By Katie Stobbart (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: September 3, 2014
(Image: Matt Biddulph/Flickr)
We all have dreams, or we wouldn’t be here. Striving for something different or better is what keeps us in motion. Sometimes, we have the capacity to accomplish the kind of change we want and need of our own accord. However, part of being an adult is knowing you can’t do it all by yourself. Sometimes you have to reach out your hand, not to lift someone up, but to be lifted.
If you’re already familiar with The Cascade, you have probably noticed we’ve made a few changes for our first issue back this year. The cover and feature are glossier, there are four extra pages of colour inside, and the size of the paper is smaller, a little easier for you to grab on the go and unfold on your class break.
But don’t stop at the cover — there are plenty of exciting changes coming to your newspaper over the next year. Many of these changes are dreams we at The Cascade have nurtured for years, sparks that needed fuel to grow into flames. In our referendum last year asking for an additional $1.50 per semester, you gave us that fuel. You lifted us up.
Some of those dollars have already been spent on necessary equipment upkeep that has been put off due to lack of available funds. Obviously, we’ve improved our physical paper quality. We also plan to use that money and our renewed energy to expand our distribution area, hire more students, and increase our presence on campus.
One of the things you’ll see this year is that we are hosting regular workshops. On most Thursday nights, our editorial and design staff will give short crash courses on various topics in which they have expertise — these are free for students to attend, though we ask that you preregister. The first, scheduled for September 11, will take participants through the basics of interviewing. Later in the semester, workshop topics will include blogging, photography, Adobe InDesign, narrative journalism, crafting an editorial argument, and more.
We are also in the midst of hiring additional staff writers, giving students opportunities for paid writing as well as ensuring we have reliable and skilled writers to supply quality content for the paper.
For the winter semester, we are laying the groundwork for The Cascade to branch into multimedia for the first time with the creation of a new editorial position; our goal is to make it so you can not only read articles but also watch videos on our website and engage with campus news and events in a new way.
Another of our focuses this year is to really be part of your student experience. This means being at campus and community events, continuing to report on issues that keep you informed, and hopefully even bringing events and speakers to campus in partnership with other student groups.
The years leading up to this one have been integral to setting a firm foundation for The Cascade. Now, with a little more fuel, we’re able to really show you what we have built, and what we can do. We can keep moving forward. Thanks for the lift!
