University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

Page 30 text:

Behind the news THE JAYHAWKER BY GEORGE LERRIGO An account of the actual routine followed by the staff in putting out the campus paper MANY students in the University underestimate the amount of time, patience, and work, necessary to put out the University Daily Kansan, the official daily paper. If a name is spelled wrong, the Kansan receives a black eye. If the campus is unusually dead, the Kansan is blamed for putting out a dull issue, and again Dame Ru- mor takes her dig at the Kansan staff. Collecting, writing, editing, and print- ing all of the printable news on a uni- versity campus is about the hardest thing with which newspaper people are confronted. With a few possible excep- tions, campus news all follows the same Irend, and it takes an exceptional writer to make it interesting and readable. Practically all students enrolling in the journalism department, whether they like it or not, are required to take up reporting. Reporting is needed as a basis for all types of newspaper work. Perhaps students joy in the thought of writing a nice juicy murder story. But alas, on a college campus, murders are practically extinct, and the aspiring journalists find themselves tapping out L. N. FLINT a story on where Lizzie Burch of Pump- kin Center is spending the week-end. However, the Kansan does fasten on to some stories, such as convocations, enrollment, C. S. E. P., and other frivol- ous campus functionings. To obtain these bits of news, the reporters strive and sweat. When they arrive in the morning, they find on the curved desk in the front of the room, a poorly writ- ten card, which in the vernacular of the journalists, is known as the tip sheet. It is the job of the reporter to decipher the writing on the card first, and then to discover what outstanding bits of news are to ' be had on his beat. The beat is a prescribed tour which the reporter follows in his quest for news. The beat system is worked out in code, more or less, and a deciphering sheet is available to the neophyte. As the reporter covers his beat he in- terviews the various department heads, hoping, perhaps, that he can catch them off guard and get a really big story, such as the arrival of a new shipment of fish, text-books, or quiz papers. These department heads act, for the most part, as press agents for their re- spective departments, and are considered among the really good news sources. Back to the shack trips the reporter, after he has thoroughly covered his beat. He sits down to the typewriter, and writes his news in as nearly the Kansan style as he can, and places it on the copy table. Here it goes into the hands of a battery of copy readers, the size of which varies with the time of day. These copy readers work under the careful supervision of Lena Wyatt, the female managing editor. They are equipped with soft lead pencils, and find their chief delight in making long black marks through the copy that is turned in. They are supposedly con- versed with all the rules listed in the Kansan style book, and they carefully read through the reporters well-made efforts. After crossing out three-fourths of the story, and changing the rest of it, in the process known as editing, the workers on the copy desk then start to write the headline, which is a definitely harrowing process. The difficulty of this job varies with the size of the head- QUENTIN BROWN line. If the job becomes too difficult, editor Wyatt usually comes to the rescue. After all has been done that can be done to the copy in this manner it is dropped into the flat tin pipe, that is known as the copy chute. This chute carries the copy down into the plant or back office. Here it goes into the hands of the linotype operators, and is set into type on any one of the four linotype machines owned by the de- partment. From here on, the process of making the news story readable is mostly mechanical. After the proof of the copy has been taken it goes to a diminutive white haired lady, who checks it over for mistakes. This lady, Mrs. Dennis, is one of the unsung heroes of the de- partment. In her hands, lies the respon- sibility of checking all errors that es- cape the copy readers, as well as typo- graphical mistakes. Then the make-up editor checks to see how the headlines look in type. The managing editor then looks it over, as do as many reporters as can get their hands on it. So much for the news that appears on the front and the back two pages. While the news pages are being made, Bill Blizzard, editor-in-chief, is seen running around with a worried look on his face, for he is the man who guides the destinies of the editorial page. He is responsible for the selection of the

Page 29 text:

