—_ a be

EDITORIAL

Lend me

Your ears...

..and the rest of you

while you're at it.

§ T.S. ELIOT ONCE WROTE, “!

grow old.” Why the cryptic allusion, you may ask? Well, it’s what springs to mind as this writer pens what will be his thirty- fourth monopolization of this paper’s editorial page and prepares to embark on his fourth and final semester as editor-in- chief of the aforementioned publication, actually his eighth semester as an X-Press staffer. The first papers my scribblings appeared in are beginning to yellow like forgotten treasure maps, and | regard them, misty- eyed, with the curiously morbid suspicion that |

It’s never too

this educational coil, leaving gaping gaps in our staff, For the paper’s continued survival, it is absolutely essential that we have new volunteers each year. :

This year has actually thus far been the best recruiting period in recent memory, with an unprecedented number of new recurring faces. As noted above, though, we'll also be losing quite a few staffers this year, and no matter what the numbers are, we always need new blood.

It’s never too soon or too late to get mixed up in this student press racket. This writer was

am joining them in absorbed into the X-Press antiquity. Putting such soon or too in the first weeks of his sentimental silliness aside, freshman year, and has though, | dust myself off late to get found it to bea rewarding and welcome you again to long term pursuit, as well yet another semester of : : as valuable experience- the U.P.E.I. X-Press. mixed UP IN perhaps themost valuable

So, what’s new? Well, for one thing, even the most unobservant readers cannot help but notice that we've undergone a major format transformation. Our last issue contained an explanation of the details and the reasons behind it, so | won't bore you with that again-but | do urge all our readers to give us feedback on our new look. Love it or hate it, we want to know what you think.

More importantly, | invite you to participate in the new X-Press and help make it the superb student newspaper that it canbe. Thereare two or three old fossils like myself rattling around the office, lost souls who've worked at the X-Press for years. The trouble with that, though, is that sooner or later we old-timers will be extinct, and this year we'll be losing quite a few

this student

experience of his academic career. Others, like our previous editor, became involved with the

pre ss racket. X-Press during their later

academic years (he was a senior, and most of this

year’s recruits are at least junior year). Special skills are also not a necessity. Most of us were your average, run-of-the- mill students before darkening the newspaper’s door, and writing and production skills can be taught if you want to learn. Everyone has something to contribute, and the more of you there are, the better both you and the X-Press can be for it. U.P.E.I. is full of talented students, and the X-Press is one of the best places to develop those talents and share them. As always, we invite you to join us in producing the best student newspaper this campus has ever seen. Who knows? Maybe you can

hardy oldsters to that evolutionary cataclysm _ teach us old dogs some new tricks. called graduation. The production editor, typesetter, assorted columnists and even Sean McQuaid, (sob!) the editor-in-chief will be shuffling off Jurassic Editor IMPORTANT

NEW DEADLINES!!!

For the sake of keeping everyone confused, the X-Press now has new deadlines. Regular submissions are now due by 4.00 pm on Fridays. In an attempt to better serve the various student organizations on campus, notices are now due Thursdays at 12.00 noon.

E- Mail: The New Drug

A computer commentary There is a new addiction on campus and

it is more dangerous and habitual than

crack, marijuana, cigarettes, and Nintendo:

its name: E-Mail. It seems so harmless, nothing more than a way to send messages to your friends that you might not get to see during the run of a day. To all outward appearances it looks innocent, just a lot of people using the computers-- hey, some of them may even be doing school work. But

‘as the proverb states, “everything is not .

what it appears”, and these so-called

_studentsare locked ina life-and-death battle

with the evil monster known as socialization. Don’t get me wrong-- I've spent far more time than | should have at these computers, sending letters and inane thoughts to people who use names like COOL BOY, MA CHALMERS, and THE DOCTOR OF STYLE in place of their own mundane names. In fact, one person | know uses COMPUTER SERVICES as his ‘computer handle’.

The worst problem I’ve faced is when I'm writing a paper and am just getting on a real roll when | get new E-mail-- and of course, | have to read it, wouldn’t want to be rude or anything. So there you are, rolling along, writing up'a storm, the paper you've put off for months is almost done and then BANG...”new mail from DREYERS” flashes on the bottom of your screen. You ignore it, hit ctri/enter to clear the screen and try to get on with your work but then...it happens again. When you finishing saving everything and exit Word Perfect to see what these life or death messages are,

all you see written is “Hey, what's going on, .

do you want to play ball at the Fieldhouse?” and whatever train of thought that you had has long since been derailed.

This is not all about negativity, though. The use of E-Mail has introduced people to the computers on campus, and lets them know that they have many features which can help the average student, including a Typing Tutor and Grammar check program, along with being able to type up term papers which wouldn't have been so late if we didn’t spend so much time writing electronic mail-- but to each their own.

Sincerely,

The Iceman

| %.press january eleventh 1994 page 5

Sing out loud, sing out long To whom it may concern, | have never written to a publication before but | am disturbed about something that-I read in the December 2nd issue. | was playing with the band that was featured at Apothecaries the night of the visit by some of your writers. In the article, the name of the band was mentioned and the most memorable messages that the reader was left with were that the band was too loud and the place didn’t “‘satisfy”. This speaks poorly of the band and of the establishment. Did you see all the people dancing and having a good time? Is it common to do “RESTAURANT RETROSPECTIVES” at 10:30 pm (when we began playing) on busy weekend nights at bars? Apothecaries does not pretend to bea fine-dining establishment on Friday and Saturday nights between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am and should not be reviewed as such. The entertainment supplied is appropriate for the purpose of the place and the great majority of those who attended seemed to agree (| asked). | don’t mean to be rude or to start any little newspaper letter wars, just realize that even though the band is background entertainment for most, it is a job for people like me. What may seem like harmless remarks ina paper can actually be devastating to someone’s income. People believe reviews. Just be aware of what contexts they are written in and how they might be read. Thank you for your time. Steve Bellamy

. WINE AND BEER MAKING SUPPLIE * LIQUOR EXTRACTS * COFFEE