Letter from the editor regarding the weekly constitutional amendment

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Author: Drew Jaffe

Dear Occidental community members,

With the opening of the ASOC ballot today, you will have the opportunity to vote on a constitutional amendment that would give the Occidental Weekly a larger operating budget. Specifically, the Weekly would be allocated an additional 2 percent of all student body fees, or around $11,000. Our organization is in the process of expanding next semester, and this money would help fund that expansion.

If the amendment passes, the Weekly will add four pages to the newspaper: two reporting local community news and two additional features pages. Doing so will increase our printing costs and require that we hire more staff—specifically, three section editors, one diversity editor, five senior writers, two layout editors and two photographers.

There are many reasons we would like to expand the paper: to provide more extensive and accurate coverage of campus life, to accommodate growing interest in journalism and to increase engagement with the Eagle Rock and Highland Park communities. We are particularly excited about bringing on a diversity editor for the first time in the paper’s history. We envision the editor playing a multi-faceted role in the organization: they would help recruit a staff that is more reflective of our diverse community; maintain connections to campus multicultural clubs; and review stories about issues regarding diversity and marginalized groups to ensure that our language is respectful and that our coverage includes all relevant voices.

Our paper is ready to grow, and ASOC Senate agrees. Last Monday night, the senators passed our proposal with an overwhelming majority. Now, we need your help. Read over our funding proposal if you have a moment—then, please vote yes on our constitutional amendment this week.

Best,

Drew Jaffe

Rising Editor-in-Chief

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