EDITOR
Paula Lavigne
OPINION
EDITOR
Jessica Kennedy
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Erin Gibson
Joshua Gillin
Jeff Randall
Julie Sobczyk
Ryan Soderlin
i
Our
VIEW
News suit
Ames Daily s battle
over advertising
The New York Times published a story
yesterday about tiny Ames, Iowa. It wasn’t
about VEISHEA. It was about the legal
battle between the Iowa State Daily
Publication Board and the Ames Daily
Tribune.
Last spring, the Iowa State Daily was
found to be a “governmental body” and
subject to the Iowa open records and open
meetings law. The Tribune sued the Daily
for not opening up documents to the
Tribune.
The Tribune claimed they wanted
access to the Daily’s records because the
Daily was unfairly competing in advertis
ing and distribution in Ames.
Although the Daily lost the suit, the
judge said the Daily acted in “good faith”
with the law, and thus, was not liable to pay
the Tribune’s legal fees, which amounted
to nearly $135,000. The Tribune has
appealed the judge’s decision.
Factual errors in a New York Times’
story included the giving the wrong advis
er for the Daily and increasing the mone
tary amount for student fees by more than
$25,000.
We think former Daily faculty adviser
Thomas Beell summed it up eloquently by
calling Michael Gartner, Tribune editor,
and Gary Gerlach, Tribune publisher,
“corporate thugs.”
These two men, part owners of the
Tribune, have suggested that the Iowa
State Daily restrict their news coverage
and advertising to campus and the
Campustown area.
ISU students make up almost half of
the Ames community. Limiting the student
ad reps at the Daily to only seek advertis
ing from the campus area is ridiculous.
The Daily used to be circulated all over
Ames, but now it can only be distributed
on campus and the immediate surround
ings.
\7 nmu mom? f \;mi mox; Ko ocVinrt
why this is going on.
Why would Gartner, a former editor of
The Des Moines Register, former presi
dent of NBC News, Pulitzer Prize winner
and a lawyer buy and become the editor of
a small 8,000 circulation, black-and-white
newspaper?
It could be because he truly wanted the
Ames community to have a quality news
paper. But we don’t think so. The true
answer is quite simple: He wanted to get
mo’ money.
The minute they get a little competition
from the campus newspaper they go to the
courts with their tails between their legs
like some corporate dogs.
In the Times’ article Gartner states: “I
love the kids at the Daily. I teach over
there, I give them an enormous amount of
my time and I want to see them succeed. I
just don’t want them to stab me in my back
when I put out my paper and sell my ads.”
Well Mr. Gartner, show us the love,
because we haven’t seen it yet.
You decide who’s stabbing who in the
back.
—Iowa State Daily. Please see the DN
online for more on this issue.
-1
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4 tHaney’s
VIEW
*■ *
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Guest
VIEW
Time to talk
Annual diversity retreat moves people together
JOHN LEONARD
HARRIS iithe special
assistant to the UNL vice
chancellor for student
affairs.
Yes, it’s that time again. Time for
the annual Cultural Diversity Retreat
and I’m excited about it! Every year
for the last six years I’ve been a part
of this event. Four out of those six
years, I have actually led the facilita
tion of the retreat, along with several
of my University of Nebraska
Lincoln colleagues. As far as I know,
most people would say it’s a great
experience.
What we do is simply this: I find a
place, somewhere off campus, like
Aurora, Milford, Gretna, Louisville -
a place I probably wouldn’t go to if
not for the retreat Well, maybe Gretna
... die oudet mall is there. Anyway, I
then invite UNL students, administra
tion, faculty and staff to attend. I don’t
tell them too much prior to die retreat
with the hope that they won’t have any
preconceived notion about what is
ffninff tn take nlar.e Then T wait for
the applications to come pouring in.
And I wait and wait.
After the applications are in, (and
the $ 10 registration deposit that the
person gets back after the retreat) we
read through them, and pick those
people who really want the experi
ence and really want to make a dif
ference on this campus.
