To the editors of The Daily Texan and the Texas Student Publications Board of Operating Trustees:
Everyone signing this letter knows that good-faith arguments have been offered for having the TSP Board appoint The Daily Texan's editor rather than allowing the students to select the editor by popular vote. But when the big whistle blows, we're for electing the The Daily Texan editor, and here's why.
It's true that a relative handful of students actually vote for editor and that many of them are activist types. But we also know that attaining the editorship of The Daily Texan is no less political when the Texas Student Publications Board does the choosing.
Democracy can be awkward and uncomfortable at times, but we think the Texan works best when the real owners of the paper - the students as a whole, who historically have the greatest moral claim to The Daily Texan - choose the editor-in-chief. What's more, since the Texan has a subsidized near-monopoly at the University, it's only fair for the student body to have the most say in deciding who will oversee their newspaper, just as they have the most say in choosing who will be the student body president.
The election process has worked for the Texan, in our experience, because an elected editor-in-chief with a campus-wide base of support is best suited to ensure that the entire paper, and not just the editorial page, meets the needs of the campus as a whole.
We understand that the current Texan staff and the TSP Board may be skeptical about the value of electing the editor. We find it hard to accept the argument, however, that an 18-year-old freshman can be trusted to make the right choice for President of the United States or governor of Texas (or TSP student board member), but can't be trusted to vote well when it comes to Daily Texan editors. We have read Texan editor Ben Heath's most recent editorial complaining that editor candidates are often pressured to be politicians of the wrong sort, but we remain unconvinced. We know from our own experience that these pressures are resistible. (Indeed, Heath himself seems to have resisted them just fine.)
As for holding a vote of confidence requiring the support of at least 30 percent of the Texan staff for an editor candidate to be considered for appointment, we see another can of worms. Who determines who is or is not a staffer for the purpose of such a vote? Instead of instituting new standards for who qualifies as a staffer, we believe it makes more sense to enforce (rather than waive) the long-standing requirements that Texan editor candidates must have worked on The Daily Texan staff and must have taken certain courses. This ensures that any candidate has demonstrated a serious interest in - and thus has a substantive knowledge of - the student newspaper he or she seeks to serve as editor-in-chief. Even if we suspend disbelief and assume that polling the staff works as intended, we don't think the University community is served by that result. Appointment plus staff polling would mean that the Texan staff (already an insular group) would be shielded that much more from the opinions of its readers.
In short, if you think the Texan needs to be more out of touch with ordinary students, then the TSP Board has just granted your wish. We think the board can do better, however, and we urge it to rescind its recent tampering with the editor-election process. Neither the student body nor the Texan should find any cause for shame in the elected editorship. Students have placed some of the finest writers ever to grace our craft in the editor's chair, including the legendary Willie Morris. That we are unique among college newspapers should be a source of pride, not concern. The student body has guided the Texan editorship with integrity and care for more than 100 years. What have they done to merit taking away that cherished privilege?
Dick Elam Editor, 1949-50
Ronnie Dugger Editor, 1950-51
Sam Kinch Editor (appointed), 1962-63
Dave McNeely Editor (appointed), 1963-64
Charmayne Marsh Editor (appointed), 1964-65
Kaye Northcott Editor, 1965-66
John Economidy Editor, 1966-67
Bob Inderman Staff, 1967-70 Parris Communications, vice president
Merry Clark Editor, 1968-69
Mark Morrison Editor, 1969-70
Karen Elliott House Managing editor, 1969 Wall Street Journal, publisher
Andy Yemma Editor, 1970-71
John Watkins Managing editor, 1970
Buck Harvey Editor, 1974-75
John Yemma Managing editor, 1974 The Boston Globe, deputy managing editor
Mark Yemma Managing editor, 1975 Los Angeles Times
Scott Tagliarino Editor (appointed), 1975-76
Nick Cuccia Managing editor 1975-76 Los Angeles Times, design editor
Mary Walsh Editor, 1976-77
Patricia Kilday Hart Managing editor, 1976
Beth Frerking Editor, 1979-80
Mark McKinnon Editor, 1980-81
John Schwartz Editor (appointed), 1981-82
David Woodruff Editor, 1984-85
David Elliot News editor, 1984
David Menconi Staff, 1984-85 Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer, writer
Stephen Bedikian Associate entertainment editor, 1985
Paula Blesener Associate managing editor, 1985-86
Lisa Brown Managing editor, 1985
Richard "Jake" Dyer Images editor, 1985 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Heather Johnson Associate Images editor, 1985
David Nather Editor, 1986-87
Brian Zabcik Associate managing editor, 1986 The American Lawyer, senior editor
Christy Goldfinch Associate managing editor, 1986
Lorraine Cademartori Associate managing editor, 1987
Sean Price Editor, 1987-1988
Debra Muller Price Managing editor, 1987
Mike Godwin Editor, 1988-89 Public Knowledge, legal director
Siva Vaidhyanathan News editor, 1988 New York University, assistant professor
Joe Yonan Managing editor, 1988 The Boston Globe, writer
Karen Adams Editor, 1989-90
Randy Kennedy Managing editor, 1991 The New York Times, reporter
Mary Hopkins McDonald Editor, 1994-95
Robert Rogers Editor, 1995-96
Tara Copp Editor, 1996-1997 Scripps Howard News Service
Rob Addy Editor, 1999-2000
Brian Dupré Associate editor, 1999-2000
Michael Hoffman TSP Board of Operating Trustees, president, 2002-03
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