“When I pilot back in memory to those good ol’ days as a U of P student, I see myself in The Beacon office. That is, after all, where I spent most of my time.
Class? I still have a few minutes to edit this story. Hanging out with friends? Maybe on the weekend. Studying? I’ll get to it by midnight. We havea newspaper to get out on Thursday!
A quarter century later, I can still remember the hard work and the pride we put into every Beacon issue. We took our job seriously, but had a lot of fun doing it.
I remember my first assignment as a freshman, covering women’s soccer—before Merlo Field, before the Pilots dynasty. I showed up at the old Beacon office at the center of campus—where Franz Hall now sits. I hacked out the story on an ancient typewriter and prayed my editor would approve.
A year later, we had word processing, but we still had to manually paste-up the paper using exacto knives and wax sheets of copy photos.
I had to laugh when they got their first computer layout program the year after I left.
But I wouldn’t have traded my experience for anything. We had a blast and we bonded as a team on those late nights editing, pasting-u and meeting our deadlines.
During my year as editor-in-chief, I presided over the big move of The Beacon office to St. Mary’s which had previously been the campus chapel.
One of our big stories of the day was established of co-ed dormitories. We covered the issues and received some national recognition along the way.
For me, The Beacon laid a foundation in pursuing excellence as a journalist. We had the freedom to learn our craft and to make mistakes. We had the responsibility to inform and to be a voice for the campus. And did I mention how much fun we had?
That foundation helped me build a lasting career in television news, and I am proud to have played a part in The Beacon’s continuing legacy."
-Dan Christopherson
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