For starters, I’d like to introduce myself.
My name is Kate Cuadrado and I am a senior English major here at the University of Portland and this year’s Editor-in-Chief of The Beacon.
For those who don’t quite know what an editor-in-chief is, let me provide a bit of clarity. Of course there are the minutiae of the job: We plan and lead the staff meetings and training, hire (and potentially fire) members of staff, read and edit every article that goes up on our site and work as the all around general boss of the newspaper.
But what about the greater concept? As an English major, I am trained to always be looking for the greater meaning, the greater significance. What is the significance of my role here at UP? As I enter my senior year I’ve been given the opportunity to really ask myself that, especially in this job.
The answer, my dear readers, is you all.
As journalists, we like to call ourselves “public servants” as it is our job to work for the community we serve and report on the events and news that occur within it. However, it is not all service. In fact, us journalists are selfish. We take information — stories, ideas — from our community and turn those into business, into articles. As much as we are public servants, we are recipients too. We can only put out into our community as much as we take in.
So, as I welcome you all to a fresh new year at The Beacon and at UP, I want to thank you for the stories, interviews and ideas you’ve given for us to deliver back to you. And, as we look towards this new year, I can affirmatively give my word that we will do what we can to provide accurate, true and rewarding news and stories to our UP community.
So, my purpose here? Yes, it is to graduate and get my degree, but it is also to do my very best to be someone who gives as much as she takes. To publish articles that our community needs and wants to see, I owe it to you all to give that much.
Kate Cuadrado is the Editor-in-Chief for The Beacon. She can be reached at cuadrado24@up.edu.
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