First Writes
Journalism is, perhaps, the most powerful influence on the modern world. With rapid technological advancement broadening the range of coverage across the world, newspapers have become even more potent tools used to incite change. In the last few years, the world has seen the media transform the isolated struggles in the Middle East to a global issue and allowed Snowden to expose illegal NSA surveillance. While some dismiss the old adage “the pen is mightier than the sword” as cliché, its truth cannot be overemphasized; we have seen just this with the recent tragedy with Charlie Hebdo, which became an assault on freedom of speech and the fundamental tenets of journalism.
The 137th Editorial Board, led by Editor-in-Chief Jack Hirsch and Managing Editors Heather Nelson and Tommy Song, will protect the Academy’s rights to freedom of speech and uphold the values critical to any newspaper: accuracy, integrity and quality. For the past 137 years, The Exonian has recorded every facet of the Academy, galvanizing the community and preserving the news for generations to come. As the new leaders of The Exonian, the Executive Board will strive to inform, alert and entertain the Academy, revolutionizing the paper to become a more comprehensive chronicle of the lives of Exonians. We recognize this both as a difficult task and great responsibility; we take up the mantle accordingly.
Welcome to 137. A new era has begun.
Ask anyone on campus about intimidation at Exeter, and they will list anecdotes of students and faculty sharing their opinions and consequently being talked to by Academy administrators; then they will recount the steps Student Council has taken to address the issue. While “intimidation” is now a routine topic of discussion at Exeter, all this conversation stemmed from one News Section article, “Students View Administrative Response as Intimidation,” published October 30th. Because of the investigative success of several writers and the News team as a whole, an entire topic of paramount importance was introduced to the Exeter community in a way that evoked an incredible response. Thoughtful dialogue from students, faculty and staff; this is just one effect that potent, diligent journalism can impart, and under our leadership, we, Rex Bone, Rex Tercek and Alex Zhang, will foster the The Exonian’s impact on campus. Through even more deep, investigative pieces, as well as stories relating current events around the world to life at Exeter, the 137th news team will broaden the community’s perspective and galvanize even more influential conversation.
It’s hard to define exactly what the Life section is, because often it can seem like so many different things at the same time.
Life is here to tell you about that guy you always see on the paths but don’t know his name. To bring you a review of that new movie or TV show that you’re not sure whether or not to watch. To tell you about all the opportunities that you have on this campus, clubs that you could become a member of, concerts and plays that you could go to, that you may not have heard about otherwise. In short, we're here to give students, alums and parents an accurate and meaningful snapshot of our daily "Life" as Exonians.
This is what we—your proud Life editors Jeff Mellen, Will Belmont and Joyce Tseng— hope to deliver with our page every Thursday for the next year, just as Millie, Monica and Michael did before us with the 136th board. We look forward to a great year with 137.
The Opinions page differs from other sections in that it prioritizes expressing the personal opinions of Exonians. As the Opinions Editors, we, Julie Chung, Tony Ryou and Michael Shao, will strive to uphold free speech at whatever cost. The Opinions page will continue to spark discussion on campus by displaying a multitude of thoughts and ideas every week.
Four score and seven years ago, Jean Lussier went over Niagara Falls in a rubber ball. Lussier, a daredevil by nature, surpassed all of his predecessors in their flimsy wooden barrels by constructing a giant sphere lined with oxygen tubes. A revolutionary for his time, Lussier broke the mold on what was considered “great” for his era, and in later years, he expressed remorse for not constructing a bigger ball and trying again. Much like Lussier, we, Georgia Forbes, Tommy Cefalu and Ben MacLean, the new Sports Editors for the 137th Exonian Board, plan to break the mold of mediocrity that came before us. We plan to revolutionize the sports page forever. We will be the bigger ball. #BSHU
Humor is back. This time, with 1.5 times the manpower. Kevin's mom still doesn't believe he's editor. Audrey's excited to see how this threesome will work. Somewhere Will is taking a nap. Katie and Ben slayed Humor as 136 and, following in their footsteps, we’re excited to bring you even more laughs as 137. We’re looking for funny writers and young talent. We have pizza. ♥