Acorn

Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: TRUE DREW

Media Credit: Charlotte Hammond

Jackie Ryan was initially reluctant to be included in this feature. She didn't stand much of a chance for reconsideration. There is perhaps no student-held position on campus as influential as Editor in Chief of The Acorn, a duty that she reveres with magnanimity.

Running The Acorn is a thankless job. The weekly's laudable efforts go relatively unnoticed and taken for granted, while every controversial story galvanizes the community to openly scrutinize or defame the publication. In the words of Bruce Reynolds, The Acorn's editorial consultant, "The editor of the newspaper is the conscience of the community, whether he or she likes it or not." Drew's conscience, therefore, is a harp-playing Stephen King aficionado who plays women's rugby and dislikes sunflowers and jello.

Ryan started out on the student newspaper as a news writer and copy editor and quickly made her way up the ranks of the newspaper hierarchy to Assistant News Editor.

Her ascension to the top of The Acorn hierarchy is characterized by Reynolds as "quiet," and even Jackie agrees that it is surprising to think that she is the top dog of a college newspaper.

"I didn't think I was going to become editor in chief," Ryan says. "Meghan-the immediate past editor-encouraged me to apply for News Editor my sophomore year, so it wasn't really a natural progression."

Running a college newspaper gives Jackie a unique lens through which she can view the community in which we live, learn and pay handsomely for.

"The University has a lot to offer, and it is a comfortable environment to ask questions," she says. "There are so many clubs and organizations doing so many things, sometimes their programs go unnoticed. I wish the students would open up. If you see something lacking, you can speak up and get something done." Ryan also sees the recent deluge of changes to Drew's campus since President Bob Weisbuch's entrance to the campus three years ago as positive. "So many things were done too quickly. It was fast, but the ideas behind the actions are great."

Dedicating at least 15 hours a week to overseeing the production of the newspaper, combined with her classes and rugby commitments, does not make for a particularly loose schedule. Reynolds holds the position of editor in extremely high regard. "Running a newspaper is a bit like being on the inside of a volcano," he says. "[Jackie] can keep her composure, which gives people confidence when they're trying to work under a deadline."

Continued...

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