Delivered Friday, 11/21 by Newman

Dear editors,

As you already know, I, Newman, recently published a special edition of The Underground that was critical of the Cardinal News. In this letter, I hope to explain why I did this, and in so doing, expand on some of the points I already made.

My picking on spelling and grammar errors was trivial and I recognize that, but I had to start somewhere. To put it bluntly, the Cardinal News is boring, and contrary to what some may believe, a school-sponsored newspaper does not have to be boring. It's no coincidence that some of the most popular articles in The Underground were some of the most controversial. People want issues, not a front page story that basically tells you that there's a play going on. The other front page article, about the change in detention policy, shows promise, but is way too thin. Ok, so the detention policy is changed. The administration wants to reduce truancy. Tell me something I didn't know. Did the old system work? Will the new one by any better? Should the administration be defending this truancy policy so vigorously? Let's have some opinions, let's have some debate, let's have someone actually take a stand on something.

All through the paper, these issues go unmentioned. There was a battle of the bands. It raised money for a new athletic trophy case. Wait a second, it raised money for what? How about the fact that some people don't want money from something arts-related like that being funneled into sports? (an issue which is touched on in issue 5 of The Underground) Ok, East's soccer team was really good this year but lost early in the playoffs. What about the two players that were suspended earlier for allegedly hazing another player? Could that have contributed to the loss? To tell you the truth, I didn't even know that had happened until I came home from school one day and my parents asked about it, having heard about it on the radio and in the Journal Sentinel! In fact, it wasn't even mentioned at all in your story about it. That's the kind of story that we at The Underground don't have the resources to do, but that the Cardinal News could easily handle.

I could go on and list more but I'm too tired. The whole reason that the whole underground scene is flourishing as much as it is now is because the Cardinal News is inadequately covering things at this school. A few years ago, when some students saw some issues they thought should be addressed, they published them... in an underground paper called the "Free Press." Now this year there are not as many issues, and the purpose of The Underground is primarily to entertain, not inform, but still I think that we've mentioned more actual issues than the Cardinal News. Of course they are mostly things the Cardinal News couldn't cover, like the Miss Plath article, but still I think I've received as just as much or more positive feedback on that one than any other article.

People want issues, and we're even having to make them up, like the O'Connell and Schneider articles, because you guys aren't covering them. Why doesn't The Underground cover the issues I've already mentioned? Well, they're too long, too much work, and they're not funny (again, our primary purpose is to entertain). They are, however, exactly what the Cardinal News should be reporting.

Signed: Newman - Chief Editor, The Underground

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