The Introduction
Yaelle Frohlich
Issue date: 5/5/09 Section: Thoughts of Student Leaders
I consider it a distinct privilege to be assuming the position of editor-in-chief of The Observer next year. Serving the student body in this way is a responsibility I take very seriously, and I greatly look forward to hearing and representing the diverse viewpoints on campus.
It wouldn't always have been so. From the age of 4, I knew I wanted to be a writer-a creative writer. From the age of 8, adults I met started saying things like, "Oh, you could be a journalist." I took an immediate dislike to such people. But, as it happened, journalism turned out to be the most practical of my possible fields of study, and I declared my intentions toward it. It wasn't until my first journalism class with Hadassah Magazine's editor-in-chief, Professor Alan Tigay, that I realized I had a passion for journalistic writing.
Journalism serves readers and is dependent on readers; hence, it cannot afford to become self-indulgent. That said, journalism's inherent challenge in the modern world is to grab the reader's attention quickly enough and for long enough to make an impact. But when that impact is felt, great things can happen. Students in particular have been at the forefront of the world's revolutions, protests and social reformations. Nobody should underestimate the power of young people to change their world.
Newspapers impact individuals in different ways. The Observer must, of course, focus on Stern College for Women and Sy Syms School of Business ("If I am not for myself," challenges Ethics of the Fathers, "who will be for me?"). However, I hope to continue expanding The Observer's scope beyond the realm of Yeshiva University, into the wider Jewish community and beyond. We attend college in the pulsing, cultural heart of America; it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.
One of The Observer's greatest challenges will be remaining current. I believe that our newspaper should ideally inform readers about important events such as seminars, retreats and artistic productions before they take place so that the student body is aware of upcoming opportunities on and off campus. (Don't worry; events will not be neglected post-happening). This ideal is admittedly lofty and very hard to achieve within the context of a monthly publication, but I figure if our people can wander 40 years in the desert, survive 2,000 years of exile and still not eat shrimp, we might as well set the bar high.
It wouldn't always have been so. From the age of 4, I knew I wanted to be a writer-a creative writer. From the age of 8, adults I met started saying things like, "Oh, you could be a journalist." I took an immediate dislike to such people. But, as it happened, journalism turned out to be the most practical of my possible fields of study, and I declared my intentions toward it. It wasn't until my first journalism class with Hadassah Magazine's editor-in-chief, Professor Alan Tigay, that I realized I had a passion for journalistic writing.
Journalism serves readers and is dependent on readers; hence, it cannot afford to become self-indulgent. That said, journalism's inherent challenge in the modern world is to grab the reader's attention quickly enough and for long enough to make an impact. But when that impact is felt, great things can happen. Students in particular have been at the forefront of the world's revolutions, protests and social reformations. Nobody should underestimate the power of young people to change their world.
Newspapers impact individuals in different ways. The Observer must, of course, focus on Stern College for Women and Sy Syms School of Business ("If I am not for myself," challenges Ethics of the Fathers, "who will be for me?"). However, I hope to continue expanding The Observer's scope beyond the realm of Yeshiva University, into the wider Jewish community and beyond. We attend college in the pulsing, cultural heart of America; it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.
One of The Observer's greatest challenges will be remaining current. I believe that our newspaper should ideally inform readers about important events such as seminars, retreats and artistic productions before they take place so that the student body is aware of upcoming opportunities on and off campus. (Don't worry; events will not be neglected post-happening). This ideal is admittedly lofty and very hard to achieve within the context of a monthly publication, but I figure if our people can wander 40 years in the desert, survive 2,000 years of exile and still not eat shrimp, we might as well set the bar high.
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