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS The social whee BY THE SPOKESMAN THERE ' S one nice thing about this University: those who arrive here for the first time in September haven ' t the opportunity to discover that there are such things as professors, speech instructors, and classes until a good month has passed. Of course, such for- malities as registration and enrollment intrude upon an otherwise pleasant ten days, and those who can ' t stand be- fore unattentive audiences explaining the relationship between Descartes and Hobbs, but the new student wisely heeds their dissertations not one whit, and wonders only who he ' s going to drag to the first varsity. - I say, it ' s not until the old social wheel, with its monotonous and inevit- able revolutions, has Mr. and Miss Frosh under its hypnotic spell that these persons regain consciousness in a world entirely different in aspect from that in which they dwelled for some two weeks. Then the implicit faith in a forthcoming enjoyable week-end keeps them plodding from Monday to Friday. Have I made myself clear? This year, the accumulated dust and cobwebs were swept from between the spokes of the wheel by the smooth rhythms of Red Blackburn and his lads, who have apparently done some profit- able practicing during the last three months. The attendance, as usual, was almost too good, and the capacity of the ballroom floor was more than reached before the end of the dance. The following week-end was marked by the yearly reception of new and old students by Chancellor and Mrs. Lindley and a number of members of the faculty. The music which was fur- nished by Louie Kuhn after nine-thirty was not up to the standard generally set by varsities (if you ' ll forgive the under- statement (. and for some reason or other, possibly because the dance of a week previous was such a success, a large majority of those who greeted the chancellor went home rather gladly when the clock sounded midnight. Midweek varsities began four days later, the following Wednesday, and the crowd poured in most of the hour. As usual, the midweeks are holding their own as a successful Hill institution un- der the guiding hand of the new dance manager ( Ah, there, Metzler ! I The Phipps-Hibbs organization set a new high mark in enjoyable dances, the twenty-ninth of September. Not until ten minutes before sorority and room- ing house doors were locked did the dancers allow 7 the torrid trumpeter to cool his horn after a steady ten minutes of Stardust, that favorite of favorites. Even the uninspired football game with Colorado in the afternoon failed to dampen the spirits which were miracu- lously brought to life that night. There ' s a record which should stand for a good part of the year. Tommy Christian, who was billed on one of the downtown stages, took the THE OPENING VARSITY baton for the annual Jayhawk Wabble the night of the sixth. The weather man was kind, and a perfect night set the background for a second successful varsity. Sororities and fraternities con- tinued the display of their spoils wrung from the Battle of Campus Hill, the smoke of which had not yet completely disappeared. New fall dresses and plaid and overplaid suits (even if the trousers didn ' t match I appeared in large quantities. Some of the newer oampusites already were looking starry- eyed at one another, and that I-wish- I-had-an-initiation-badge.so - 1 - could - give-it-to-you gleam was seen on a few of the male faces. Oh for the halycon days of the freshman year! So much for the all-school varsities. They alone did not comprise the power which kept the old wheel spinning dur- ing the first five weeks. Three sororities opened their barns Friday. September 28. and attempted to persuade the fellows that they had the outstanding pledge class of the whole university. The Thetas. augmented by those in the new Widow ' s Retreat on Ohio, hid the furniture in the attic, or loaned it to the Phi Psis or something, scraped the accumulated gum off the floor, hired a swell band, and provided a swell evening of entertainment. The Alpha Chis were wise. Not wanting to dirty up their newly decorated house, they hired the top floor of the Memorial Union building and proceeded to open house there. Too bad all the boys couldn ' t see what a grand job the in- terior decorators did to the house perched on the top of Thirteenth Street. Well, we can ' t all be lucky. The A. D. Pis were the third to act as hostess that evening. Their two-story living room was packed by those who paraded up and down Oread Street accepting the free entertainment. One week later the number was in- creased to four, with Pi Phi, Gamma Phi. Delta Zeta. and Sigma Kappa com- peting for honors. For years now, the Pi Phi open house has been called a dance. In all probability, that quaint idea was originated by one who never attended one of the affairs. No explan- ation is needed for us old veterans who (Continued on page 57)

Page 31 text:

