Good evening, my name's Mike -- I'll be your waiter tonight

Michael J. Kleckner The editor's office [Click to enlarge]

So this is our final issue of the year, and I'm graduating. Ahh. After six years, that feels good to say. Some people might be expecting a real blazer of a final column, but I feel more like a waiter, introducing you to the meal of the Emerald's last issue.

The delicately braised tofu (meat is also available) in this issue is profiles of top students from each official school on campus. We have a hearty, home-cooked side dish about commencement, and may I suggest you start the meal with a few deep-fried end-of-the-year stories?

Perhaps my favorite part of this issue, though, is the sweet, savory and spicy sauces: the "senior" columns. It is a time-honored tradition at the Emerald to allow graduating seniors a bit of space to reflect on their experience and tell readers about it. Some of them have a hot bite, others are a sweet, piquant demi-glace and a few provide a nutty, savory topping on the final issue.

The soft, soppy dessert (maybe it's bread pudding) is a warm helping of thanks.

Thanks to the campus community for being involved, supportive and angry with me and the paper this year. Journalism should exist to serve the community, and the community must get involved.

Read the paper, find out what's happening in your world, and then get angry or happy. Write a letter to the editor, or better yet, call the editor. I know I have enjoyed those calls this year. Just remember that we're learning, and that the paper and the community will survive -- even if you disagree with the current staff's approach.

Thanks to this year's staff members, of whom I am terribly proud, and thanks especially to Jess, without whom I never would have survived.

Thanks also go to the full-time "adult" staff who work at the Emerald. They work tirelessly to teach journalism students how a newspaper runs. They do it with skill, patience and smiles, and I will always love them for it.

And huge bonus thanks to my parents, who always offer good advice, boundless love -- and money when it's necessary. I'm watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" for you right now, Mom and Dad.

No dinner would be complete without a small snifter of something that makes you feel warm and wise. So to close, I have just an ounce or two of things I've learned.

I've learned that a small, close-knit community can be wonderfully supportive, even of the weirdos and the freaks (like me) and the others who give a community character and love and meaning and fun. Eugene excels at this, and more communities should follow its example.

I've learned that even if you're cocky and obnoxious because you think you know everything, the older, wiser people will generally put up with you and even help you to turn that conceit into skills and knowledge. The University is really good at this, actually.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly to me, I've learned that no one has a corner on the truth market. Nothing is greater than arguing ideas, taking nothing for granted and believing almost nothing of what you're told.

Check the facts, question the assumptions and fight for your opinion. The University would have failed if it hadn't taught me that.

Peace and Joy,

Mike

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Contact the 2002-03 editor in chief
at michaelkleckner@email.com if you want to talk about something cool, like Taoism or anarchy. I'm not the editor anymore, so I probably don't want
to talk shop a whole lot, and my opinions definitely no longer represent those of the Emerald.

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