Have you ever heard a hippie describe why you should recycle? It’s become such an intricate part of their lives that it seems readily apparent. Why wouldn’t you recycle? It doesn’t take much time and it adds real value to the community, they’d say in a long winded ramble. That’s sort of what it’s like for me to tell people why they should join the DTH.

Student government leaders had about 100 students turn out to their open house, and we hope to see a similar turnout at our interest meeting tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in Union 3503. The meeting will be a chance for applicants to meet the editors and learn a bit about what goes into the paper each day.

They’ll get to here a speil from me. I’ll tell them that the DTH provides an entry point to all angles of campus. Based on your level of commitment it can define your college career or just add some definition. We offer an experience that no other campus group can boast. Your work is viewed by 38,000 people daily. Attaching “of the DTH” behind your name opens doors and grants you access to the secret doors of campus. We’re the only organization that touches every part of our community from student organizations to South Building to Cat’s Cradle.

You also don’t need to be able to write to apply. For one, we will train you. For two, we’re looking for designers, photographers, online experts, graphic artists, illustrators, copy editors and cartoonists. We have a place for everyone. Come to our interest meeting and find yours.

I’ve been a lot of things in my life but the subject of an Orangepolitics post wasn’t one of them — until Now .

As a regular reader of Ruby’s site it was pretty flattering to see my name up there. I especially enjoyed her comment, “I’ve been impressed with the depth of coverage the DTH gives to issues that are sometimes ignored by other media outlets. But they could also use more depth of knowledge about those local issues. It will be interesting to watch and see if there are any changes this year.”

There will be changes. At editor selection I was asked how given that I’m from Chapel Hill I’ll be able to weigh what matters to students and not give too much of a towm perspective. To me that’s exactly the reason why student voting numbers are dismal. It’s the reason why we have people come to campus for four years and never venture outside of Franklin St. It’s why we have students and residents working on the same pet cause without connecting to each other. Students are a part of this community, and my charge is to get them to realize that. We’ll add depth to stories sure, but the main change you’ll see is an effort to show readers why they should care.

To the average backpack toting 18-year-old Neighborhood Conservation Districts seem meaningless. But show them that it means duplexes will be no more, and all of a sudden it matters. The University and the town are implicitly connected. It’s a shame that too few of my classmates know it.

Columnist’s assessment of student leaders is unfair

TO THE EDITOR:
Elizabeth Freeman’s “Student leaders work for students” (Aug. 28) indicates that both James Allred and Luke Farley are simply power-hungry title-chasers.
As a current member of Student Congress, I can personally testify that this article misconstrues the drives of these two gentlemen.
Having had the privilege of working with James and Luke on many different occasions, I can say that both are motivated and devoted to ensuring that the student body’s needs are represented and met.
In the column, Freeman harps on whether these two are capable of protecting student’s pocketbooks. In working more closely with Luke Farley in Student Congress, I can ensure the student body that protecting their dime is at the top of his agenda.
Just at our last Student Affairs Committee meeting, no other member raised as many questions and concerns over the recent change in the printing policy than Luke Farley. Luke has sought tirelessly throughout his time in office to reduce unnecessary student fees and is infamous on campus as the defender of student’s pocketbooks.
Freeman should know Mr. Farley’s convictions since she served with him for two years in Congress. I wonder if she just did not pay attention? As for partisan politics, both James and Luke provide a balance to student government that is not only beneficial, but also necessary.

Rep. Katie Willett
Student Congress
District 6

Student Congress is here to support UNC students

TO THE EDITOR:
In response to our former colleague Elizabeth Freeman’s column yesterday, we would like to take a moment to set the record straight, and we believe we speak for the consensus of the Student Congress.
Ms. Freeman is correct that one of the chief purposes of Congress is to disburse student activity fee money, roughly one half of a million dollars per year. Because this is such a heavy responsibility, we all take it very seriously.
Surprisingly, we could spend much more if we did not devote so much time every week to scrutinizing funding requests and weighing them against the best interests of the student body and specific criteria in Title V of the Student Code.
There is little waste, nor is there room for it, because hundreds of thousands more dollars are requested every year than we can spend, and we do not want to put upward pressure on student fees.
We speak from two different sides of the traditional left-right political spectrum, and there are those in Congress on both sides of the aisle, yet that is nearly always irrelevant to the body’s business.
It is political, to be sure, but it is rarely partisan. We are here to serve students, not our own egos or ideological interests.
To characterize Congress as constantly and unproductively mired in inconsequential debate, on power trips, or out of touch with students is to not know the body, its members, or our devotion to our mission.
We want to reassure students, particularly those of you who just came to campus, that we are here for you and we serve you.
That means we want more of you to be involved, and we want to hear from all 27,000 of you, especially if you think we are not properly representing your diverse interests.
So come to our first full Congress meeting of the semester tonight in Peabody 08 at 7:30 p.m., or watch us on Student Television.
Our meetings and all records of them are open to the public, which means you can find out for yourselves what we are all about, rather than just reading a third-hand opinion in the DTH.

