Mickey1122
12-19-2007, 07:02 PM
I am the editor-in-chief of my school's newspaper. Currently, I am a senior in high school. I share the position with another boy who will henceforth be known as A. There is also one other higher up involved; we'll call him B. Our faculty advisor will be C. Haha anyway, so here's what happened back in May.
A and I were named the EICs by the PAST faculty advisor and the PAST EIC. We spent the summer planning to improve the newspaper, in part because what we had was very short and only a few people contributed. It also didn't look very nice; it was boring. :/
Senior year came along, and on the third day of school, B walks up to me. "Andrew, do you know when they are going to name the next editor?" At first I was taken aback, my status wasn't exactly private knowledge. I remember him asking a friend of mine (D) about it back last year. He told her that he was sure he would get the job. D responded by telling him that he only wrote very fact-retelling pieces in the technology section, whereas I wrote op/ed pieces, profiles, and school news, which she thought appealed more to the school. She also said that I had a reputation for good grammar and spelling, so I would make a good proofreader, which is one of the editor's many tasks. According to D, he had merely shrugged. So essentially, I knew that he knew that I was the editor. I told him that it had been decided back in May that A and I were the editors. He was "shocked."
He went to the faculty advisor and spun a story of miscommunications and lies..that A and I had appointed ourselves without the consent of anyone. (simply not the case!) He asserted that it wasn't fair and that he should be the editor. He asked us to sit at two hour long afterschool meetings to discuss what had transpired. A and I privately called this behavior "psycho." We knew that he only wanted the position to help him get into college. He even said at the meeting, "Look, none of this will matter after we apply to schools in November!" :scared: :scared: We were very hurt because we actually cared about the paper..it's our names on the line and our reputations as MANAGERS!
B whined and whined, until the faculty advisor caved and fired us. FIRED US. C said it would be decided by a club wide vote. Shockingly, B agreed. This was a surprise because I am friends with every one of the few members of the club, and knew that many of them disliked B for his obsession with college and constant pestering. Beyond that, I am more popular and "likable." :):cool2: The votes said pick 2 names, and B only got his own vote. :woohoo:
I thought that my problems were solved, but no. :sad2: As a consolation, he was made "Managing Editor," a contrived title of his own infernal invention. It's a fancy way of saying he sends out e-mails (on my orders with information I spoon feed him--this is a task I can accomplish on my own faster :rolleyes: ) and helps with the layout (which again, I could do faste ron my own because he acts like he is a master of Microsoft Publisher, but he has NO eye, talent, or speed! :rolleyes1 ) :mad: He comes to every layout meeting and acts like the boss, talking about what he wants to do and how his article should, for some idiotic reason, be bigger and more prominent than everybody else's. :rolleyes:
The worst part was that the whole leadership thing had undermined my authority. I didn't have absolute authority, and couldn't "fire my bad employee" like a real manager. As much as I wanted to say things like "You idiot, you stink at journalism, have no talent or creative eye, and you should leave us alone, :idea: oh and no one likes your articles!!" I couldn't!
I resolved myself to complaining with friends. The best fodder ever was the title he drew, which looked, according to my friends in English class and half the faculty, "like some preschooler who got hyper off pixie sticks took a crayon to a poor, nsuspecting piece of paper." I made every effort to remove this title, but it was inserted whilst I was absent, and even though I made a petition with 150 signatures (more than half the 12th grade class!!!), C felt it would be too "mean" to lose B's title logo.
We are working on the 2nd issue now (slow due to lack of funds!) and he submitted an article about the gadgets of 2007. My brother noticed that the DS lite should NOT have been mentioned as it came out in 2006!! I looked on the website, and what did I find? SENTENCES HAD BEEN LIFTED!!!! He would change one minor word, add a comma here and there, and then stick it in his article as original work! Sure, you have to get facts somewhere, but at least accreddit them! And write your own sentences! I checked the Apple website for the other gadgets, and found the same. I was furious!!:mad: :mad: :headache: That headache! How could he betray my trust (or lack therof..) and threaten my reputation and the paper's reputation? How could he bring us so close to a scandal on the eve of many controversial articles' publication?
I brought it to the attention of E, my english teacher. She teaches a brnd new journalism class that I take, and is friends with C. She was furious too because much of the paper's content comes from the journalism class. We told C, who dismissed her class 10 minutes early to march up to discuss it with me and E. They said they would "turnitin.com"-it and then confront him in the afternoon. I postponed the afternoon's meeting (this Mon.) so they could have a little....heart to heart. Underneath my assurances to the teachers that I RELUCTANTLY brought the information to their attention, I rejoiced with pure, utter GLEE. :cool1: :dance3: :yay: :woohoo: :cloud9: HE WAS GOING TO BE FIRED FOR SURE! Maybe suspended! OUT OF MY LIFE!
...
but it was too good to be true. I don't know what went down at the little confrontation, but I have my suspicions. B obviously told a ****-and-bull story about "not knowing" the plagiarism rules (you are the stinking newspaper staff! and a senior in high school! please...!). Obviously, they believed it..or there could be a conspiracy. Believe me I will be digging..
He has:
A. still has the job
B. not suspended
C. on good terms with C still
D. no evidence of ill will between them
And I have to put on a fake smile every day know..because he thinks I am his FRIEND! And he has since his little consolation prize!
