Shelbie Harris
News Editor
I have been a Bengal for the past 10 years of my life.
At thirteen-years-old, I watched my father do anything he could to fund his way through college, even if that meant making bumper stickers and selling them to friends and classmates at $5 apiece. My favorite had the fearless face of a Native American chief in full headdress clad, followed by the caption, “If you don’t love America, then give it back.”
Knowing I will be next year’s Editor-in-Chief for The Bengal is by far the best news I received all semester, but as I prepare for the new role and new responsibilities, I can’t help but think “If you don’t love ISU, then give it back.”
For many, college is a time for young people to discover themselves, their niche, and to find out what profession provides the best chance of successfully achieving their pursuit of happiness. For me, college is an experience unlike any other. It is an opportunity to engage in radical conversation, a place to develop a professional network and in the words of our previous editor, a place for me to learn how to “kitten” things up.
I enrolled at ISU four years ago with the intention of studying political science and achieving a pre-law degree. I came with the intention of changing the perspective of the political system, engaging many of the people I refer to as sheep and exposing how corrupt the American democratic system truly is thanks to the two-party system and big money contributors.
I soon realized that’s not at all what I wanted to do; that is, I understood how difficult it would be to have such a drastic impact on a system designed to operate forever. I learned the best weapon for attacking things such as the political system, or the mistreatment of certain individuals based on race, gender or sexuality, or explaining in detail where our tuition dollars really go is my ability to write.
This brings me back to my original thought, “If you don’t love ISU, then give it back.”
Give it back to those who do care, those who know ISU is the best thing to happen to Pocatello, and those who know that without ISU, Pocatello could potentially turn into a ghost town.
This year, The Bengal was on the brink of extinction. Hamstrung by a 17 percent cut in our budget and being told we must cancel our print edition and move strictly online, I was extremely concerned for the future of an independent facet of this institution that has operated since 1910.
After battling with Student Affairs and ASISU, our funding was restored and our print circulation survived.
During this process, one argument was that The Bengal ranked very low on a survey identifying the most important line items that ASISU funds. I find this incredibly hard to swallow. Though I shouldn’t, I take matters like this personally.
As a result, I’m taking the opportunity to ask any and all of those who love and support The Bengal newspaper, as well as your own professional development to show how much you care in the form of submitted content.
The Bengal is a student-operated newspaper, designed to educate, inform and entertain the students of ISU. It serves as a public forum, a marketplace for the exchange of ideas and in order to represent our student body, I need your help.
Regardless of your major, your class-level or your particular strengths or weaknesses, I am asking you to speak about the things that matter most to you.
If you always want to provide relationship advice, if you want to write humor columns, horoscopes, or cartoons, or simply want to express how upset you are about the massive line for bingo every week, The Bengal is a platform for you to express these concerns.
Whether The Bengal lives or dies lies within the hands of every one of our students as much as it lies within the hands of myself and the incredible staff working hard every week.
As the time comes for the current editor to pass the torch, leave behind a world of papers, exams and presentations and enter the world prepared with the knowledge necessary to develop professionally, I assume the helm and can guarantee you the momentum established this past year will not be lost.
“You can fix anything but a blank page.”
At the end of the day, we are all storytellers and as a society rely heavily on those stories. My advice to you is that the story is always there, it’s up to you to tell it.
