SOMETIMES, the difference between a good newspaper article and a great newspaper article is very small. One more question, one more Google search, one more bit of context can tip the balance.
Fortunately for reporters, many stories are more like television series than blockbuster movies. Their storylines unfold in steps and stages, offering chances to go back and pick up pieces of the story missed and expand on issues lightly covered the first time around. Those shortcomings aren’t always the fault of reporters and editors. Deadlines, uncooperative sources, sources too busy to return phone calls and other obstacles can get in the way of the perfect story.
The late, great Molly Ivins said she once had an editor who told young reporters that the whole truth won’t fit in one day’s paper. We’ll get a little piece of it in today, he’d say; another piece tomorrow; another piece the day after that.
Reporters are sure to have that opportunity with a story covered in a pair of articles in last week’s Cavalier Daily.
Last Monday, the newspaper wrote about the effect the Commonwealth of Virginia’s budget cutting — an effect of the tanking economy — will have on the University of Virginia. On Thursday, the Cav Daily covered the General Faculty Council’s discussion of the tanking economy’s effect on the University.
Some state colleges and universities must cut their budgets by 5 percent. Some have to cut 7 percent. The University is one of the 7 percenters. Yet, I read in the Cav Daily that the University is “faring better than many institutions.” But the University is one of the biggest losers — perhaps the biggest — in terms of state funding lost.
In the next cut at this story, it would be good to add some context. Compare the University’s lost state money to what other universities are losing — as a percentage and in dollars. And say something about what other universities are doing to accommodate the budget cuts.
The University has the largest endowment among Virginia’s public universities, and it has more independence than most. How does that figure into all this?
The Monday story had some good information about the Architecture School and a powerful quote from the school’s dean, Karen Van Lengen: “We’re eroding one of our great schools with these budget cuts.”
It might been more powerful if readers were told how much of the Architecture School’s faculty it’s four-person loss represents. Four out of 10 is different from four out of 100.
Van Lengen said her school has cut its operating budget to the point there’s nothing left to cut except personnel. It would be good to know what else has been cut and by how much.
And I want to know, if the University gets 7 percent of its funds from the commonwealth, why is the commonwealth’s share of the Architecture School’s budget nearly 10 times that? And if the University is facing 7 percent cuts, why is the Architecture School getting a 6 percent cut?
The newspaper tells me the University gets its money from “state tax funds, tuition, endowment income, gifts, research grants and contracts, student fees and outside revenues.” The state money accounts for 7 percent of the University’s budget. What portions do those other sources provide? And where does the money go? I’m guessing some departments get much more in grants, gifts and contracts than others. And what does “outside revenues” mean?
The Law School and the Darden School don’t get state funds, the paper tells me. So, where do they get their money?
The Cav Daily also tells me that most members of the General Faculty Council think raising tuition is “a reasonable course of action.” What effect would that have on potential students’ access to the University? That fact and the perception of costs affect the likelihood that students will even apply to college. And the affect becomes more pronounced the farther down the socioeconomic ladder those prospective students live.
There was a good deal of talk about what the University is doing to deal with the cuts Gov. Tim Kaine announced last month, but not much talk about long range plans. The economy isn’t likely to get much better very soon. And, as Kelly Jordan, the athletic department’s representative to the General Faculty Council, pointed out, this seems to be a cyclical thing. Who’s thinking about that cycle and what are they thinking about it?
This is an important issue for The Cavalier Daily’s readers for a host of reasons. It’s an issue the Cav Daily should pursue vigorously.
Tim Thornton is The Cavalier Daily’s ombudsman. He can be reached at ombud@cavalierdaily.com
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