SINCE I began writing a weekly Opinion column for The Cavalier Daily as a first year, I've served in a variety of positions at the paper. No matter what job I had, though, at the time I thought that I had the coolest job on the staff.
Where else could I wax poetic about my love of meritocracy? Where else could I hone my tech and design skills using thousands of dollars worth of equipment I didn't have to pay for myself? Where else could I -- an English and Classics major -- end up being responsible for the finances of a small business, overseeing $600,000 worth of ad sales in only a year? Where else could I work with 150 other people to produce what you're holding in your hands right now? And who on earth would let me do all these things with no "adult supervision" -- absolutely no safety net?
That The Cavalier Daily finds its way to the newsstand Monday through Friday, week after week during the academic year never ceases to amaze me. If you've never ventured down into the bowels of Newcomb Hall to our office, you probably take it for granted that a 12-20 page paper will greet you on your way into lecture, but once you see how many things have to go right for University students to be able to skip straight to the crossword puzzle each day, you can't look at a copy of the paper in the same way again.
Let's say, for example, that the Board of Visitors approves a tuition increase at its spring meeting. A Cav Daily reporter likely attended the meeting, perhaps accompanied by a photographer. Back down in the office, the reporter writes the story and sends it to the News editor. The story is fact-checked and edited for style and grammar first by a copy editor and then by the assistant managing editor. The managing editor reviews the copy to put her stamp of approval before sending it along to me. Even at this stage, however, all we've got is words on a page.
While the editing process unfolds and copy is pushed from desk to desk in the front room, individuals with a completely different skill set are hard at work making the story as visually appealing as possible. A page designer on the production staff works with the photographer to select a representative picture to accompany the story or, in this case, might instead design an info graphic to give readers a quick glance at what the tuition increase means for students. One of the production editors will take a look at the overall design of the page before turning it over to the News editor, who will write the headlines, caption photos and approve the page.
Before I head back to look at the finished product, a minimum of eight members of our staff have weighed in on the writing and production of that story about the BOV's decision. That article will be one of five or six on the News page the next day. The News section will constitute a page and a half of our 16 pages of content. And the nine people who touched that story will be only a fraction of the staff that comes together to make the whole paper.
No matter who you are, no matter how much experience you have, no matter what you're interested in, you can find your place at the Cav Daily. If you're interested in writing or editing, you won't have difficulty finding your niche. Do you see yourself as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company 20 years down the road? Why not work to manage the business strategy of a small corporation on the Cavalier Daily Business staff today? If you believe that font choice matters -- if you're into visual design -- you should think about working on the Cav Daily's Production staff. Ready to design new online features? Talk to our operations manager about joining the Online staff.
The Cavalier Daily is a place for people who do things: We're writers, editors, photographers and artists, but more importantly, we're problem solvers, managers, investigators and active stakeholders in the University community. If you want to see how it all comes together each day, don't just read all about it -- join our staff and be a part of the action.
Elizabeth Mills is Editor-in-Chief of The Cavalier Daily.
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