Charlottetown. Not quite as romantically resonant as Bogey’s isian parting shot from the conclusion of sablanca, but it has its own warm, fuzzy ociations for yours truly. It’s been about r years since I wandered in here, all young | impressionable, and was moulded into the rldly journalistic pontificator you all know i love (?). So, with my term as editor wing to its inevitable close, I thought I’d le to black with a few thoughts on what this ver has meant to me-- and, perhaps more portantly, what it has meant and should an for the readers, the U.P.E.I. community. To paraphrase Jimmy (Stuart, not Hoffa), ”s been a wonderful life (at the X-Press).’’ ay, So it hasn’t all been a bowl of cherries-- te readers, insane letter-writers, neglected ioolwork, sleep-deprivation, the odd ellious, unbalanced, or prima donna staffer, npaging content controversies, scrutiny of ‘al ambulance-chasing reporters, threatened vsuits, staff disputes, and the ever- :scapable journalistic scourge known as the adline (emphasis on the dead). Despite all it schlock, though, it’s been a good four ars, even the two I put in as the big editorial huna. I’ve had the opportunity to hone my iting and artistic skills in a variety of media d genres since I came to this place (reporter, iture writer, comics editor, cartoonist, arts viewer, even editor); I’ve met a lot of eresting and talented people through my ork here, many of whom I’m proud to have own and worked with; I’ve learned a lot of luable work skills and been exposed to a od deal more ideas and information than I ight otherwise have gotten from university r anywhere else), considerably broadening y experience and intellectual horizons (corny, it true); I’ve even had some good-old shioned fun here now and again. The paper Ss given me a chance to develop valuable ills while contributing something worthwhile the university community, and I’ve even joyed a lot of it.

What’s any of this mean to you folks? ell, unless you’ve got a yen for bland yeurism, not much at first glance; however, y own little story is significant in that it’s emplary of what the X-Press can do for ople. I’ve gotten years of rewarding work it of it, not to mention camaraderie and even me supplementary income; and the beauty ‘it is that just about any of you folks can do is-- walked in here off the street about four “ats ago without much experience, and look here I am now (okay, so I’m not rich and ‘mous, but I’m content).

Whether you think you need the X-Press or >t, though, what’s important is that the X- ress needs you-- all of you. The student aper, to be truly successful, to be relevant, quires the participation of the students-- not ist as readers (though that’s important, too), it as contributors. That’snevermore apparent ' Important than at this time of year, when a ‘neration of X-Pressers-- including this ‘Tawler-- are taking their bows and exiting age right. We’ve been luckier than usual this

|, chariots I'll always have

cash.

SWANSONG

year, with an all-star cast of a dozen or so dedicated volunteer folks, but we always need new blood, and I urge those students remaining at U.P.E.I. to get involved with us. It’s a chance to accomplish something constructive for both yourself and the university, and the rewards do outweigh the grief in the end-- heck, except for us upper management types, the paper’s generally a pretty painless experience.

Okay, there’s my obligatory (but heartfelt) public service pitch. What happens now? Well, as for myself, I’ll be stepping down from the editor’s post. It’s been a blast, and a very special time forme, but all things must end and I’m opting to bow out gracefully. I’m planning on grad school, but not

LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS

talented, top-notch folks returning to the staff for next year, and the best may very well be yet to come.

This next spiel may be particularly foolhardy when addressing a public so recently desensitized by such ostentatious gratitude- orgies as the Oscars, Grammies, Junos and Geminis, but at this point I must thank a few people who helped make all this possible (those of faint hearts and short attention spans should skip to the end of what will probably be a monumental paragraph). Firstly, thanks to the folks from my first year here-- Angela Matheson for luring me in, and the others-- Jim, Kheng-wee, Liam, Tracy, Wendy, Loyd, Shannon and especially Kristine Suzuki for keeping me around and

next year-- I want to take a year to get my head together, write (creative stuff), decide what I want to do with the rest of my corporeal existence, and maybe scare up some Odds are, if

Whether you think you need the X-Press or not, though, what’s

interested, and encouraging me to continue. Thanks to the next generation of folks-- staffers Lisa, Chris, Stacy, Nicole, Nola, and the rest, and especially Cory Large

funding’s sufficient, I'll : § th th (who guided and take another course or two encouraged my here next year, maybe important IS at c ascension to editorhood) finish the English honours and Kirby Ferguson

program. Morelikely than not, I’ll even haunt the X- Press now and again like the friendly ghost I am, though not as editor. Other folks deserve a shot

X-Press needs you-- all of you.

