Learning the ropes

I'm about to finish my first full day as a real news editor here at TNR and quite a trip it has been.

The last 3 weeks have been spent sporadically training on the position under the guiding wings of Amanda Woodruff. Now that she has moved on to better things (such as trying to graduate), it's now my time in the chute.

I feel like a minor-league ballplayer pinch-hitting for Babe Ruth; honored, thrilled, yet very nervous.

To be perfectly honest, I was not aware of The News Records award-winning heritage when I returned to school at UC. All I knew was that I wanted to write, and if it meant covering balloon races in TUC, then so be it.

When I began writing for them in fall quarter was when I learned just what type of work ethic it takes to be a part of this publication. Determination, motivation, relentlessness.

Never accepting mediocrity.

We don't do it for us, though. Personal and organizational awards are nice, but the real reason for it all is you. The reader. The ones who can easily make or break our career simply by whether you pick up the paper or not.

These qualities and this work ethic allows us to report the best possible news to you. It's what you deserve. In a world of so many falsehoods, you need someplace to turn to in order for the truth.

That place is TNR, and I'm hellbent on keeping the news desk that way.

The fat is now in the fire.

James