While the entire campus has gotten a facelift over the summer, to the editors of the Torch, our section of the campus was severely neglected. If you didn’t know, the Torch office is located in the basement of O’Connor Hall (through a back entrance). Back in the early 2000s, students could find the editorial board on the second floor of the University Center. But for almost six years, the staff has spent each production night in the O’Connor basement. It was dusty, there were a few wires hanging from the ceiling, and the ceiling tiles were leaking. In recent years it survived a severe flood and an infestation of mold. Our Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor, Morgan C. Mullings and Amanda Negretti, sat down with Associate Dean for Student Services Jackie Lochrie, Assistant Director of Engineering Anthony Konkowski, Director of Operations Peter Burke, Assistant Director of Environmental Health and Safety William R. Borgeson, Assistant Director of Engineering James C. Pickel, and Director of Facilities Operations Christopher Walsh. The directors, some of whom had never been in our office, listened to our problems that never made it to their desk in the past. The office is now cleaner and safer than it’s ever been, and we’re thankful for the immediate attention the school gave to this issue.
Another space, this time neglected for some time by our editorial board, is our website, torchonline.com. SNO Sites, our website provider, did a complete overhaul of the home page and section pages, giving it a photo-focused look and making it easier to read by enlarging the text. We hope that this incurs more visits to the site, where we post every article that’s featured in print and others throughout the entire year. One of our goals is to create video content that complements our articles, and photo galleries highlighting events on campus, so we added pages dedicated to that content.
When the summer started, we were missing a large portion of our editorial board, but we didn’t view it as a setback. Thanks to the students who were eager to help us out by spreading the word, we now have a Social Media Manager, Amber Borden, and a copyediting team led by our new Chief Copy Editor, Patrick Loftus. Also new to the team is Shaolin Barid, our Human Resources Manager.
Overall, we feel fully prepared for the school year and all the news that’s about to come with it. We’re very lucky to have such a wonderful team and a beautiful office — and we’re working to get a sign with our logo on it out front so that our readers can finally find it.