It's been way, way too long...

Eesh. No posts since Aug. 21? That's pretty awful, considering that I wanted to make this blog a weekly-updated place for readers to go and find out how production nights work and how staffers are feeling as the semester rolls on. Yet here we are halfway through the semester without a single post since summer. Ouch.

Well, I'm here to rectify that situation and let you know how the paper's going so far this year, especially with all the new changes.

First off, the beat system. It's been a thrilling success, in my mind. We have 11 writers on staff currently (without counting the four or five sports writers we also have) and that's a huge step up from the measly four we had at the end of last year. I don't know how many there were throughout the majority of the year, but I don't think it was close to 11. We've been lucky to have a lot of committed people writing for us this semester. And, with an average of about 12-15 contributing writers showing up to every writer's meeting, we've been able to minimize the amount of AP content to almost none.

I think the new Index page has been great, and the new page three with pictures of the week, sudoku puzzles and comics has made the paper a bit more fun for students. I like featuring student photos too; we've been lucky enough to see photographers offer to help with a variety of events and stories. It's great.

The business section has been good; the only complaint we've had is that "Corporate" sends a negative message and shouldn't be the title of the section, but I kinda like it. It's different. We've had some good stories show up there, and it allows for readers to expect something new every Tuesday and Friday. It switches up the paper a bit, keeps it on an even keel.

Honestly, I'm very proud of the product we've put out so far this year. No regrets at all. We had a bit of a crazy week when all the newspapers were stolen by three soon-to-be punished individuals, but even that was a great thing. It gave us a ton of coverage and I think a few more people around New England might even know we have a newspaper now. Cool.

Alright, I've got nothing else for you. I'll try and get my staff to update this dusty old blog more often. Now, I'm off to watch a thrilling new episode of South Park (I am a college student after all...)

Cameron Kittle