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     IT’S GOODBYE to this turbulent old rag for me as editor. After 3 
     
     semesters of obsession I’m handing the reigns over to two new editors. 
     
     Cora-Lee DesRoches and Dawnne Chappelle were elected by the staff as 
     
     co-editors for 1988/89 and I wish them good luck. tis 
     
    

    
     My main goal for this paper has been to make it something worth 
     
     reading; a newspaper that’s read and has something to say to the stu- 
     
     dents. This year has seen an increase in weekly circulation from 1300 
     
     copies to 1500 and finally to 1700. And it’s still hard to find a copy of 
     
     The Gem anywhere on campus Friday mornings. 
     
    

    
     Our page count has increased from 12 pages each week to 16 and 20. 
     
     We’ve gone from scrambling to find enough stuff to fill 12 pages each 
     
     week to having too much for a 20 pager. 
     
    

    
     I’d like to leave some advice to the incoming editors and to the Stu- 
     
     dent Union. ; 
     
    

    
     The Student Union may pay the bills for the paper, but the SU must 
     
     recognize the right and necessity for The Gem staff to run the paper 
     
     themselves. Without freedom to organize and determine the content of 
     
     this paper as the staff sees fit, The Gem will spiral:'down to the level 
     
     it once was. Worse, it will become nothing but a weekly flier harping 
     
     the virtues of the SU. Freedom includes the right to determine to which 
     
     associations The Gem belongs, including CUP membership. There is no 
     
     Student Union official qualified to make decisions regarding content or 
     
     association for a newspaper. 
     
    

    
     In turn, the editors or staff of The Gem must never ever get the idea 
     
     that this paper is theirs. The absolute control over what goes in The 
     
     Gem and the long hours of work can easily make an editor believe the 
     
     paper is their baby. Wrong. The Gem belongs solely to the students and 
     
     it is the responsibility of the editors and staff to serve them. 
     
    

    
     In practical terms this means printing items of interest to the stu- 
     
     dents, rather than that of interest to the staff. It means hanging out in 
     
     The Pit asking people’s opinions on the paper and being open to sug- 
     
     gestions for improvement. It means encouraging and helping on-campus 
     
     societies and non-staff write columns or letters to the paper. It means 
     
     keeping ‘inside jokes’ to a minimum. And it means always encouraging 
     
     new students to join the paper. The staff and editors ultimately decide 
     
     what to write and print, but must decide with an ear pressed firmly to 
     
     the wall of the student’s needs. 
     
    

    
     It’s been fun and a privilege to be editor. J haven't heen able te 
     
     do all I planned, but with any luck and a few fanatically obsessed staff 
     
     members, the paper will continue to improve. 
     
    
   
   
    
     —Derrick Webber 
     
     Editor-in-Chief 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     “We live under a government of men and (morn- 
     
    
   
   
    
     ing) newspapers.’ ile 
     
     g) papers — Theophile Gautier — 
     
    
   
   
    
     Derrick Webber, Editor-in-Chief 
     
    

    
     oe Mollison, Production Editor 
     
     Derrick Cameron, Advertising Manager 
     
     Darrell Cole, Sports 
     
    

    
     Karen Cullen, Photographer 
     
    

    
     Dolly Bhatia, CUP Editor 
     
    

    
     Darlene Llewellyn, Typesetter 
     
    
   
   
    
     James Connolly, Systems Manager 
     
    
   
   
    
     STAFF MEMBERS: 
     
    
   
   
    
     Dawne Chappelle, Kaberi Dasgupta, Cora- 
     
    

    
     Lee Des Roches, Anne Irving, Bobbi Sue Keat- 
     
     ing, Jim McGrath, David MacKinnon, Dan 
     
     Mullen Lisa Murphy, Claire Murray,,.,.Mark. 
     
     Walker, Matthew Beardsley, Sam Okello, Ellen: 
     
    

    
     ’ Perry, and Chris Vessey. e 
     
    
   
   
    
     This Week’s Contributors: 
     
    
   
   
    
     Heather Rossiter, Rhonda McLellan, and the 
     
     Ingineers. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Gem welcomes contributions of articles, 
     
     poems, short stories, or ideas. Please ask for 
     
     a copy of our ‘GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIB- 
     
     UTORS’. Contributions can be dropped off at 
     
     the Barn, sent through VAX MAIL to GEM, or 
     
     stuck on our door down in the basement of the 
     
     utility building. 
     
    
   
   
    
     We cherish typed and double spaced sub- 
     
     missions and submissions on computer disk or 
     
     through VAX mail. For legal reasons, all submis- 
     
     sions must include the author’s name and phone 
     
     number. However, names will be withheld from 
     
     publication on request. 
     
    
   
   
    
     . 
     
    
   
   
    
     We cherish. typed and double spaced sub- 
     
     missions and submissions on computer disk or 
     
     through VAX mail. For legal reasons, all submis- 
     
     sions must include the author’s name and phone 
     
     number. However, names will be withheld from 
     
     publication on request. 
     
    
   
   
    
     We reserve the right to edit submissions due 
     
     to space or taste limitations. shana 
     
     “TA