Conversations offer lessons in perspective
by Chris Taylor, editor-in-chief

    A newsroom can be a fun, hectic place to work.

   Some days there is so much activity, that it would make one’s head spin.

   One thing I’ll miss most about being in the newsroom is the conversations. Sure, the frenetic pace and constant phone ringing can be fun, too, but the conversations in here are a sight (or sound, actually) to behold.

   Sometimes, it would be useful to map our conversations, just to see how they get from point A to point B.

   A conversation can start out about the effects of violence on television, then shift to whether it’s a good idea to be financially stable before you get married and then take a strange turn to whether Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street promote a homosexual lifestyle.

   Obviously, many of the discussions in here may seem like nonsense to the untrained ear, but in truth each conversation reveals a little about the person you’re talking to.

   One discussion centered on Spiderman. The basic theory was that if Spiderman were truly a spider-man, then he would not shoot web from his wrists, but instead spin web from his rear end.

   Was this an intellectual conversation? No. Did it have any great impact on society? No, again.

   But, it did reveal something about that person. It showed that person viewed things in a very different perspective.

   And isn’t that the point—to see things in a different perspective?

   The people in here may not always agree with each other, but they do always listen and keep their minds open.

   The newsroom, as well as this school, is full of people from varied backgrounds and different ages. With those differences come different ideas and influences.

   The trick, however, is being able to learn something new while teaching a new idea to someone else.

   Teaching someone to view things differently may be the greatest gift you can give to that person and the world. A healthy respect for another’s opinions and ideas is what used to make our country unique.

   Now it seems as though that ideal has gone the way of the eight-track tape.