Jason Hortsch (The Beacon)
By Jason Hortsch, Staff Commentary
The Beacon had a professional journalist visit earlier this year, and something he said has stuck with me: "On the UP campus, The Beacon is must-read material."
This comment made me realize just how special The Beacon is, and what a service we provide to the community. Every Thursday morning, I cannot count the number of people I see walking around campus clutching their copy of The Beacon. I once saw professors become aware of a room scheduling conflict by a story published in The Beacon. The weekly Public Safety report has become nearly ubiquitous with Thursday morning discussions. Alumni still subscribe to the paper, and many still write in. The Beacon is an integral part of the UP community, both past and present.
This year in particular, we collectively reached a new level of journalism, a level that any college should be proud to have in their student-run newspaper. I often send my articles to my friends at other, far larger schools and am told that The Beacon is noticeably more well-written and error-free than some of their school papers. We take pride in our work, which is what allows us to reach such high levels of journalism.
This quality will not and cannot continue with the proposed switch of rooms to The Log's current room, which is approximately one-third the size of our current room. Our weekly all-staff meetings are already cramped with everyone trying to hear everyone else and such meetings are physically not feasible in the proposed smaller room. This is not to mention there is still the issue of trying to fit in all of the necessary computers and equipment, which are just as important to The Beacon's continued success.
On top of this, shunting The Log to a back corner of the building is simply not fair, as they are responsible for the invaluable task of preserving our memories. I have no doubt that yearbook quality would drop as well if this move takes place.
The Beacon provides an incredibly valuable service for not just the school itself, but for the entire UP community. I am at a loss as to how a change that would so obviously negatively impact its quality is even being considered. The Beacon has always remained on affable terms with school administration and more often than not helps fix issues rather than exacerbating them. Most schools would be envious of the outstanding service that The Beacon provides week in and week out.
Can The Beacon survive such a change? Sure. We can deal with whatever is thrown at us. It just won't be The Beacon as you know it.
