No, Not That!

You have got to be kidding! Let the University take over the PAW? That is the worst idea I’ve heard all year. 

PAW is (arguably) the best magazine that crosses my threshold. It is excellent! It derives its excellence from the varied and assorted voices. I am delighted to read a curmudgeons grump about something that violates a tradition or a faculty hire that flies in the face of normal.

Do not mess with the independence of PAW. If it becomes a PR pablum rag, a lot of us will simply stop reading. The University already has the corner on glossy promo pieces and swag. The alum have an independent journal that sometimes rubs the University the wrong way.

Keep that. If we lose the right to raise independent voices, we are lost. 

Other universities have their alumni magazines. I see a lot of them. They are mostly class notes with a page or two of solicitation for money. Period.

PAW has intelligent articles about research work that our faculty and students are doing. Articles that probe and pursue ideas. Even the last page stories are a class act.  This is rich for an alumni magazine. We risk losing a magazine that is a free spirit and not slavishly bound to the administration. 

This reminds me of the University taking over the independent eating clubs, or buying up any building in town that proximal to campus. 

Leave our debate platform intact. 

Rejoice when alumni engage the University in debate. 

Oh, I am reaching for a check book right now to pay class dues — ahead of time.