folks. The West Times as it currently exists is no more. What you hold in your hands are the last few pages of 15 years of West campus tradition and what, for me, amounts to two years of my life. The two years spent working for and on the newspaper may as well have been 10, as the responsibilities bundled with the job never provided a moment’s respite.

The closing of this chapter provides an opportunity to look back and reflect, a chance to reminisce on successes and dwell on the failures. But since I have spent too much time dwelling on the failures since becoming editor-in-chief, I will instead take this time to highlight a few of the many great things this paper has accomplished.

The West campus paper, originally called Thunder Press before becoming West Express and finally West Times, provided a voice for a satellite campus often lost in the all-encompassing shadow cast by Tempe. Tempe had The State Press. West had nothing until a small upstart paper surfaced on this campus. Sure it wasn’t fancy and didn’t have the financial backing of The State Press, but it served its purpose – and did so for many years.

The West campus paper provided students an outlet. No longer did students have to sit idly by and take it when something unpopular took place. Now they had a voice. Students, under the guidance of inaugural faculty advisor Peter Aleshire, could ask the questions which needed to be asked and provide the news which needed to be told.

And that was a legacy I strove to uphold.

As editor-in-chief, I watched as the paper grew in popularity. I personally guided it through troubled waters as they appeared and worked tirelessly to make the paper into a quality newspaper, one students would be proud to carry. My reasoning? I felt that every student who took the time to pick up an issue of West Times deserved nothing but my best efforts, and that anything less would be disrespectful to the readers.

I tried as hard as possible to give the readers stories which touched their lives, stories that provided helpful information. I wanted a publication which appealed to everyone in some way. Did I accomplish that? I’m not the one to say.

West Times provided opportunities for students to practice the vital skills of writing and communication. Without us, many students would have never been given this outlet. Without us, many students at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism would never have seen their works published. Without us, the West campus will be a poorer place indeed.

I would like to thank my dedicated staff because without them, there would be no paper. I stated in my very first column that any success I achieved would be due to their efforts, and I still stand by that. Their efforts cannot be overstated, so to everyone who contributed to the production of this paper, from paid staff to free-lancers, I give a most sincere thank you.

I would also like to thank those who gave me guidance along the way. James, thank you for your trust in me and my abilities. I know I was raw starting out, but you had faith and patience with me, and that made all the difference.

So that’s that. There is no way to predict what the future holds for this campus’ news. What I do know is that the weather will change, the days will get cooler, and leaves will fall from the trees, filling soon-to-be-empty news bins. Students will pick up an issue of College Times or The State Press, read it, then discard it, learning nothing of the goings-on with regard to the campus with which they attend.

But in this ever-crisper fall air resides a glimmer of hope and the promise of rebirth. After all, spring is only a few months away. So this is not a goodbye. Rather, this moment is a pause, a chance to catch a breath and prepare for the next challenges which await.

And for my readers, check the news bins every now and then, just in case. You just might find a surprise waiting for you inside one of these days.

One can silence the masses for only so long before their collective cries win out and demand what’s owed to them, and when that happens, I will be there to provide them with that which they desperately crave – a voice.