Interviewees who are taken aback by their own words, and demand we scrap entire passages from an article as a result. Rants in our inbox from people complaining about one thing or another. I keep a list of possible topics to write about here; more than half of them are about problems and grievances. The bad stuff, it seems, sticks in the mind longer.
What isn’t on the list, I realised after Whit Monday (a few days of cycling can do wonders for mind and body), are the kind messages we get from readers. Like last weekend, when a long-time reader wrote in to compliment us on our article interviewing victims of the professor who was fired for misconduct. That’s great, we said to each other this morning, and then proceeded to the business at hand. After all, good news is no news, as the old journalistic adage goes.
Dutch student-columnist
The business at hand included our search for a Dutch-language student columnist. We thought we’d found the right person for the job, but she pulled out at the last minute. Was it because of my phone call asking her to check her email a little more often so she wouldn’t miss an invitation for a job interview? Was I too hard on her? Who knows. Either way, we are once again asking students with strong writing skills, creative minds, and an active student life to reach out to us. It’s a paid position for thirty columns per year, with professional guidance. ([email protected])
Smoothly written
As several long-time contributors will be leaving us soon, we’re also facing a shortage of English-language columnists in the next academic year. We’re looking for UM staff members who can write for a wide audience (so no academic treatises, but smoothly written pieces, preferably with a dash of humour) and feel comfortable sharing their views on hot issues within and outside the university. If you’re interested, please don’t hesitate to contact us by email. Your column might just be right next to this one in the upcoming year. There’s no need to be afraid; we’re here to provide you with writing tips and final editing. Eternal glory awaits you! Or at the very least a step in that direction.