It’s the “University Near Mom” and the “University of Nothing Much” my friends and I always joked. New Mexico State was the only in-state university I would consider attending, but even that was questionable.
So here I am, a transfer student from New Mexico State entering my fourth year of college at UNM and working as managing editor of the Daily Lobo—something I never thought would happen.
The Lobo is considered an extremely liberal, controversial publication by the masses. I am not. I am mostly conservative. I hold doors open for women. I voted for George Bush. And I am in a fraternity. However, I have very liberal views on the hot controversial issues facing our generation, something for editorials of the future. I am a journalist, but don’t plan to make a career of it. As a journalist, I am bound by a Code of Ethics and strive to follow those ethics by being as objective and well-rounded as possible.
I see many challenges in this job. My first challenge is to become more accepting of liberal ideas. I’ve grown up in a conservative world with conservative ideas. I just found out a week ago who Gloria Steinem was and why she is significant.
Next is my challenge to report fairly. As I told my fraternity brothers when told to “only report the good stuff Greeks do,” if the Greeks do well, that will be reported. If the Greeks do negative things, that will also be reported. My basic philosophy is, news is news and my job is to report fairly, accurately and without bias.
My final challenge is to succeed at UNM and become acclimated with it society. I am a people person. I like to meet people, to have friends and to be diverse. Today when I wander around campus like a lost freshman, I am excited about this semester, the Daily Lobo, meeting my challenges and knowing that when I’m here, this won’t be the “University of Nothing Much.”