Hello!
As it says above, my name is Gabe Farr, and I will be taking over as the Editor-in-Chief for the Exponent, your favorite school newspaper! I have been with the Exponent for three years now, and I have been the Chief Layout Editor for two and a half of those.
I have had the privilege to work under three other wonderful Editor-In-Chief is before me, John Rodwell, Natalie Downie and of course our dearly departed Kaz Bresnan. Each of these wonderful people have shown me so much guidance, and I do not think I would be as confident going into this without each of them there to help me along the way.
This year has been a transition period for the Exponent. We have our new office after they politely booted us out of Warner, which is located at Pioneer Tower 037, next to the WSUP office, feel free to stop in and join we are always looking for new members. It took some getting used to, given the smaller space, but we also had a smaller staff than I have ever been witness to. Despite this, Kaz lead us (semi-)bravely forward, and we made some of the best papers I have been part of making. Thank you, Kaz, for helping guide us through the storm, and for taking care of a lot of the bureaucratic stuff that comes with changing offices.
Kaz is notably not the only person leaving the Exponent this year, much to my dismay! There are three others who will be leaving the Exponent behind, each of whom will be leaving exceptionally large shoes to fill.
Abigail Shimniok, our beloved Graphics-Editor-turned-Business-Ad-Manager, who despite occasionally creating horrendous and blasphemous graphics, has been a shining light in the office, and who is able to keep the room in good spirits. You will be missed.
Isabelle Emerson, Social Media Manager, will be leaving us to do teaching. You will be missed not only because I have no idea how to run the website, but also because you are one of our best and most prolific writers. I personally enjoyed the mostly-weekly Who Is? series, and, of course, the Scooby-Doo reviews. I wish you the best, wherever you end up, and you will also be missed.
Finally, Nat Poeschel, our animal-loving Chief Copy Editor. I must formally and officially apologize for every single time I personally have delayed the copyediting process, and I appreciate everything you have done for the Exponent. Without you, I highly doubt anything would have run half as smoothly as it did this year, and you so very dearly be missed.
I know what you are thinking dear reader, “Who will replace these wonderful people and keep the Exponent from burning down now?” You are in luck, as we have two new fresh shining faces to introduce!
Chris(topher) Andraski will be joining us as our new Chief Layout Editor, replacing yours truly. I am extremely excited to work with Chris this upcoming school year, and I have no doubt he will be able to thrive.
Josh Lacher will also be joining us as our new Social Media Manager. Josh is still a little new, but he has my complete support and confidence in his abilities. Also, he will know how to access the website, which as previously stated, is a talent I do not possess, and for that he will be valued.
Not all our wonderful staff is getting replaced this year, as we have a number of returning faces!
Ella Madsen will return as our chief Graphics Editor. I am overly excited about this, not only because she is able to consistently output incredible graphics, but also because her schedule is incredibly busy! Words cannot truly express my gratitude for her sticking with us into this new year, despite the extra chaos we add.
Ethan (Prime) Hack will also be rejoining for his third year at the Exponent! This tall, handsome man has been supplying your lovely eyes with our feature photos throughout the year and will continue to do so! I am excited to see what else he has in store for us, and I appreciate his continued support.
Finally, Ethan (2) Pulvermacher will continue his position as our Managing Editor. He puts in plenty of work, and I am glad he will be sticking with us. I have no doubt he will continue to fill not only the office, but also the newspaper with wonderful music reviews.
You may have noticed that I did not reveal who is taking over the Chief Copy Editor position. That is because we are leaving it open! If you love proofreading English, or just really hate oxford commas, please stop down and apply at the Exponent office or shoot us an email!
I would also like to take a moment to thank all the people who were only in the room spiritually this year who have helped me to this point. Veronica Hausser, for helping me open up and thrive in the office, John Rodwell, who helped get me on my feet at the Exponent, Natalie Downie, who continues to be an incredibly valuable member of the team even with a degree and a career and finally David Gillota, our advisor, who takes time out of his busy schedule to make sure we don’t misspell anything or get sued.
Of course, none of this is worthwhile if we do not have readers like you. We have a special community here, and I am so incredibly happy to be able to be a part of it, and to share that community with you all. I truly hope that all of you will stick with us in this upcoming school year. Thank you to everyone who submitted an opinion piece for us to publish, and those responding to us on the website. I appreciate every single one of you for contributing to this wonderful paper. I hope you all continue to give us feedback and stories, as well as continue to enjoy our little paper.
No matter how many times I hear, “Wait, we have a school newspaper?” I will always be proud of the work we are doing here. I am so incredibly lucky to be able to work with everyone that comes into the office, and to share our stories with all of you. This is one of the best places to be on campus, and I cannot thank everyone enough for allowing all of us to continue making it for you.
We are not going anywhere soon. I am so extremely excited for what we have in store for next year. I look forward to another year of quality content, given to you on flimsy, nice-smelling paper.
‘Til September,
Gabe Farr, Editor-in-Chief