The Worst Section Manager Ever Defends "The Shittiest Cartoon Ever"
Steve Glassbrenner
| Toon Section Manager
2/01/02
Last week, word filtered down that during a budget meeting concerning RU Student Media, certain Radford administrators and staff on the Student Leadership Compensation Committee (SLCC), voiced their opinions regarding the quality of work done by our student media leaders verses the compensation they receive. So what was in question? It was Whim's color scheme and a cartoon I draw, "The Shittiest Cartoon Ever."
First off, let me say that if any individual has a problem with anything printed or colored in this magazine, and if that person considers themselves the LEAST bit professional, they owe our staff the courtesy of first discussing the issue with our Executive Director, (yes, the one that shouldn't be fully funded), and then with the author. Quite frankly, I don't feel that I'm going out on a limb in saying that basing funding off these ridiculous criticisms is complete crap!
That said, why not fund Whim and Exit 109's student leaders? (I won't add Roc-TV to the list and PRETEND something's not wrong with THAT picture.) I have seen how hard Whim's Executive Director, Rachel Thomason, works for this magazine, and I've worked with Stephen Rudich, Exit 109's Editor. Without question, BOTH of them deserve just as much funding as other RU student leaders. These leadership positions are essentially full time jobs. The student leaders of The Tartan, Beehive, CAB, BAP, the SGA president, and part of his staff are already funded. What separates them from Exit 109 and Whim? Are the others a higher priority? No they're not. The Tartan, Beehive, CAB, BAP, SGA, Exit 109 and Whim are all Tier 1 organizations, the highest group classification on campus.
I just had a horrible thought! What if all the OTHER Tier 1 student leaders get the idea that they should be treated equally as well? Quickly, let me see a show of hands. How many Greeks think that the Inter-fraternity Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and Pan-Hellenic Council presidents SHOULDN'T get funded? Anyone? I thought not. Guess what? They're Tier 1 groups as well. But wait! While flipping through the Good Book, I thought of a solution THAT FIXES EVERYTHING. At most universities, children of faculty don't pay tuition. Let's let the SLCC ritually adopt our Tier 1 student leaders, thereby exempting them from tuition.
As for my comic, last week I renamed it to prove a point. "Explicit Fecal Monkey Pornography" is a tasteless and foul title. In fact, it is far worse than my original title "The Shittiest Cartoon Ever," and uses nothing less than perfectly acceptable and fairly proper English. I tried defending this to everyone, including my own mother, who told me I was wrong. I still didn't know what to do until former Whim Executive Director, Brian Korte, replied to a frustrated entry in my LiveJournal.
"Listen. Pushing the envelope is what Whim was all about. We were the first web magazine for any college in the state, and as we later learned, we had our feet in the door months before any other college in the country. (by the time we were officially a publication, others were following our lead)...
Fight the good fight, goddammit. I think your comic was the best thing that happened to Whim. Not because of the content, but because you all FINALLY pushed the friggin envelope. So congrats to you. Keep on pushing. And if it gets frustrating? Push some more. Negative publicity is still publicity.
Korte out-"
If certain people were legitimately concerned with the title, they could've read more than one strip and easily discovered its meaning. I don't think that faculty should be able to control content of any student press on campus. Whim is by the students for the students. If the faculty feels left out, I highly suggest that they start their own magazine (just as long as their Executive Director doesn't try to get compensated for his or her hard work!)
In short, Whim was scapegoated because there was no real reason NOT to help Stephen and Rachel out. Those involved know who they are, and I have only a few things to say to them:
Someone came up with the Student Leadership Compensation Committee because students deserve to be compensated for the hard work they do. Blaming color schemes and inconsequential, poorly drawn, cartoons for the decisions you make is sad. When the Student Accounts Budgeting Committee (SABC) votes, I hope that they aren't nearly as short sighted and as easily distracted by a color scheme and my doodles. We need to support our Student Media leaders.
Name:Brian Korte Year: '00 Major: MSTD: Adv. Comments:
Had I known that my words would be republished in Whim, I might have cleaned it up a bit.
Nah.
Look Steve (and Whim), there are two sides to every issue (at least) and you need to weight them all as responsible media leaders. I sided with caution for most of my tenure with Whim, and looking back I realize that if anything, the thing I was missing most was focus.
Focus on your readers. They come back to the site regularly. They support Whim, spread the word, pass along the URL, and most importantly come back to the site each week. They'll be your proxy when Whim is under the firing squad at a meeting where none of you are in attendance. They'll fight your battles for you. They might even offer an encouraging word or two for staffers who publish their distress about an issue. (in fact, they might even go as far as to curse just a lil' bit to emphasize their point.)
Focus on development. More than anyone else, you and your fellow staff members need to learn how all of this is done. If you write an article or draw a picture or two on deadline night then send it in to be done with it all and just move on with your week, then you are really really missing out on a great opportunity to learn how your executive team works together to put Whim in production. Knowing how to write correctly, knowing how to use image editing software, and knowing the publication process can help you in ways you may not even see right now. It might even get you hired. The real world follows a similar process of production flow. It would behoove you to watch it and become a cog in the process.
