- Page’2” January 2009

Word of the wise

“IT don’t get why a guy that re- views deep fried pizzas would feel threatened by a writer that reviews smoked Atlantic

salmon.”’ - Patrick Greco in our Letters to the Editor

ees

East Coast musicians Wintersleep prep to come to the wave Page 10

Canadians speak up about their decision to head south to help out with the U.S. election Page 14

A death three weeks after a hockey game has people questioning safety Page 8

A UPEI student has the experi- ence of a lifetime as she details

her time excavating in Hungary Page 13

“CAMPUS

~PANTH ER POST

Students vote to change name of student newspaper

UPEI has applied a new name to campus news.

The UPEI student newspaper, known previously as The Cadre, has elected to go with a new name, the Panther Post, as the new face of UPEI newspaper. The change has been met with both optimism and skepticism as students clamour to opine in on their views of the change.

The name change was brought into consideration following the failure of the 2007-2008 newspaper, as well as the numerous problems as- sociated with the newspaper in past years, Post editor-in-chief Lucas McInnis said.

“‘We analyzed the situation and re- alized there was so much negativ- ity associated with the name that it may be in the best interest of every- one to evolve.

“An evolution that we felt should potentially include a name change.”

The newspaper had been rife with problems under multiple editors, including a decision by former edi- tor, Ray Keating, to print the infa- mous Muhammad cartoons, spark- ing media backlash beyond school property, garnering international attention.

Other problems include the print- ing of a particular story entitled Christfucking Christmas, which dealt with numerous faux-pas top- ics, specifically female body parts.

The summer following the folly of the 2007-2008 newspaper year,

in which only five papers were

printed in total, found McInnis dis- cussing potential changes with a number of people who had the best of intentions for the newspaper, including newly-elected Student Union president Justin Douglas, Shawn Younis, the vice-president of activities, and McInnis’ fellow

Holland College journalism pro- gram grad Cheryl Murray, as well as another journalism grad and cur- rent Post reporter and columnist Jarrod Yeo.

“The concept of a potential name change had emerged from the get- go,” McInnis said.

“Tt was no secret the Cadre name had been hurt throughout the years and the question of whether a name change would be in the benefit of the newspaper was always on the table.”

The Cadre board of directors, con- sisted of McInnis, Younis, Chad McGuigan, the vice-president of fi- nance, Martha MacIntyre, the Cad- re business manager, and a member at large, at the time held by Asher Fredericks. They decided to leave any decision of a name change up to the student body, deciding to hold a referendum after students passed in what they felt would be viable names for the student news- paper.

“Tt was felt that any change to the student newspaper should be left to the students, who, after all, pay for the newspaper,” McInnis said. “I met the decision with criticism, to be honest. The paper’s content has

- been evident of multiple individu-

als more interested in joking around than providing campus news and I feared these would be the individu- als to provide any new names.”

McInnis admits he was wrong in his conclusion. After many new names began to be offered he found there was an assortment of students who also wanted a change.

“I was amazed. As Chad (McGuigan) began to tell me the names coming in I thought, ‘wow, maybe people are ready for a change.”

What did catch the board of direc- tors off guard was the multitude of

suggestions to keep the name as is.

“Tt was at this point we real- ized change is sometimes danger- ous, and to make such a dramatic change we would need to leave the option of what was normal to the students.”

Regardless of the option of leav- ing The Cadre as The Cadre, stu- dents dutifully elected the Panther Post as the best choice for the new name, a choice that McInnis has heard both praise and questions for “People have told me they voted for Panther Post because they felt a change was necessary. They’ve told me they voted that way be- cause [the board of directors] so desired a name change. And I’ve heard people say the name change

‘is a mistake.”

McInnis recalls sitting in the UPEI campus pub, The Wave, upon re- lease of the December issue, the first issue named the Panther Post, only to hear such criticism.

“T was pleased with the last issue. I thought the reporters really went up and beyond their expectations. But the name change has been questioned, and whether or not it will stay as the Panther Post will be shown in time. If it proves not to be a progression than we would have to rethink the changes we made this year.”

“Criticism is to be expected. We need to remain obdurate.”

McInnis admits meeting criticism

_hasn’t been easy.

“Anyone who does anything to the best of their ability, as we all at the paper have, is going to be hurt by criticism. Unfortunately, criticism is impossible to avoid. All you can do is smile and hope for the best. And the positive compliments for the paper this year have easily sur- passed the negatives.”