By Ed Adams
Communications Dept. Chair
For the past five weeks the Daily Universe has taken the campus community on a historic journey through five decades. The pages of these special issues have unfolded for our eyes a review of our challenges while at the same time celebrating our successes.
The purpose of this historical journey has been to educate the campus on our history while relating the integral role of the newspaper in chronicling that heritage.
Some of our struggles have changed and some have always been with us. While reviewing the possibility of doing a commemorative issue, I came across an article in the Sept. 24, 1891, issue of the campus paper where one the reporters was bemoaning the idea of taking classes in a particular building during the upcoming winter.
He reported, 'Just think of it. Having to study by lamplight both night and day. And what exposure must not the physical nature be subjected to with some students sitting so near the stove that their desks are scorched, while others are forty feet distant facing the chilly drafts from the hall. We have in mind at present several cases in which students contracted severe colds, sore throats, and cramps of lower limbs, because of these unfavorable conditions.'
This article helped me to appreciate the sacrifice of previous generations while seeing the progress we have made.
The 114 years of a campus paper has allowed us another window to view history. For the last 50 years, The Daily Universe has created a record of daily life. Our current staff of reporters and editors have attempted to encapsulate the past five decades within a few pages so that we could look back and reflect. Thanks for joining us on this journey.