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Call it a combination of early -onset senioritious or ingrained journalistic pessimism, but I guess the Pepperdine student body is either slow to change or unaware of changes at the Graphic. There are two recent examples that stand out.
The first was the lack of interest in a free lunch at Marmalade. I offered to take someone from the Pepperdine community, which includes students, faculty and staff, out to lunch at Marmalade.
There were three conditions: The winner would have to post a comment on my blog (newsbuf.blogspot.com), not work for the Graphic and be willing to have their picture taken with me as proof that I bought someone lunch.
So far, there has only been one post on my blog and it was from a writer from the Graphic. The lack of interest could have been a blend of my mug shot from last week or the prospect of having to pose in a photo with me, as some have suggested.
The bottom line is that no one at Pepperdine should complain about Caf food since you all had the opportunity to get a free hamburger. The offer still stands, so hopefully someone will take me up on lunch.
If someone has a better idea such as giving a gift certificate to Marmalade or having me cook something instead of making you go to lunch with me post a comment with a suggestion.
The second and most shocking example of not changing and utilizing new features offered from the Online Graphic was from the freshmen class. We tried to get to the freshmen before they got into a routine of simply reading the Graphic every Thursday afternoon. We wanted to engage readers to contribute to the product in a new way.
Graphic staff members passed out more than 100 business cards at Frosh Follies asking for freshmen to send the Graphic photos from the camera phones and their digital cameras.
The photos were to be posted on the Online Graphic as a way for students to show the entire Pepperdine community a glance of what the event was like for them. To date, not a single photo has come in from the freshmen class or from anyone who saw one of the cards at the event. If you have a photo you would like to contribute e-mail it to newsbuf@gmail.com.
There is still plenty of time to change and explore the new offerings of the Online Graphic. After much tinkering and behind-the-scenes work, the first video of the semester has been uploaded to the Online Graphic. The video happens to be of Frosh Follies. Check out the video and let us know what you think (graphic.pepperdine.edu/video). There will be more videos coming and more interactive content.
Take ownership of the Pepperdine community by helping to shape and encourage a dialogue. This can be done by sending in content to the Graphic or letters to the editor to run in the print edition. Every member of Pepperdine can also instantly post thoughts and comments on the three blogs that are up and running.
I will drop my bad attitude if someone takes the initiative to post a comment or send in a photo of an event on campus.
Submitted 09-06-2007
MALIBU, CA
