Welcome back to school, everyone, and welcome to college, freshmen. Thanks for picking up the Spinnaker, UNF’s official student-run newspaper. If you’re unfamiliar with the Spinnaker, allow me to enlighten you.
To begin, it’s important to know that nobody owns the Spinnaker; the students that work here have complete editorial authority over all content published. That means students design the paper, write the stories, take photographs and distribute the paper to the student body.
That being said, we are not wasted talent. In 2010, the Spinnaker won the Associated Press Pacemaker Award – considered the Pulitzer Prize for college journalism – as one of the top weeklies in the country. It is our intention to continue performing at this exceptional level and deliver to you, dear reader, the best damn college newspaper we can muster. But in order for us to stay on top, we need your help.
There are a number of ways students and faculty can help us out. The most important, I think, is by simply reading our paper every week. The more you read and discuss our stories with others, the more inclined others will be to stay in the loop and read, as well. Also, even though we always have our eyes and ears in all the right places, we’re always in search of a juicy news tip or an endearing story. If you know about something that perhaps we don’t, spill it – we can keep it anonymous, if need be.
It’s important we include students’ and administrators’ thoughts, questions, opinions, concerns, etc., in our stories, as well. If one of our talented reporters is trying to reach you, please make an effort to get back with them, and be patient – some are still learning.
Don’t forget to consider joining our team. We are always looking for hard-working, savvy writers to really nail an important story. You can also respond to what we write. Depending on the content, we’ll print your letter to the editor in a following issue. Please, be polite.
Any student can have his or her work published in the Spinnaker in some capacity. If you think you’ve written the greatest short story ever, send it to us. We’ll print an excerpt and throw the rest on our website. Have a terrific photo you think everyone should see? Send it our way, and we’ll print it in our Expressions section. Poems? We’ll take those, too.
If all you want to do is rant and rave, by all means, type that drivel up, and we’ll see what we can do with it.
The Spinnaker is all about transparency and student engagement. Newspapers may be disappearing, but the Spinnaker is just getting warmed up. We’ve already converged with Osprey TV and Osprey Radio, and there are many opportunities within those entities, as well.
We even have our own digital media department. If you are interested in any student media, I strongly urge you to get involved and help us grow these prosperous initiatives.
This is your campus. This is your community. Don’t ignore it, be a part of it. You have the rest of your life to be boring and apathetic.
I’d like to end this letter by sharing a few tips I’ve learned since I’ve been in college and grown wise. All I can say is you’re going to have to trust me on some of these.
Yes, the Student Union is where it’s at, but the Green is where you should be at.
In order to be missed at the party, you must first miss a few parties.
You can’t always hold yourself to the expectations that you hold yourself to.
Get involved on campus in any way you can.
Sometimes, Rate My Professor ratings don’t mean shit.
Save yourself — or your parents — some money by making the conscious decision, now, to not try to beat Parking Services. Just park where you’re supposed to.
In class, never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.
Learning and reading is good. Questioning what you’re learning and reading is great.
Remember: No matter how hard your time at college gets, it will remain the best time of your life.