Then, Saturday, Oct. 11 arrives,
and the first phase of the retreat
begins. We gather to load into the
vans before heading out to the
retreat site. The trip there provides a
great opportunity to meet everyone,
and do a quick introduction exer
cise. Most of the participants have
at least one funny story to tell about
their van ride to the retreat; I’ve
never figured out how we get so
many funny stories from such a
short trip.
Once we get to the retreat site
and unload, the second phase of the
retreat begins. As the retreat gets
rolling, and we clarify the objectives
and engage the participants, I’m
reminded why I do this work. As we
go from exercise to exercise, session
to session, the energy of the retreat
unfolds. It’s great! The retreat partic
ipants are interacting, talking, and
sharing with one another. They chal
lenge one another, disagree with one
another, and work together on devel
oping ideas that can help our cam
pus. Some just take it all in, not
knowing what they have gotten
themselves into. Everyone has a dif
ferent reason for being there and it is
the task of the facilitators to bring all
of these people together. This goes
on in a fairly intense fashion for a
day and a half.
By the end of the retreat, the
experience has come to mean differ
ent things to each person: Some have
established new friendships, some ,
have had a light turned on; still oth
ers have been touched by the sheer
reality that they actually stepped out
side of their comfort zone and faced
their fears. I maybe going out on a
limb, but I believe that most people
leave the retreat with a greater sense
of their own responsibility to make a
difference. Moreover, they know
they are not alone: There are others
who feel that there is hope for
change.
As facilitators, we know every
one comes to the retreat at different
levels. We are aware everyone
comes with their own perspective,
their own filter and their own way of
looking at the world. We do not tty
to change everything about a person,
but we do try to challenge how they
have been taught to see things.
Ultimately, we hope that what we M ^
have to give and what the participant
has to give brings us to a p)gee of
understanding that will(help this
campus. And believe me, this cam
pus needs help,.
I submit to you that one way to
make some progress toward a better
campus climate is to continue to talk,
- which is what we are going to do
next month at the 10th Annual
Cultural Diversity Retreat, October
11-12, at Camp Kitaki in Louisville,
Neb. The theme for the retreat is:
“Moving Forward Together,” and that
is exactly what we will be talking
about. How can we, as members of
this community, move forward
together in spite of the challenges
that we face individually and collec
tively?
I do not expect us to come up
with all the answers, or solve any of
the world’s problem during the
weekend. However, I do expect that
some people will come to the retreat
optimistic, just like I am. Some will
come with an expectation that
things can actually get better at
UNL, in Lincoln, across America
and the rest of the world. And they
will hear something, or do some
thing over the course of the week
end that will say to them, “We can
move forward together.” These peo
ple will then come back to our cam
pus and say to their friends who will
say toothers, “We ban move for
ward together.” This attitude Will
spread like wild fire and before
long UNL win lie the kind of place
where diversity is something.we *
enjoy talking about, not something
we hold our noses to discuss. UNL
will be the kind of place where peo
ple — men and women, Asians and
T otitiAO tro/litiAnol an/1
tional students — know that there is
a place for them. UNL will ensure
their safety and their comfort. Why?
Because this will become a caring
community of people who are"
drawn together by the pursuit of
higher education. < iK
Please apply to Attend this year’s
retreat. I promise, you will not be
sorry.-ft really is a great experience
w$h a great purpose. If you have a
' free weekend, or can take off work,
we would love to have you there.
Again, we have no illusions that this
weekend alone will make the whole
difference, but it’s a place to do more
than hope for things to get better or
hold hands and sing “We are the
World.” If you have never gone to the
retreat before, check it out. You will
be glad you did!
Editor’s note: If you ’re interested
in attending the diversity retreat,
there is a booth set up near the east
doors of the union with information
and registration forms. Or call John
Harris at 472-3755.