(who, for all his rough edges, has been one of the best volunteers <and later paid staff> we’ve ever had-- a talented writer and critic, a gifted

at it, and I deserve a rest,

but you may see me here in my old role as a volunteer writer and-- as I’m told many of you still remember me--a cartoonist. I still cartoon, and now that I’ve got a good deal of that nasty old grown-up responsibility off my shoulders, I'll take a whirl at the fun stuff again before sailing off tothat mist-enshrouded penal colony known as grad school. You’re only young once (physically, anyway).

Enough about me, what about the X-Press? Well, hiring isstill being debated at this writing, but without letting any cats out of their respective bags, I can assure you all that an excellent group of people is prepared to sustain-- if not better--the quality of work that we have striven for. There are some really

designer, and a damn fine production editor; give him a round of applause, folks. Without him, we wouldn’t look as good as we do now.). Thanks also go out to third year’s bright lights: the administratively adroit Andrew MacPherson, ad-manager turned student politician; the indispensable Carol Schneider, women’s editor, soul mate, and volunteer writer par excellence; Trent Drake, connoisseur of all things warped and wonderful; Stan Livingstone, the endearingly cynical false generational prophet; Todd Petrie, imperturbable typist and intrepid sports editor, not to mention one of the most quietly likeable and refreshingly rational chaps in the office; and Danielle, subversive intellectual

mainlander who tragically defected to CIMN. Lastly, but by no means least, a nod to the rookies who signed on this year: perkily professional photographer, Kathy Giesbrecht; redoubtable reporter and aspiring editor Rebecca Moore; the gosh-darn-nice-guy literary contributor, George Anderson; Jennifer Caseley, the Friendly Home-Ec Student (I’m not sure what that means-- she’s a fine young volunteer writer and food critic-- but it sprang to mind and hasa certain endearingly Casperian ring); Aldera Chisholm, ad manager extraordinaire, food critic and gosh-darn-nice- gal; Bruce Davison, awe-inspiring student activist and invaluable volunteer writer of great skill and knowledge, to say nothing of his being an eerily pleasant fellow-- he will be sorely missed; Ed Fobes, who had his own unique perspective on campus events even before he acquired the eyepatch; Grace Kimpinski, inveterate keener and nascent production goddess; Yvonne Mackean, loyal volunteer writer and debating enthusiast; Shannon Younker, prolific and dedicated volunteer writer (good thing in a small package); Pat MacDonald, remarkably mellow woman (she makes recorded telephone operators sound abrasive) and a fine feature writer; Scott MacDonald, who isn’t on the basketball team but looks like he should be, and is one of the two or three best sports writers we’ ve had inmemory; Kathryn Brown, budding young cub reporter (sounds like Jimmy Olsen in drag, doesn’t it?); Dana Dennis, superb circulation manager and a volunteer writer, too(!); the irrepressible Janette Callbeck; and the philosophical Alex Keaveny, who aspires to be Igor to Grace’s Frankenstein and seems to like coffee a whole lot. The above folks have made this and every other X-Press of the last four years possible, and for this they are all deserving of our thanks.

Okay, one last paragraph of back-slapping (a much shorter one, I swear): thanks also to the friendly folks at Student Union (especially Heather and Betty), whose patience and assistance have made my tenure here that much easier; thanks to my professors (Lemm, Ledwell, Murray, Epperly, Pratt, O’Hare, Foley, Smith, Lindsay, Fedak, Porter, Eliot, Buck, and all the rest) who taught me a lot and have been (for the most part) possessed of saintly patience with the class-conflicting demands of my extracurricular moonlighting; thanks to Wendy at Central Printing, and the custodial staff, and all the other people who keep this place running; thanks to Mom, Dad, Patsy, Monc, and the rest of my family and friends who have helped me sustain body and soul while tolerating my conspicuous absence from their day-to-day lives; and thanks to all the readers, without whom our work would have so much less meaning. This is already a ramble of Biblical proportions, so I'll slip away and return to my editing chores before locking up the place and turning off the lights for another year. Hope you all enjoyed the show, and that perhaps you’ re the better for it. I know I am. Bringing down the curtain, Sean McQuaid

a