LaGuardia Community College has a club for just about every interest and skill. Photography, chess, creative writing, women in stem, tabletop board games, psychology, cooking, anime, economics, are all clubs organized by students for students. Despite the presence of these clubs at LaGuardia, each offering leadership and community-building opportunities, a growing number of LaGuardia students […]
Letter From The Editor
My name is Tasha Balkaran, and I am the Editor-in-Chief of The Bridge. I joined The Bridge in January of 2017 with no experience or knowledge of how to write articles. Thanks to The Bridge’s staff, I was able to absorb the principles needed to be a reporter, and have taken on the responsibility to uphold these standards within The Bridge’s publication.
Not only does The Bridge‘s staff help ensure your article’s publication, but we also work endlessly so that your publication reflects the utmost quality of work we believe you can achieve. The Bridge has served as LaGuardia Community College’s student newspaper since the late 1970’s and has always provided LaGuardians with their campus news and articles that affect college students as a whole. Not only do we write for LaGuardians, but we ARE LaGuardians. With a staff of roughly eight student reporters, we use our voice to express the issues occurring on campus and give those without a voice the chance to be heard.
Due to unclear circumstances, we do not have the necessities nor an office to work out of, resulting in our having to work remotely for close to three years. Though we manage to put out as many papers as humanly possible with what few reporters we have, and promote a website that has been personally financed by the co-director of the Journalism Option, for the most part we have ceased to exist on our very own campus. It is our job as students to provide the most accurate, newsworthy pieces. But how can we do so without a room to work out of or without equipment to work with?
To quote our previous Editor, Serafin Santiago Jr., “I ask (student journalists) to extract the best of themselves and to showcase their capabilities whenever possible. They all are driven, have tenacity, and their own personal flair. I believe it is very safe to assume that without them, The Bridge would cease to exist were it not for their efforts.” Words of wisdom have come and gone while this specific quote remains with me. Without our student reporters, The Bridge, YOUR student newspaper, would not exist today. And while these words are still true, it would also seem rather selfish to ask them to give us their best efforts without giving them the tools to do so. You wouldn’t ask a professor to teach without a classroom, why ask The Bridge to operate without a base of operations.
As editor, not only do I ask our current and future reporters to bear with us, but I also ask the powers that be that our facilities be returned to The Bridge. Our writers have been working tirelessly to provide our school with their best work. All of which captures the issues occurring in both today’s society and culture, while providing our students with a multitude of articles that relay the most accurate news and voice the problems LaGuardians feel should be expressed/covered/reported on. It is only right that we exist on campus in the most literal way possible. Being denied a workspace, yet extolling the virtues of having The Bridge as an opportunity for incoming students in Advising Handbooks produced by LaGuardia, is tantamount to outright disrespect. All done in the same methods as was Web Radio’s absence, prior to its return in Spring 2018.
Not only do we need to have a presence on campus, but we need our students to join in with us! This is your student newspaper. Use it as your voice. It is up to you, the students, to keep this aspect of campus life afloat. Therefore, I am sending out an all-points bulletin: Writers of all majors on campus, YOU ARE NEEDED! Creative Writers, Business Majors, Nursing, Theater and Communications students. . . YOU ARE ALL WELCOME!
Take part in not only bringing the news and stories that interest you and others, but relish in the fact that you will become a published writer. To your credit, that will be something that could benefit you in many ways, and for many years to come. You’ll become an integral part of the student body, become a productive member of the college, and take a step in preparing yourselves for opportunities that await you beyond the doors of LAGCC.
For those that are interested in joining, feel free to contact us at tbalkaran6@gmail.com.
I’d like to thank our faculty advisors and student reporters for their consistency and giving us their best efforts. I’d also like to thank you, the students for allowing us to voice your opinions and wanting to be a part of The Bridge.
In closing, don’t hesitate to use what is available to you to enact the changes that you want, and bring issues up for discussion. You have a wealth of power at your fingertips. Use this platform for what it’s meant to be: Your voice.
Sincerely,
Tasha Balkaran
Editor-in-Chief