125th Managing Board Takes Helm at Spectator

Call it "2001: A Spectator Odyssey."

A century and a quarter after students published the first daily dispatch in the ongoing chronicle of the Columbia story, the Spectator's new editors have committed themselves to renovating the process behind the paper.

Whereas in past years many editors were saddled with technical duties, the production and content sides of the paper are now separate.

"We're freeing the editors up to edit," said incoming Editor-in-Chief Michael Mirer, CC '02.

Mirer, a Detroit native who has worked for the United Auto Workers, likened the process to an assembly line, where "everyone is doing a different job to make the whole product."

Editors will be taking on more focused jobs under the new system. They are aiming for a more efficient process that eliminates the production problems that have plagued the paper in the past.

"The changes are invisible," Managing Editor Nick Schifrin, CC '02, said, but readers will be getting "a better product that gets to people earlier in the morning."

He added that the new system seeks to avoid the perennial problem of staff burnout by "making the people who produce the paper's lives easier."

Nonetheless, outgoing Photo Editor Laura Bruce, CC '02, had the following advice for her successors: "Keep a bottle of Advil in your mailbox."

The staff does plan on some tangible changes, including a new weekend arts section debuting this Friday. At the helm of the arts section is former book reviewer Ross McSweeney, CC '02.

"My history at the Spec is really a Cinderella story," he said. "I don't know what I've gotten myself into yet."

McSweeney plans "to catapult the arts section to the forefront of popular readership."

The Spectator's editorial page now has two editors, Alice Boone, BC '03, and Adam B. Kushner, CC '03, who have an aggressive plan to strengthen the content of the section.

"Adam and I have bought stock in blue pencils because we are going to be editing columns more stringently and strenuously this year," Boone said.

Kushner added that they are excited about working closely with columnists, bringing those sometimes shady inhabitants of the Spectator's freelance fringes into the production process. They also plan to run more frequent staff editorials.

The Spectator expanded its coverage in recent years, adding a City Editor last semester to focus on news in the Morningside Heights community as well as on campus. Some have said that the increased breadth has led to a lack of depth.

Schifrin promises a "return to investigative journalism," with "longer, more in-depth stories."

The new staff will be taking a keen interest in examining advising, counseling, and communication between students and administrators, subjects that Schifrin said "a lot of students are talking about."

The editors are considering holding forums with students to promote discussion on the above topics and stimulate feedback. They are considering bringing in Spectator alumni from the turbulent late 1960s to talk to students as well.

"Having spent a year with much of the new Board, I have a great deal of confidence in their abilities and dedication," said outgoing University News Editor Alex Eule, CC '01. "I'm excited to watch this new group work together."

Eule's confidence is shared by the new Managing Board members themselves.

"After working closely with Mirer for one year, I regard him as a great leader," Sports Editor Joshua Fay-Hurvitz, CC '03, said.

Fay-Hurvitz now will get to be his predecessor's editor, for Mirer will not be abandoning his sports roots. His column, "The Motown Sound" will continue throughout the year, with one change.

"I'm getting a new head shot," Mirer said. "Because the old one scared my mother."