By Nick Stoico, Executive Editor
Pardon the cliché, but it is hard to believe this semester is already coming to a close. It’s been three months since we covered the front page of our first issue with the bright faces of some of UNH’s newest Wildcats, and by now they seem to be getting the hang of things around here. Some of them even joined the staff here at The New Hampshire.
Fortunately, it seemed there was hardly ever a shortage of stories for us to fill these pages with. But while that makes my job a bit easier, not all of the stories were so easy to tell.
Between the time we published the freshman welcome issue and our first regular news issue, there was a reported sexual assault in a freshman dorm, an attempted abduction and a member of the men’s hockey team made national headlines for being charged with domestic assault. These are the stories we hate to tell, but we accept it as our civic duty to do so.
We had the opportunity to cover the midterm elections and focus in on the local races that carry the most significance for our community. Former Dean of the Paul College of Business & Economics, Dan Innis, made a strong run for Congress and came just short of earning the Republican nomination in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. Senate candidates Jeanne Shaheen and Scott Brown both made appearances on campus with some notables from the national political scene in Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Rand Paul. Brown even stopped by the tailgate on Homecoming weekend for a couple beers, a decision that stirred up some thought-provoking talk amongst students and other community members.
UNH athletics added several items to the trophy chest this fall. The UNH football team had the best regular season it’s had in almost a decade, including earning the No. 1 ranking in the FCS for the first time since 2006. The UNH volleyball team continued to show its dominance, winning its second consecutive America East title. Both of these teams will look to extend their seasons into the playoffs this weekend. The women’s soccer team won its first ever America East title, the field hockey team reached its fourth consecutive AE championship game and the women’s cross-country team won the New England Regional Championships and placed sixth in the NCAA regional meet. The women’s XC team also added a conference championship.
In other news, Dana Hamel made an astounding donation of $10 million to the university, a new tailgating policy was implemented, the Alpha Tau Omega house was torn down after three years of vacancy and riots erupted at Keene’s annual pumpkin festival.
This semester, we did our best to cover everything we possibly could to keep the UNH community aware of what was happening around Durham. Sometimes we were praised for our coverage; other times we wrote things that readers did not agree with. That is part of what makes a community work: the UNH campus is filled with bright individuals that have different ideas and all deserve an opportunity to voice them. This is why we focus heavily on ensuring our coverage is fair, balanced and accurate.
We hope our news coverage kept you informed and we hope our opinion pages made you think. As always, we thank everyone who submitted letters to continue the dialogue in the community.
In January, we will break away from our traditional Tuesday and Friday publication schedule and will be publishing issues on Mondays and Thursdays. This new plan will bring readers the most relevant news from the weekend in the Monday edition, and then give readers more time to pick up the Thursday edition to check out what is going on around Durham and the Seacoast for the weekend. We will also be launching our new website over the course of winter break.
Before you set down this issue of TNH, please take a look at Arts Editor Charlie Weinmann’s farewell column as he heads off for the post-graduate life. It has been a pleasure working with Charlie and he has served a monumental role at TNH for the past couple of years.
While we say goodbye, we also welcome new members to the staff. As editor, it is my job to assemble the best possible editorial staff to deliver the highest quality content to our readers. In the spring, you will see some new student journalists and editors on staff. I believe they will truly enhance this publication with the stories they will tell.
Finally, the staff at TNH would like to thank you, the readers, for sticking with us this semester. It has been quite a ride. Engaging with the community is what makes this job great, and we look forward to carrying that relationship into the second semester.
See you in January,
Nick Stoico
Executive Editor
