A final weekly briefing from EIC Maddox
Finals are finally upon us—pun fully intended. Take a moment to breathe deeply, remember that your worth is not defined by your grades and you deserve a moment to sit, drink a cup of coffee and read Pacer Times.
This is my final weekly briefing, though I imagine the next EIC will take over the responsibility in the Fall. It has been my honor and pleasure to assist in informing and entertaining the student body at USC Aiken. Thank you for your readership. Now, for the news:
In this final spring 2020 edition, the staff wrote 16 articles. For the news section, News Editor Noelle Kriegel covered the passing of three USCA students, two of which occurred since we left campus for good in March. Arts and Entertainment Editor Erica Bennett covered the re-opening of South Carolina’s beaches.
Reporter Chi Nguyen wrote about the U.S. protests related to stay-at-home orders, while reporter Angel-Hope Watts covered the increase in domestic violence rates during quarantine.
In Arts and Entertainment, Bennett wrote about the unique finals that music students at USCA must take.
Lifestyle is packed this week, with an article on the history of “420” by Nguyen, a brief history of Ramadan by Kriegel and a snarky list by Watts of alternatives to visiting the re-opened beaches.
Bennett compiled a list of ways to keep your head on straight during finals week, while Kriegel did research and wrote up a report on the science behind study music.
In the opinions section, Opinions Editor David Frantz wrote a column about his experiences with marijuana in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Nguyen wrote her thoughts about the impact of quarantine on school shooting rates, while I wrote my opinion on how critical thinking skills are the key to ending misinformation online.
The section editors—Kriegel, Frantz and Bennett—came together and wrote about their spring 2020 newspaper experiences, then snuck right under my nose to write a beautiful, heartfelt senior spotlight about me. I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of tears in my eyes after I read it.
Finally, I wrote a farewell column, as is tradition for graduating members of the Pacer Times staff. I hope you can all find the candidness and passion that I put into it. I truly did enjoy serving as editor-in-chief for the last five semesters.
I want to say a special thank you to our adviser, Jeff Wallace. Without his guidance, there is no telling what kind of mayhem this staff would get into. Personally, nearly everything I know about journalism I learned from him. I would not be the writer and editor that I am without him.
That is it for spring 2020, Pacers. Look out for more to come from this incredible, talented staff, who will be continuing on without me in the fall.
