Obama = Socialism
page 2 Accent • February 2, 2009
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In a disappointing end to months o debate, it is decided that the Daily exan’son-site printing press is ocially goingup or sale. Te decision came aer theexas Student Media Board o Operatingrustees voted that now was the best timeto start the process o trying to nd abuyer. Te Accent is also printed there andwill have to nd another printing press.Te printing or the Daily exan and Teravesty will have to be outsourced aswell, they will most likely use the AustinAmerican-Statesman’s press.Te director o exas Student Media,Kathy Huting said that due to the state o the newspaper industry, it will be di-cult to nd a timely buyer. Tis is thenice way o saying that buying a printingpress right now would be like insuring aterminally ill patient that’s gasping or air.Tat is to say, it’s the right thing to do, butno one will.It is a loss to journalism students atthe University, and a missed opportu-nity or those here at ACC that hope totranser. U has one o the best schools o journalism in the country. Te act thatthe board is not doing everything it canto preserve the long standing tradition o the best possible training in journalism isdisappointing.Te Daily exan, Te ravesty, TeAccent, and any other paper printed onthat printing press will endure. We willall nd new printing presses. However,this decision has sparked commentary onthe broader issue o the condition o print journalism as a whole.Te closing o the printing press canbe looked at as the beginnings o a moveaway rom traditional printed papers. Asin all things, media goes through phases.Any long-term choices that hinders theeducation o uture journalists based onthe current trend o online news couldtruly hurt the uture o media.Bloggers provide a great service. Somebreak stories quickly and make the newseasier to access or readers online. Tereality, however, is that the heart o real journalism is rooted in newspapers, andeven i all students o journalism eventu-ally end up working strictly online, they will be better, more thorough reporters,or having spent time with a traditionalprint paper. Blogs have a quick turnoverthat can eliminate in-depth reporting andextensive act checking.Te desire or traditional journal-ism is not gone. As the state o thenation changes, and more and morehistory changing events take place, moreAmericans will take an interest in news,and the Americans eected most by cur-rent aairs tend to be the ones who don’twake up rst thing in the morning andspend two hours cruising the web orheadlines in their pajamas. Tey are theones who wake up early, and work longhours, and maybe can’t aord a computer.Journalism is changing. I would havehoped that, or the sake o the students,the exas Student Media Board wouldhave held o on selling the press until thenewspaper sta had a chance to gure outwhat they were going to do. It’s not exactly a seller’s market, they will have to take abargain basement oer on the printingpress that the Sta o the Daily exan andother papers obviously wanted to keepusing.Americans still need tangible journal-ism that is based out o their communi-ties, and small businesses still have a needor a place to advertise locally. All studentpress organizations and the colleges thatsupport them should teach the skillsneeded or new media, but there should bea conscious decision to preserve tradi-tional journalism training, complete witha real relationship with the printing press.Te kind o journalism that isresearched, written, and tossed haphaz-ardly online by one person, sitting alonein their house, in under hal o an hour,pales in comparison to the skills learnedworking with a conventional sta. It isduring traditional training that reportersdevelop a true need to serve their com-munity, and a respect or the well craed journalism that can save lives and changehistory is looking more and more like thekind we need.
stopthepresses
Jamie Carpenter
Campus Editor
ACC has spoiled me. Teorganizations are great, andI’ve somehow managed toschedule my classes on thesame campus three semestersin a row. Te truth is thatmy ondness or this place isbecause I can aord to attendit.Te economy is down thedrain. You can hardly turn ona V, read the paper, or listento the radio without hearingthat. While most industries aretaking huge losses, enrollmentat community colleges is onthe rise.According to BusinessWeek’s article “Community Colleges get Squeezed” pub-lished earlier this year, “therapid growth in enrollment incommunity colleges nation-wide will only be exacerbatedby the current economiccrisis.” In act, more than hal o all college students in exasgo to community college.I am happy to be at ACCgetting a good educationand saving money, but it’s asad reality that i I want tocontinue my education it’sgoing to cost a lot more thanthe $900 a semester that I’mused to.I’m not the only one. Evenwith nancial aid, studentsare turned o rom biguniversities. It’s not worthit or all o them to graduatewith a our year degree only tohave a ton o debt to pay back with no guarantee o ndinga good job outside o college.Unortunately, these days,students are competing withrecently laid o job-seekerswith years o experience.I think it is great that thecommunity colleges are seeinga boost in enrollment. Tey are a great opportunity, butthe elephant in the room isthat once students nish theirtime here, they can’t aord togo urther, and an associate’sdegree is just not as competi-tive as a bachelor’s in a many jobs.While risky credit mighthave caused the ailing econ-omy in the rst place, studentsstill might want to considertaking a chance with loans tocontinue their education. It’sscary to take on debt in suchhard times, but scarier to acethe job market without asmuch education as one can get.It’s hard to get into a careereld that you enjoy without theeducation needed or that eld.Running up debt or a houseyou can’t aord or maxing outyour credit card is not the kindo debt that you want to have.Consider going or a our yeardegree i you can. It’s one o the ew credit gambles that‘sreally worth it.
Karissa Rodriguez
Columnist
More and more employersare using social networkingsites, looking up potentialemployee’s proles, anddetermining i they want tointerview or hire them basedon what they post online. Tispractice o pre-employment vetting needs to stop and bemade illegal.It’s absurd to know thatwhile you still may have astellar resume and several re-erences claiming that you area great employee or student,posted pictures that shed anot so proessional light onyou may land your applicationinto the trash bin instead o landing you a call back or ainterview.Instead o judging you onyour application and resume,employers are judging yoursocial lie.Is it unreasonable to ask an employer to ignore whatthey’ve seen on your onlineprole? No, because yoursocial lie outside o the work-place is none o their business,and employers may be violat-ing several laws.I an employer decides tonot hire someone based oninormation ound on theInternet, they could be accusedo violating discriminationlaws, or instance, by nothiring people o a certain raceor sexual orientation.Other laws employerscould be violating are pri- vacy laws and the Fair CreditReporting Act, which regulateshow background searches areconducted.It is dicult to prove thatan employer is violating thelaw by using your prole as a vetting tool though, so stop-ping them rom using thispractice is nearly impossible.I employers will not stoppre-screening applicants withsocial networking sites, they should at least allow you todeend yoursel instead o automatically ruling you outbecause they saw somethingthey didn’t like posted on youronline prole.Yes, an applicant couldavoid these potential issuesby ensuring that their prolesettings are made private.Perhaps that is a precautionthat Internet users need to bemore diligent in considering,but a social networking siteis assumed to be a place tomake riends and meet people,whether or not that has to dowith the workplace.Te bottom line is yoursocial lie, ofine and online,should be private romemployers. It’s a shame thatmany employers see onlineproles as an opportunity or weeding out potentialemployees.My advice or students whoare seeking jobs: create twoproles, one private and onepublic, proessional prole.
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