'Herald' hits puberty, still beautiful

Not until halfway through my first semester as a Herald editor did I realize the paper was barely old enough for braces. How could such a seemingly mature organization have been conceived and brought up by Yalies of the '80s—Yalies not a generation older, who spent their weekends at Toad's or Rudy's, and who feuded just as passionately over the Mets and Yankees? Yalies just like us.

However it was consummated, on Feb. 14, 1986, The Yale Herald was born. And my, look how we've grown!

Since our days as an eight-page tyke, scampering around the off-campus apartment of co-founder Stephen Lange-Ranzini, TD '86, the Herald has played host to a scrappy brand of student journalism that is, if nothing else, heavy on personality. The Daily may teach its writers the who-what-when-where-why-how of reporting, but we mix in the "what the hey" for good measure.

Unable to provide up-to-the-minute campus news, our news writers take a fresher angle on big stories and snatch smaller ones from right under your nose. The voices in our opinion section come from both inside your head and out of left field—who else would have run a well-argued, carefully-reasoned diatribe against hurricane victims? And who, besides us, would print the zealous ranting of your IM secretary?

At 14, the Herald has made itself awfully useful. We've got the student directory, for one thing. And you can open our calendar and find out where to catch your girlfriend in Othello. If you want to make sure she was good, look no further than our arts and entertainment section—we'll tell you the truth. And what about sports—sick to death of dry varsity recaps? We've got the juice minus the fat, like who Yale football coach Jack Siedlecki really is, and why a particular team would rather play under Marge Schott than under its current coach. You can even place bets at our web site.

As reader-friendly as we are, the Herald prides itself on a close relationship with its staff. Sure, editors pick a lot of our stories, but some of the best have germinated directly from the minds of writers. If you've had your eye on a developing story, we encourage you to try your hand at it. Seen a good movie? Tell us about it. Our writers write what they want because we care about them, and our editors teach them how because we care about you.

But above all, we care about each other. Otherwise, we would not willingly sacrifice every Wednesday and Thursday night to the PageMaker gods, getting nothing in return save for the company of our fellow editors, eight platters of indigestion from Domino's, and the satisfaction of putting out a damn fine paper every week. We're 49 strong, and I have yet to come across a smarter, funnier, more eclectic group anywhere. Herald production is a party where laying out pages takes the place of getting drunk—in fact, our laser-jet is a converted keg. If you don't believe me, stop by for pizza break on Wednesday or Chinese "food" on Thursday.

Did I mention that our comics—idiots' tales or not—make up doubtless the cleverest two pages of newsprint in our great nation?

So for anyone who's ever given us an all-nighter, for anyone who's ever written or drawn something—hell, for anyone who's ever read an entire cover story—thank you. Our appreciation is limitless, and we promise a reward. Just because we're not 21 doesn't mean we can't throw a great party.

Daniel Silk, a junior in Saybrook, is the editor-in-chief of The Yale Herald.

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