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS 27 editorials that appear in the paper, and at times hi? supply is a little short. However, a pair of. scissors and an ex- change paper are generally considered a good remedy. All copy for the paper must be turned in by 12:30 p. m., as this is known as the deadline. If not. there is likely to be some tearing of hair on the part of Lena Wyatt. (She let her hair grow out in preparation for this job). Also energetic poundings on the copy chute by the pressmen downstairs, com- bined with loud shouts of We want more copy by Mr. Dill, the energetic faculty supervisor, may be heard. About 4 o ' clock, the paper is gener- ally locked up and put on the press. Pessimistic remarks concerning the ap- pearance of the sheet can be heard from the staff members as they stand around and wait for the first copies to come off of the press. They generally are greatly relieved when they see that the paper looks as good as ever, and they pocket their free copies, still wet with ink, and leave for the day. The Kansan this year has a very ef- ficient staff. It is headed by Bill Blizzard, editor-in-chief, who, as was said before, is in charge of the editorial policies of the paper. He is assisted by Leslie McCalla and Lorene Miller. Managing-editor Wyatt is the supervisor of the whole news staff and with them, her word is law. As her chief assistants she uses Max Moxley. campus editor, whose official duties are to serve as a sort of miniature managing editor: Rutherford B. Hayes is make-up editor and on his shoulders rests the respon- sibility for the appearance of the first page: Margaret Boast, society editor; Carolyn Harper, Sunday editor: Allen Merriam, sports editor; Iris Olson, ex- change editor, and George Lerrigo. night editor. These are not the only ones who put out this famous, or infamous if you will, paper. Campus women are doing a lot of harm to that old saying of some unidentified publisher that the news- paper is no place for the weaker sex. Some of the girl reporters who are doing their share in turning out the paper are, Lorene Miller, Alice Cos- andier, Elma Carey. Genevieve Horn. Julia Markham. Lucy Trees. Catherine Penner. and Anne Hubbard. Some of the men who are still strug- gling to keep the fourth estate a mas- culine proclivity are Joe Doctor. Elton Carter, Charles Brown. Ed Willeford. Wesley McCalla, Jack Penfold, Harry Valentine, Delmar Curry. Joe Pryor. Bob Patt, Bill Decker. Theno Graves, but not forgetting the one and only Bill Blowers, who guides the destinies of the Sour Owl as well. Now for the faculty. Although the Kansan is supposed to be student su- pervised, the faculty lays a gentle hand on it at times, if merely to blue-pencil an unsolicited damn. Professor Flint heads the faculty with his soft-spoken mannerisms and philosophical sayings. His class lectures are filled with his years of newspaper experience, and often prove to be unexpected fountains of wit. He is perhaps one of the few professors who takes a genuine interest in his students after they graduate. He trys to see that they get a good break when they go out into the cold, cold world. Prof. Flint has charge of the back office while up in the news room is Mr. Dill, okaying the news. He is a curly black haired dynamo, whose chief delight is in scooping the Lawrence Journal X orld. even if it is onlv on a two-bit society item. He is equipped with a specially built chair which will take care of the bouncing he gives it when copy is late. Often a good portion of the paper comes from his pen. hen copy on the campus is scarce, he al- ways seems to be able to get a story somewhere. Keeping the editorial department in an iron hand, is Dr. Mahin. the only woman instructor in the department. She is the terror of all persons who turn in late copy, and has a good deal to say about the editorial policies. Then there is Jack Kistler. who helps run the journalism press, and also has charge of several classes. He is dubbed by the students with the highest of all honors, that of being a swell guy. Mr. Lee. a doctor of philosophy from Yale, is a new addition to the depart- ment, and has already become quite popular. He is a handsome man and his classes are full of girls. Tough, he is already married. Quentin Brown is in charge of the business end of the daily, and has about as complete control of it as any student has ever had. He is assisted by Elton Carter, and these two boys can be seen most any time of the day. going from business house to business house, in search of ads and more ads. WRITING THE KANSAN NEWS