We need a raise. More specifically, The East Texan needs a raise.
Simple economics: As time goes on, things cost more. Sounds accurate enough, right? So if inflation causes the price of things to increase, why has our budget decreased over the years?
OK, costs go up and budgets get cut. The facts of life in any economic situation are rough. But let’s be real about a few things.
Sure, if we’re talking plasma televisions and DVD players and iPods – all high tech stuff – the initial phase of product introduction gives way to mass selling and initial investments are overcome thus yielding lower prices for consumers. (Please give me an A in marketing, Mrs. Bussell.)
But when I look around our newsroom, I can’t help thinking someone doesn’t apply the concepts of inflation or of fixed costs (or paying employees) when they think of our budget.
For the nearly two semesters I have been working on the campus newspaper, I have been amazed.
I am amazed at the level of dedication of the individuals who write the stories and take the pictures and lay out the pages.
I am amazed at the selflessness these people put into a newspaper that gives them so little in return.
I am amazed at the work ethic of those who sacrifice their time with loved ones, money they could be making at other jobs and grades because they are usually here until the early hours of Wednesday morning with classes starting in less than five hours at times. (I plan on building a statue to honor Joey.)
Ten years ago the budget for The East Texan was $30,000. And there was a literary magazine which received approximately $17,000. Currently, our newspaper runs on $17,000 a year.
We have less than 40 hours a week to divide among all our staffers. Let’s see, that’s less than five hours a week IF they were all paid. As it is, various ones don’t take a paycheck, opting to let those who need it most take what there is. (If you know anyone who can live on $30 a week, let me know.)
A sad fact is some of the people who would work on our staff for a few bucks a week have to take jobs in other towns to afford to live and can’t participate as they wish. (So much for the total university experience.)
Those of us on staff here take pride in our work and we take pride in our university. This past week, we spent our spring break representing our school at a journalism convention and trying to recruit other students to come to A&M-C. We wore our schools shirts and hats with honor.
But sometimes we bit our tongues when we spoke with folks from other universities.
One guy complained that he couldn’t take the stress of handling 15 reporters at a university with no journalism major. (We have four editors who write and people occasionally submit from classes. All the gentleman had to do was coordinate people – no writing, no layout.)
My old community college buddies bragged they got new Macs for the editors and new cameras for their photographers. We’ve been waiting all year for our Dells to be ready in our newsroom. The one computer that did get unboxed doesn’t have a word processor program.
Still another couldn’t believe we only have one phone in our newsroom. (But in all honesty, they made quality phones back before the break up of AT&T.)
Now, I know people are going to say their departments have suffered over the years, too. It’s true, cutbacks have hurt everyone.
However, I can’t speak for everyone; my cause is this newspaper. And I’ll tell you why I care.
A newspaper should have the ability to report on its community to its readers. To do this, a newspaper needs some bare necessities. If students and faculty want to know what’s happening on campus, where can they turn?
Administration wants higher enrollment of high quality students. Why not increase the full-time journalism staff to three (since it is a major) and compete with other schools for aspiring journalists or public relations professionals?
This program has yielded many journalism professionals working across the country and in the Metroplex. Ever hear of James Ragland?
It reminds me of an old joke that sounds like it was inspired by a Mark Twain story.
A scientist is conducting an experiment. He places a frog on a table and yells at it to jump. It jumps and he writes some notes in his journal.
He cuts off a front leg and yells at it to jump again. The frog struggles, but it jumps. He writes more notes in his journal.
He repeats the process twice more and while the frog struggles more and more, it manages to jump. The scientist writes more notes in his journal.
After cutting off the last leg, the scientist yells and yells for the frog to jump to no avail. The scientist finally gives up and writes in his journal: “As suspected, after cutting off all the legs, the frog goes deaf.”
Please give us back our legs.
E-mail Troy at theeasttexan.com