I am the editor of the perspectives section. You may know me from my perspectives article on parking on campus or even some of the stuff I wrote last year as a staff writer for the features section. I have been writing for almost a year now and have learned one very important rule in news writing:
No matter how badly you want to, you can not put your opinions in an article.
Anything you may think or feel has to take a back seat because here at the Spectrum, we want to give you an unbiased source to learn about things happening in the world or on campus. So every week we take a deep breath and read over articles to make sure we aren’t giving you any of our own opinions, beliefs, feelings, etc.
Now there are a few very small exceptions to this rule, the first is if there is a part of our staff that is inextricable from the subject at hand (ex. Someone writing an article about the English club can quote Kailey Blount even though she is an editor because she is also the president of said club). The second exception is Audrey’s corner which is primarily for creative writing.
The third exception is the editorial section which is not bound to many of the rules of other sections, an area where an editor can write about whatever they want within reason. This includes opinions we have on articles that we could not put our opinions in.
I think you know where this is going.
The hardest article I have ever written for Spectrum was by far the parking article because of how hard it was not to “accidentally” slip in a quote from myself. When I originally pitched the idea, everyone, and I do mean everyone, in the room groaned because we all know what the parking situation is like on campus.
“It’s kind of ridiculous the amount of spaces that are taken up by unused machines and piles of rubble,” said copy editor Codi Lynders. “I know the school says they are trying to relieve the problem by building another parking garage that will add spaces but that won’t be done before I graduate.”
Yes, the amount of machinery on campus is kind of crazy and I am sure many of you have seen the construction going on at the parking lot by the main campus entrance by the Edgerton. It’s also a little frustrating to be graduating after it seems like the issue is being taken seriously. Of course, the parking lot is not the only construction being done by Sacred Heart.
“A couple of my articles that I wrote last year I wanted to talk about my own opinion and then this year seeing the articles written I know I wish I could’ve added my own opinion on the parking at school and the new dorms,” said assistant features editor Isabel Haglund.
More and more people are getting to the experience of Sacred Heart University, but the new dorms are supposedly for underclassmen and as someone who was initially promised four years of housing and is living in an apartment off campus, I can’t help but feel a little jipped. My big question though: What happens when these underclassmen become upperclassmen? We only have so many places to put people and if they are going to be off campus where are they going to park?
“I’m a commuter and need to park on campus because I live 20 mins away and can’t just walk like some other people,” said Lynders. “It’s frustrating having to get to campus so early just to find a parking spot when I don’t need to be there that early.”
This. This is the biggest issue I have faced with parking. When you drive over to whatever parking lot five hours before class and can not find a single spot. A lot of my classes are at the Martire building and I
will say that people have gotten creative with how they park, but for anyone who doesn’t want a ticket, a legal spot isn’t easy to find and usually leads to circling around campus for what feels like hours.
I’ve taken to calling this the “shark hour” where my car and the other moving cars are all sharks and we’re trying to sniff out the blood in the water or in this case a parking space.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my opinions and a few of my colleagues opinions especially since we usually don’t get the chance.