Fifty Years of Campus Reporting and Scoop Gets Bigger

By Harold Flickinger, Jr. ’07

Whoever said “no news is good news” obviously never worked in journalism. Reporters worth their weight in ink and scratchpads know there’s always a worthy story lurking somewhere. It’s a testament to the talent of the newsmen and women who make it their goal to seek out these stories, large or small, and bring them to the public in an effort to create a more informed and educated society.

This goal—that’s planted in the minds of all aspiring writers, editors, reporters, and photographers—was the seed that started to grow in 1957 with a group of young students and one very dedicated professor.

Ann (Miller) Lehman ’57, an editor of her high school newspaper, was surprised Ship did not have any form of a campus news publication. She assembled a staff and developed a paper with the help of English professor Mabel Lindner. As aspiring teachers they named the paper for the blackboards (slates) used by teachers.

Associate editor, Kay (Keener) Benson ’61 talked about the infamous late nights working on everything from final edits to setting margins, and finding titles, “It was very difficult to get everything laid out. I can remember working late trying to get everything to fit on the page.”

Once the paper was fit for printing, it was taken to Shippensburg’s News-Chronicle the following morning where it was printed and ready for a mid-day drop on campus.

As the paper found its footing during the end of the fifties and walked itself into the sixties, young adults found themselves “growing up” with a need for information. Editor-in-chief Gary Willhide ’66 said, “The sixties were the time of the Beatles, JFK, and civil rights. College campuses were growing everywhere, including ours. There were a lot of changes happening in the world.” And it was the Slate’s responsibility to cover these changes and bring them to the students’ attention. To do this he said, “We worked a lot with student government talking about important issues.” Many of the changes occurring in the sixties were, at some point, featured in articles appearing in the Slate.

In the early seventies, the Slate offices moved from Old Main Chapel to the CUB where they are today. Then editor-in-chief, Cindy (Rock) Dlugolecki ’71 was partially responsible for furnishing the new offices. She remembers covering the inauguration of President Seavers and the weekly appointments with him to “Catch up with any new administrative news and move it straight along to the paper. It was a way for the students to keep informed about their education.”

Marty (Rolfe) LeGrand ’76 covered a “streaking” story during her tenure and recalled the controversy over whether to print the photos—probably marking Slate’s introduction into the era of investigative reporting. Marty continued, “This was the time when Watergate broke and everyone who wanted to become writers suddenly wanted to be journalists.”

During this era of changes, the Slate was guided by the much-loved and respected Professor Mark Lipper. One major change that occurred with his help was taking the journalism program from two classes (taken as electives in the English department) to a full-fledged communication/journalism department.

The paper grew in content beyond the boundaries of campus. Case in point: Marty was sent to Washington, D.C., to cover Jimmy Carter’s inauguration.

The eighties recorded a major campus scandal, not unique to the time, in the case of a professor accused of plagiarism on his résumé. Editor Amy (Lehman) Bobb ’85 found it a valuable experience as someone who was attempting to find the truth about the matter and then present it in an objective, informative way.

Norman Bedford ’95, editor when the paper expanded to 28 pages, recalled the work ethic he learned during those late nights getting the news ready for students. “It wasn’t like in the classroom where you can often times get out of a deadline for a paper,” he said. “If you didn’t get your things done, the paper didn’t go out. But [getting things done] was always worth it the following day to see someone holding a copy of your work.”

In 2003, the paper underwent a major facelift under the guidance of new advisor, Dr. Michael Drager ’89m, and the leadership of editor Leah Farr ’03. The Slate went from tabloid to broadsheet—the size of professional newspapers—and moved to a completely digital format. “We use the industry standard layout software program,” Drager said. The program supports full-color—another new feature for the paper now printed by the Record Herald in Waynesboro.

The Slate went online in 2006 (http://www.theslateonline.com) giving staff the ability to post late-breaking news. Recent graduate and editor Adam Kulikowski ’07 had nothing but great things to say about the new online version. “It’s something professional newspapers do all the time. That’s what we’re trying to emulate, and it means a lot when we can accomplish that.”

He gave two examples. Last fall in an exhibition game, the Shippensburg men’s basketball team faced off against Penn State, which was a huge upset when our team came out on top. Adam said within minutes the story, replete with play-by-play and photos, was posted on the site.

Easily the biggest news on campus this spring was the suspious box. “I had my first set of reporters out there asking questions while our managing editor Naomi Creason ’07 was in the office posting and re-posting as the story unfolded. It was one of my proudest moments to have so many members of the staff excited to work on a story.”

Under the direction of new editor-in-chief Joe Gambino ’08, staffers will continue to expand late and breaking coverage from issues pertaining to students to coverage of the surrounding community that students share with locals.

Slate reporters continue to get the story, but the scoop has gotten bigger with the easy availability of online information and the anytime-ability to contact reporters via cell phone. “It’s the sign of the changing forms of communication, and it’s important for campus media to keep up with these new forms,” Drager said.

In the coming school year, reporters will head out prepared and well equipped to handle the job. When production of its fifty-first year begins in August, the tradition of serving the campus community is prepared to grow another fifty years.

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WSYC

The Future’s Uncertain but the Play Button is Always Near

1956 WSTC (Shippensburg Teacher College) Wesley Synder and several other students assemble the initial crew. “We dreamed of the day that we could broadcast in town,” he said.

1957 WSYC (We Serve Your Community) hits airwaves.

1971 Moves from Old Main to the CUB; applies for FCC license to become FM.

1975 With newly expanded newsroom, station now entirely student-run. Broadcast in FM and AM version featuring Top 40 hits, progressive, folk, and jazz along with special report shows like “Women in the News,” and “The World of Entertainment.”

1978-9 In compliance with FCC regulations and promised funding from President Seavers, station includes summertime operating hours.

1980 AM operation shut down–FM only.

1981 Snyder’s dreams exceeded, station extended to Carlisle and Chambersburg.

1983 Upgrades from 10 to 100 watts.

1992 Moves from vinyl to compact disc.

1997 Broadcasts online (http://www.wsyc.org)

2007 Beginning move from CD to MP3.MP3 players connect to airwaves. Shows range from the “Global Café” hosted by long-time WSYC friend Trevor Stottlemyer, to classic college radio shows like “The Jet Set” and “The Fifth Street Flush.” Operates with a full news staff delivering regular updates, and produces special reports on topics pertaining to student interests like “Video Game of the Week,” and “What’s on Wikipedia?” Current station manager Sage Ober ’09 hopes to expand with new technologies including podcasts enabling listeners to download to their computers and iPods for easy playback at their convenience.