What do YOU think should have happened. What he did was illegal. Do any of you participate with the school paper?
A and I were named the EICs by the PAST faculty advisor and the PAST EIC. We spent the summer planning to improve the newspaper, in part because what we had was very short and only a few people contributed. It also didn't look very nice; it was boring. :/
Senior year came along, and on the third day of school, B walks up to me. "Andrew, do you know when they are going to name the next editor?" At first I was taken aback, my status wasn't exactly private knowledge. I remember him asking a friend of mine (D) about it back last year. He told her that he was sure he would get the job. D responded by telling him that he only wrote very fact-retelling pieces in the technology section, whereas I wrote op/ed pieces, profiles, and school news, which she thought appealed more to the school. She also said that I had a reputation for good grammar and spelling, so I would make a good proofreader, which is one of the editor's many tasks. According to D, he had merely shrugged. So essentially, I knew that he knew that I was the editor. I told him that it had been decided back in May that A and I were the editors. He was "shocked."
He went to the faculty advisor and spun a story of miscommunications and lies..that A and I had appointed ourselves without the consent of anyone. (simply not the case!) He asserted that it wasn't fair and that he should be the editor. He asked us to sit at two hour long afterschool meetings to discuss what had transpired. A and I privately called this behavior "psycho." We knew that he only wanted the position to help him get into college. He even said at the meeting, "Look, none of this will matter after we apply to schools in November!" :scared: :scared: We were very hurt because we actually cared about the paper..it's our names on the line and our reputations as MANAGERS!
B whined and whined, until the faculty advisor caved and fired us. FIRED US. C said it would be decided by a club wide vote. Shockingly, B agreed. This was a surprise because I am friends with every one of the few members of the club, and knew that many of them disliked B for his obsession with college and constant pestering. Beyond that, I am more popular and "likable." :):cool2: The votes said pick 2 names, and B only got his own vote. :woohoo:
I thought that my problems were solved, but no. :sad2: As a consolation, he was made "Managing Editor," a contrived title of his own infernal invention. It's a fancy way of saying he sends out e-mails (on my orders with information I spoon feed him--this is a task I can accomplish on my own faster :rolleyes: ) and helps with the layout (which again, I could do faste ron my own because he acts like he is a master of Microsoft Publisher, but he has NO eye, talent, or speed! :rolleyes1 ) :mad: He comes to every layout meeting and acts like the boss, talking about what he wants to do and how his article should, for some idiotic reason, be bigger and more prominent than everybody else's. :rolleyes:
The worst part was that the whole leadership thing had undermined my authority. I didn't have absolute authority, and couldn't "fire my bad employee" like a real manager. As much as I wanted to say things like "You idiot, you stink at journalism, have no talent or creative eye, and you should leave us alone, :idea: oh and no one likes your articles!!" I couldn't!
I resolved myself to complaining with friends. The best fodder ever was the title he drew, which looked, according to my friends in English class and half the faculty, "like some preschooler who got hyper off pixie sticks took a crayon to a poor, nsuspecting piece of paper." I made every effort to remove this title, but it was inserted whilst I was absent, and even though I made a petition with 150 signatures (more than half the 12th grade class!!!), C felt it would be too "mean" to lose B's title logo.
We are working on the 2nd issue now (slow due to lack of funds!) and he submitted an article about the gadgets of 2007. My brother noticed that the DS lite should NOT have been mentioned as it came out in 2006!! I looked on the website, and what did I find? SENTENCES HAD BEEN LIFTED!!!! He would change one minor word, add a comma here and there, and then stick it in his article as original work! Sure, you have to get facts somewhere, but at least accreddit them! And write your own sentences! I checked the Apple website for the other gadgets, and found the same. I was furious!!:mad: :mad: :headache: That headache! How could he betray my trust (or lack therof..) and threaten my reputation and the paper's reputation? How could he bring us so close to a scandal on the eve of many controversial articles' publication?
I brought it to the attention of E, my english teacher. She teaches a brnd new journalism class that I take, and is friends with C. She was furious too because much of the paper's content comes from the journalism class. We told C, who dismissed her class 10 minutes early to march up to discuss it with me and E. They said they would "turnitin.com"-it and then confront him in the afternoon. I postponed the afternoon's meeting (this Mon.) so they could have a little....heart to heart. Underneath my assurances to the teachers that I RELUCTANTLY brought the information to their attention, I rejoiced with pure, utter GLEE. :cool1: :dance3: :yay: :woohoo: :cloud9: HE WAS GOING TO BE FIRED FOR SURE! Maybe suspended! OUT OF MY LIFE!
...
but it was too good to be true. I don't know what went down at the little confrontation, but I have my suspicions. B obviously told a ****-and-bull story about "not knowing" the plagiarism rules (you are the stinking newspaper staff! and a senior in high school! please...!). Obviously, they believed it..or there could be a conspiracy. Believe me I will be digging..
He has:
A. still has the job
B. not suspended
C. on good terms with C still
D. no evidence of ill will between them
And I have to put on a fake smile every day know..because he thinks I am his FRIEND! And he has since his little consolation prize!
What do YOU think should have happened. What he did was illegal. Do any of you participate with the school paper?