Luke J. Farley
Speaker
Student Congress

Dustin Ingalls
Speaker Pro Tempore
Student Congress

Student Government set to put on open house

TO THE EDITOR:
The Executive Branch of Student Government will be holding an open house today from 7-9 p.m. in our office, Suite 2501 of the Student Union. Students are encouraged to drop by during this time to learn more about what student government does and how to get involved.
We will be recruiting for 12 committees as well as several external appointment positions. Committees take on projects that encompass almost every facet of student life. Whether you are interested in academic affairs, the environment, women’s issues, art’s advocacy, or town relations, student government has a committee for you.
There are also many external appointments available, which are positions on committees around the University that shape policy, provide student input, and help ensure that students’ voices are heard. Committees range from helping advise Student Health and Career Services to the Committee on Student Conduct. If you’re a first-year student, you are especially encouraged to apply to the Student Advisory Committee to the Chancellor and the Freshman Focus Council.
We look forward to seeing you there to answer your questions about how to get more involved!

Christie Cunningham
Chief of Staff
Executive Branch of Student

Some of you might have seen today’s first “Monday Spotlight” on the front page. It’s an analysis of the freshman class demography by Investigative Team writer Shari Feld.
The “Monday Spotlight” will run each Monday somewhere on the front page and will feature an in-depth look at an issue or an investigative piece that our team will cover. This serves the paper’s watchdog role and provides a spot for stories that go beyond the day-to-day grind. Without giving too much away, I will tell you that our initial plan for today’s “Monday Spotlight” is taking a little longer than expected and the piece on the freshman class was done quickly, but thoroughly. So what do you think? How about the graphics? Do the graphics tell you enough so that the story isn’t too statistics-heavy? Also, if you haven’t already, check out the profiles of four freshmen on page 6. They’re short vignettes written creatively by senior writer Lindsay Michel.

The Investigative Team is made up of myself and four writers with previous experience on a news desk: Ted Strong, Lindsay Michel, Shari Feld and Sarah Rabil.
We are charged with bringing back the “watchdog role” to The Daily Tar Heel. What’s a “watchdog role?” It’s the mission to serve readers by digging and investigating to bring you stories that you won’t find anywhere else. Seriously, you won’t find most of these stories the I-team will produce anywhere else, because we will be generating our own story ideas through the use of public records requests, building databases, using spreadsheets and incorporating social science research methods into our analyses to make our investigations accountable. These type of stories will take a lot of work, which is why it takes a special team to work on them while our other reporters are extremely busy with daily stories.
I hope you all will offer feedback and tips as we get started on our investigations.
Please e-mail me anytime with your questions, concerns and story ideas. We hope to have an anonymous tip-line sometime soon, but for now, you can reach me at shanbow@email.unc.edu or 919-962-0246.

-Shannan M. Bowen, Investigative Team Leader

First an apology. You would’ve seen two blog posts from this weekend, but you can thank Time Warner for not sending a cable guy to our home rendering us devoid of Internet. Though I wanted to spend the weekend clearing my head, I felt my mind wandering back to newsroom ventures and would’ve posted.

It was a great chance to rejuvenate. Things have chanced since I last blogged. I was on the radio.

My appearance on WCHL was marked by: 1) My parents feeling proud, 2) Me realizing I have a strange, strange voice. So it’s a wash. Though my appearance is taped, we don’t do any second takes. If we could, I would’ve changed a few things.

Dan Siler: Tell us a bit about yourself.

I basically said I went to Chapel Hill High School, which elicited a “Go Tigers,” from Dan. Tres chic. Then I talked about my experience at the paper. I think it made me sound like a bit of newsroom rat, which, to be honest, I guess I am. But I should’ve talked more about who I am.

Revised Answer: I’m the man who invented the wheel and built the Eiffel Tower out of steel and brawn.

Dan Siler: Being from Chapel Hill gives you a unique perspective to share with your staff, how do you use it?

I talked about how I know the area. Great. I didn’t ever leave Chapel Hill. If I weren’t able to use that for the newspaper, or say having connections to South Building as an SBP, it might make me seem kind of scared of the outside world.

Revised answer: Growing up reading the Chapel Hill Herald, I’m able to tell them what not to do.

Dan Siler: So what’s new at the DTH this year?

