We've covered a lot of interesting and significant issues over the past year. Last January, we reported on the new Wedge, and the furniture thefts that followed soon after. Residential Services devised a new room selection process. Some well-liked faculty members were denied tenure. John Carney became our new provost. And of course, WPI had the unique opportunity to host the crew of USML-2, including our own professor-astronaut Al Sacco, for the first-ever college debriefing of a NASA mission.
Then summer break happened. We came back, and discovered that, to improve name recognition, our school would try to be known as WPI instead of "the University" or "the College". Sanford Riley Hall was beautifully renovated, Salisbury Labs was partly renovated and obtained a new greenhouse, and the closed portion of West Street became Reunion Plaza. DAKA changed the Grille and added longer hours of service in Founders Hall. Jason Wening won a gold medal in the Paralympic Games. WPI's fourteenth president, Edward A. Parrish, was inaugurated on Homecoming Weekend. The Most Spirited Student competition, a reincarnation of Homecoming King and Queen, was created. SocComm and SGA disputed over additional funding for the on-campus movie channel. Greg Snoddy became our new director of student activities.
There have been a lot of changes to the newspaper itself. We started with implementing a new set of on-campus add rates to make it easier for clubs and organizations to advertise in Newspeak, especially in cases of fundraising. The Greek Corner was removed, then brought back for a week, then removed again (and its future remains uncertain). Our office was moved over the summer (the elevator in Riley Hall now occupies part of our old office), which made producing a paper difficult at the beginning of the year, but we pulled together quickly and worked hard at getting set up again.
One of our biggest drives was that we wanted to create a paper that was fun to read, that people would look at because they wanted to, not because they had to. The most major change we made, of course, was altering the size and style of the paper to give it a brighter, more fun appearance. We have also changed the content slightly. We're not missing any big events on campus (so there's no loss), but we now have expanded coverage of arts and entertainment (you may have noticed more CD, book, and movie reviews in recent issues). Of course, we are always striving to do the best we can do. We would really love a writing staff, for example, so that more events on campus could get better coverage.
I have enjoyed being the editor of Newspeak (in effect, your editor, since Newspeak is your paper). The staff and I have had more than our fair share of long weekends and fifteen-hour days. Our reward is not money (we don't get paid), but instead it is pride in our work, the feeling we get when we see someone pick up one of our papers and get excited about its contents, the involvement in not just Newspeak but WPI as a whole, getting to know various administrators and committees that are trying to make life at WPI better every day. I would especially like to thank the staff of Newspeak for being there when work had to get done, for showing enthusiasm, and for enjoying their work and experiences.
This is the last issue of B-term, and of 1996. When we return in 1997, Newspeak will be under the control of our new Editors-in-Chief, Ed Cameron and Lisa Bartee. I'm more than confident that they will continue to produce a strong, respectable newspaper for the WPI community. Give them all the comments and constructive criticism you can, because in order for your newspaper to become even better, it needs your suggestions. I would also like to thank the countless people who have helped make each issue of Newspeak possible, people who talked to us, gave us ideas and information, and guided as along the path to a newsworthy story.
It has been a pleasure being your Editor.