THIS may be the most boastful opinion piece you’ll ever read.
Without further ado, let me, the news editor of publication year 2009 – 2010, present to you the barriers hurdled by the Varsitarian, particularly by struggling news writers.
This year, the News section of the Varsitarian covered a wide array of any news-worthy stories under the sun – from campus car accidents to faculty issues and controversial elections.
The obstacles included uncooperative sources, scarce data, stringent academic duties and faltering grades.
Early last year, the publication had an extensive coverage of the AH1N1 flu scare that disrupted the academic calendar. The Varsitarian made use of its new and improved website to feed the online Thomasian community news by the minute.
The Varsitarian also started publishing its editions fortnightly, that is, every two weeks.
But perhaps it the death in August of the country’s first woman president, Corazon Aquino, that was particularly memorable for the staff. The publication was able to release am eight-page “Cory Forever” special exactly five days after her death. In the issue were her acceptance speech at the Santisimo Rosario Parish when she received an honorary Doctor of Laws and the Golden Cross award from UST on Feb. 9, 1987. The news writers also got involved in the actual hustle and bustle of journalistic coverage outside the campus borders.
Before the semestral break, the Varsitarian ran a series of stories on the status of the Selegna Holdings Inc. versus UST case,a tug-of-war over the campus carpark. The issue also catered to students whose vehicles got stuck in the high-priced car park during the onslaught of typhoon “Ondoy.”
Meanwhile, hits from the Varsitarian.net website continued to soar—from a measly 20,000 to a whopping 400,000.
It was also through the student publication that the online exam photo frenzy was clarified. Remember the photograph of Commerce students wearing anti-cheating devices made of cardboards in your Facebook wall? Thanks to the ‘V,’ UST was able to explain the issue which drew a lot of comment boxes in the social networking site.
A couple of months later yours truly was given the privilege to interview former US envoy to the Philippines , Kristie Kenny, when she toured the University before bidding Manila goodbye. This was shortly followed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visit of the University last December, in which she held a dialogue via satellite with college students from all over the Philippines. Both visits had their much-deserved coverage and spaces in the fortnightly to serve as one of UST’s historic memorabilia.
Also in December, seven presidential hopefuls trooped to the Medicine Auditorium. This landed as the December issue’s banner story.
Again, using its website, the Varsitarian was able to release in advance high-quality photos and the report of the much-awaited Paskuhan 2010 minutes after the Countdown to 400 was formally launched during the annual UST Christmas gig.
And so, as the cliché goes, the rest is history.
The Varsitarian also committed some mistakes. But the paperowns up to them regularly by runnign errata. I am optimistic that the next roster of Thomasian campus journalists will give you more than what we have offered.
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The struggle and the glory of the Varsitarian won’t continue without these people: Felipe Salvosa II, Lito Zulueta, and Christian Esguerra. I would be forever thankful to them for making me realize journalism school is worth every penny. I hope you won’t grow tired honing the country’s best campus journalists.
Jilly, Darenn and Cha, take good care of the section I have treasured for the past three years. Help the advisers keep their cool. To the new editorial board—AJ and Cliff, your success makes me feel my stint was historical. Prove that loneliness at the top is a choice, not a curse. My apologies for my machine gun mouth and raised eyebrows at times. You have to admit, those “endearments” worked on you.
To Mark, Sarah, Ching, Cheenee, Prinz, Jamie, Rose, Rona, and Celyn, your stay in the Varsitarian made me want to go on despite all the conundrums and all the “I-want-to-quit” drama. What else can I say, we will grow old together.
A big hug to Toni and Jeff, who own the prefixes “best” and “boy” before the “friend,” respectively. Thanks for sticking with me for the past 15 years, Toni. Hope you’ll do the same and even more, Jeff. My relationships with the two of you make me appreciate the value of patience and its prize. I pray and believe we’ll grow old together as well. And when we do, we won’t notice how grey we have become for each moment was filled with hearty laughs.
To my Mom, Kuya, Ate, Tita and Lolo, thanks for enduring my presence inside the house every day. Til the next pay check.
And lastly, I extend the greatest thanks to my number one fan and critic who has been happily spending the past two years with the Lord right now: Daddy, I miss you. I know you’re proud, you must be.
God bless the Varsitarian, the University and all Thomasians. See you at 400.
Hi. This has been Danielle Dandan, Major in the Varsitarian, minor in (insert course here). Now, I can safely use that decades-old ‘Varsi joke.
Once a V staffer, always a V staffer!