I got in the Sudoku plug. I felt kind of like a used car salesman, but hey, it’s business. I talked about giving readers what they want and all that jazz.

Revised answer: I could tell you about all the new games and gadgets, but the biggest change is that we now play Yes instead of Dire Straits.

Now about those new things. Perhaps, I hope, the reason you’ve come here given the front page promo promising I’d discuss this stuff.

We’ve pretty much created a whole new ballgame. Are we down two runs in the bottom of the ninth, or did we stake ourselves for a 8-run lead in the first inning?

Here are the changes:

1) We’ve added Sudoku and made a games section. We run headlines alongside the section so people who only pick us up to fill letters or numbers in boxes also get some news. One person hates it. We’ll try to do better, especially given the successful use of “astride.”

2) Daily Dose. Who likes a little celebrity news and off-color quotes on page 2. This was an idea from Features Assistant Editor Julie Turkewitz who wanted to give readers a little water cooler talk. Do we still have water coolers? I guess we can call it soda machine talk.

3) Nation and World Briefs. They run on an inside page and aim to serve the 22 percent of readers who always look to us for National and World coverage. Do we give you enough?

4) More pullouts and alternative story forms. AJC Editor Julia Wallace says readers enjoy reading at different speeds. Is this true or are you now just speeding to the recycling bin?

5) This Web site. It’s changed a bit. What do you think?

6) Diversions. Preview favored above the review. Know your neighborhood artists. Enough said .

7) Debuting tomorrow (or today at the case may be) is Campus Roundup. Hey student groups who complain that we don’t cover you enough: Does this help?

I’m told I’ll only really hear from readers when I do something wrong. But please let me know either way. The people busting their humps in here deserve a bit of input from the folks they aim to serve.

The first week is done. We made it out alive, which is nice. We improved a bunch, which is even better. Friday will be an important day for us. We get a chance to catch our breath and regroup. It’ll be a great time to evaluate how things went this week. It’s easy to dwell on the negatives. We didn’t hit deadline. A lot of things went awry. But tomorrow is a chance to quit dwelling and start to make solutions. We also get to try our hand at producing a Monday centerpiece, and getting some long-range planning done. I also get to see how big of a fool I can make of myself on WCHL. Sitting in the newsroom now as Clint Johnson posts the paper online and the wake of those who hurried the bars still is fresh, there’s a sense of calm that we don’t have to put out a paper tomorrow. It’s time for a break. We deserve it.

The DTH is a rotating cast of faces, which makes for both exciting new life and a steep learning curve. So far we seem to be experiencing both. Just conquering the basics would be enough to keep up busy, but we’re taking an ambitious path: adding new sections, alternative story forms, pullouts and altering our daily operation process.

Some would say we should’ve eased into the changes, but you only have one year to make your mark here. Last year’s bunch did it’s part and left a high bar for us to meet. I remember Elyse Ashburn, DTH editor ’03-’04, talking about her first few days on the job. She walked around the newsroom looking for those she’d become accustomed to relying on only to realize that they’d graduated and moved on. I didn’t expect to see last year’s seniors, but I found myself demanding the same sort of work I’d expected from them. That’s not fair.

We shouldn’t set out to meet their bar; we need to set our own. I guess I forgot pretty quickly what the beginning of last year was like. There were bumps. All I remembered is the deadline-hitting machine we developed toward the end of last year. But we’re not a machine. We’re a group of individuals with unique skills and weakenesses giving away our free time to produce a newspaper. Our goal is to produce the best product possible. Not to top former papers. Not to win awards. Just to serve readers as best we can.

You’ll see us develop our own style as we go on. The DTH will feel a bit different this year, and I think that’s a good thing.

You’d be hardpressed to think of another group that operates the way we do. Imagine for instance if you took a bunch of relay runners who hadn’t laced up their sneaks all summer and made them run all four legs of a race. That’s pretty much what these past two days were like. We had two of our largest papers of the year completed by our core group of editors — essentially about 40 people pumping out 62 pages of copy in 48 hours.

Sure, we didn’t make deadline either night, but the fact that we have a staff dedicated enough to wipe away its final week of summer in favor of a newspaper says a lot. Looking around the newsroom as the clock spun dangerously forward, I found myself reflecting on how privileged I am to lead such a group. I think we’ve all grown a bit since Sunday. We’ve made some mistakes, but we’re charting a new course. I’ve seen people from different corners of the newsroom know each others name, brainstorm together and value each others’ work.

The first few issues always are a bear, and I thought about them before I decided to run for editor. Did I want to commit to doing this job? Did I really want to be the person forcing the tanning to stop and the pagework to begin? Maybe I didn’t know then, but now that it’s done I couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead.