April is the cruelest month to start running the Watch.
By Charlotte Harrison and Evey Hornbeck – April 22, 2011
With King’s students busy studying for exams, writing final papers, moving, and scraping together enough change to go for farewell beers with friends, contributing to the Watch wasn’t on the top of many todo lists.
For us, however, putting our stamp on our first issue was priority one. We both campaigned for editor with buzz words like “accessible” and “community”. But they’re more than buzz; for this issue and future issues, King’s news will be front and centre. We want to reach out to the community that has always given us so much, to find the stories and ask the questions that shed light on our issues.
Luckily, several faithful contributors did come through for us, to share some great stories. They showed patience with our beginners’ fumbling, and took the time to write about the issues that matter to our school— beloved tutors leaving (p. 16), a student society becoming a business (p. 14), election candidates’ efforts to sway the student vote (p. 8). As Watch staff, we took a look at the new KSU exec (p. 10), spoke with our new president (p. 7) and sat down to hear from a voice that disappeared from campus this semester (p. 20). While this issue contains more staff-written content than we would like, we were proud of those who wrote with us.
When we made the sudden leap from our previous roles with the Watch—as regular contributors, board of publishers members and staff— to editors, we realized just how much this magazine depends on the King’s community’s involvement to exist. As we usher in an entirely new executive, we hope to introduce a new era of Watch accessibility. We would like to find a way to include everyone who wants to get involved; we have some many talented writers, and it’s time for them to be heard. With an office in the Link next year, the Watch will be physically more accessible, as well.
It’s amazing to see previous Watch exec members claim front page spots on some of our nation’s most prominent papers, and we’re sure they would attribute some of their success to their time at the Watch. We’ve already learned so much just putting this issue together.
For those of you interested in a closer involvement with the Watch, keep an eye out for applications for Copy Editor, Junior Editor and Staff Photographer in late summer. Also, we’ll be handing out copies of our brand new Watch Contributor’s Manual in September, which will let you know exactly how to write for us.
We wish you all enjoyable summers, and look forward to working with you in the fall.
