By Katie Stobbart (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: January 28, 2015
“STOP WRITING.”
The danger in posing questions is you may not like the answers you’re given. So it is with our survey, which ran on myUFV between December 17 and January 18. The lack of respondents itself was disheartening; despite emails, social media posts, and advertising in multiple issues of the paper, only 218 students participated, or less than one per cent of UFV students in total.
Of those respondents, 170 said they had never used our website. There was a near even split between students who felt and did not feel we represent their experiences at UFV. Many said they don’t read the paper at all; we’re wasting our time; we should publish a column about the dissolution of The Cascade.
Maybe the results we got don’t accurately represent the opinions of all students, but they still show many students who don’t feel the paper is a good use of their time or fees. That doesn’t mean we should stop printing, but it does mean there’s room for us to improve. Clearly, we aren’t telling you enough about our online presence. We’re failing to fully deliver what at least some of you want. So let’s run diagnostics:
Representing all students
Many respondents suggested we aren’t doing enough to represent cross-disciplinary studies (not just arts). Granted, it’s mostly arts students who show up to our writers’ meetings, but we plan to reach out to more students, especially in science and business programs. We are also currently planning class visits to encourage would-be writers to contribute, which would enable us to cover more topics and events.
Fostering a conversation space
A few people said they want a space where students can write in regularly, like a column about everyday student life or a page dedicated to letters to the editor. The former, we can deliver. The latter, however, is a dream; I would love to see a page of letters. However, short of fabricating the content myself, there’s little I can do except ask (beg, implore) you to write in.
Did you agree with our stance in an opinion article? Want to weigh in on the UFV Speaks topic, or give your response to our news coverage? Was our news not newsy enough? Throw in your two cents on current events. Do you love or hate the class you were required to take this semester? Generally the limit is 250 words, but we’ve been known to give leeway.
Type it out. Send me an email. That’s all it takes.
Where and how you read the paper
Where other student newspapers have estimated their readership to be roughly 80 per cent online and 20 per cent print, I think I can safely say ours is almost completely print. I also see people on campus and on the bus picking it up and reading it all the time. However, just because we’re not going online-only anytime soon doesn’t mean we shouldn’t promote our website more so you know it exists.
A few people have also expressed concerns that we print too many copies of the paper. We can look again at how many copies we’re putting out and where, but keep in mind that often people will read an issue but not take it with them, meaning that copies still linger in distribution locations. These are picked up and recycled each week when we distribute again.
Comics, columns, and new ideas
One of the best parts of the survey is finding out what columns you would add or remove if it was your call. A handful said the entire sports section should be cut, some said reviews should get the axe, and there’s always a dedicated group of Below the Belt abolitionists. (If you’ve been reading the paper recently, you may have noticed we have been trying out a relationship advice column instead.)
Some of the things students said they wanted are things we’re already working on. Professor interviews, for example, are currently running weekly in News; we’ve done a couple articles so far featuring specific UFV clubs; and we do have a long-standing upcoming events list in Culture each week. One idea I would like to implement is a regular culture and/or travel column. We have a lot of international students and many students who study outside Canada, so there are plenty of stories to share that we haven’t even touched.
Last words
Just because the survey is over doesn’t mean you can’t let us know what you think. Seriously: send me an email, write a letter, come to a writers meeting (they’re on Mondays at 2 p.m. in room B133 this semester), or drop by our office in C1027 on the Abbotsford campus.