Focus on fun. It's too easy to make Whim a business. It's too easy to follow the commands of the uppity-ups. It's too easy to change a web page post-production just because someone doesn't raises a fuss. Trust that your leadership wouldn't have posted it if they weren't willing to defend it, and then just kick back and watch the sparks fly. Negative experience is still very valuable experience. And the dialogue that ensues will surely be exciting. Encourage members from both sides of the debate to participate and support a healthy dialogue! Readers love that. And that brings us back to #1.
You'll have my support no matter which direction you choose. I'm sure I can say this for all of our Whim Alumni over the years. We want to continue to see Whim prosper. We want you to continue making this as valuable an experience for yourselves as we had for ourselves. Try to see problems as hurdles that you simply need to learn how to jump over.
And if you trip and fall on that hurdle? Swear.
Name: Greg Comments:
Yo go boooooyyyyy!!!! The first original title to that comic was perfect. Censorship sucks.
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments: Viva la revolucion! Loved the article, Dogg. Hated the all caps words, but loved the article. Real good Swift edge to it.
Name: Andrew Kinback Major: Head Writer of ROC-TV Comments:
Bravo Steve, bravo. Well said.
Name:Marty Callaghan Comments:
Steve:
I attended the SLCC meeting in which one of the members "critiqued" Whim magazine; in fact, I'm the one who told Rachel about it. I agree that it was a "cheap shot," made by a faculty member who should have known better. Editorial complaints should be directed to the staff and not used as an excuse to deny funding for student leaders.
As a point of clarification, your readers should know that Dean Hurlburt had nothing to do with the ersatz critique of Whim magazine. In fact, she introduced a motion to the committee that actually increased compensation for student media leaders. Instead of about 2.5 scholarships, SLCC has recommended four scholarships to distribute among six student media leader positions. (This compensation still has to be approved by SABC.) I believe that all student leaders of "Tier 1" organizations should be compensated with 100 percent of in-state tuition per academic year. While some people feel that students should volunteer their time for leadership positions, I argue that paid compensation strengthens student organizations and recognizes the fact that students are providing valuable services which benefit the entire university community.
As assistant director for student media, I see on a daily basis how much work RU students put into the newspaper, yearbook, online magazine, etc. For the most part, I'm very impressed with their commitment and professionalism.
I haven't been on campus very long, having arrived in October from Chicago where I produced documentaries. But I must say that I'm surprised at the number of faculty and staff who seem to have forgotten an essential reality about universities: they exist because of the students. Without students, the rest of us would be doing...what?
The content of student media will always rub some shoulders the wrong way, but it's the price we pay for the First Amendment. Good luck to you, Rachel and the entire Whim staff. (PS: applications for student media leader positions are available at my office, 210 Heth Center. We're looking for outstanding candidates to become next year's Tartan editor, Beehive editor, Whim executive director, Student Ad Group manager, Student Media business manager, Exit 109 editor, ROC-TV executive producer, and Radio Free Radford executive producer.)
Comments:
great article steve. i'm sure all the media leaders appreciate your support.
Name: Shaun Year: Grad Major: English Comments: I posted this in my Livejournal, but I'm going to repost it here:
I can understand it from the University's perspective, but it doesn't mean I have to agree with their position on things. From what I've been able to infer, Whim seems to be the target of Hurlyburtnernie's wrath. OK, fine. If she has a problem with our color scheme, or calling a cartoon "The Shittiest Cartoon Ever," then she should come directly to us about it. I'm sure that if she approached us rationally about it, then something could have been worked out. But no, she and her goon squad go and threaten to not only yank the Media Leaders salary altogether. Remember back in high school, how the teachers would punish everyone for the actions of a few? Well, that's what is going on here.
I'm praying that the notion of cutting Student Media's budget was a knee jerk reaction. I can't believe anyone would be that stupid. Jeff pointed this out in his journal, and I will too: Student Media is a wonderful experience; you learn so much about the business, people and life in general. I've made so many friends through it, and if it hadn't been for Whim, I probably would have left RU in shame and disgust. And now certain administrators wish to deny students that experience? I have a hard time believing this is what they want, but if it's one thing I've learned after living 23 years in the shittiest run state in the Union, it's that you never know.
Student Media has been under attack here at RU for the past two years, and each time we concede a little bit to them. How much are we going to give them this time?
Last week, word filtered down that during a budget meeting concerning RU Student Media, certain Radford administrators and staff on the Student Leadership Compensation Committee (SLCC), voiced their opinions regarding the quality of work done by our student media leaders verses the compensation they receive. So what was in question? It was Whim's color scheme and a cartoon I draw, "The Shittiest Cartoon Ever."