<p>Hi guys. I don't normally post on college threads (I recently finished high school apps), but I was just wondering if anyone could give me any opinions and/or statistics about the independent newspaper "Student Life." How popular is it? Does it have any major cultural influence on the school? What is its general tone (humorous, informational...)? Any controversy associated with its articles? And how are the authors treated on campus?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Here’s my two cents…the newspaper is ok for a quick read. You’ll see many people walking to class on the days when it comes out (MWF) with copies of the paper, as they are everywhere.</p>
<p>They really just “report” on the news, and come up with other articles like restaurant reviews, movie reviews, etc. Theres no “investigative journalism” and as such nothing is controversial, and theres no real influence on the school.</p>
<p>I’d guess maybe half the undergrads (its targeted to the undergrads) read the paper online or in print at least once a week. Just a wild ballpark guesstimate though.</p>
<p>The authors are treated the same as everyone else, because quite frankly no one knows or cares about who they are.</p>
<p>Just my reactions, I could be off base.</p>
<p>Edit: All papers from 2002 to the present are on their website at <a href=“http://www.studlife.com%5B/url%5D”>www.studlife.com</a> You can go check it out for yourself if curious enough</p>
<p>^agreed.</p>
<p>I do read StudLife pretty regularly, but as marcdvl said it’s not anything like “investigative journalism,” and if I read anything that’s both surprising and socially/politically relevant, odds are I’m going to look it up somewhere else afterward before I start quoting anything…</p>
<p>Contributing to Studlife doesn’t make you an automatic rockstar on campus, by any stretch, but i’d say there are a few people who’ve gotten to be recognizable around campus for writing (or photographing) for the newspaper… Obviously some writers have more or less positive reputations than others, though, because StudLife articles aren’t necessarily always screened for logical coherency… :)</p>
<p>It is good for a student-run newspaper as far as I’m concerned though. Their special issues (e.g. housing) can be helpful, and i enjoy reading their reviews of new music from time to time, etc.</p>
<p>Going on with what Don said, I too generally read it when it comes out online…takes about 5 mins to read the whole thing. The online articles also have a discussion board like feature, so sometimes a debate takes place that is somewhat interesting. There’s nothing revolutionary…movie reviews and music reviews are decent. Restaurant reviews are okay if looking for somewhere to go. I will admit it seems disorganized…last semester a video game was reviewed that came out a full 11 months before the review which seemed strange and put together at the last second.</p>
<p>I’ll give some hard numbers, since I’m kind of employed by studlife.</p>
<p>There are 5000 copies of studlife distributed every issue (mwf, so 15,000 a week).
The general ‘research’ says that each paper is read an average of twice (ie people just leaving one behind and someone else picking it up).</p>
<p>The paper also goes to the med school, west campus, north campus, and several other places off of main campus. You’d be surprised how many people actually read it that aren’t undergrads. It’s why they can make a fortune off of ads.</p>
<p>My job is completely non-content rated, but I read every issue. As marc said, you can read it in 5-10 minutes.
Also, a ton of people do the crossword/sudoku in big lecture classes.</p>
<p>While the content is questionable (in that the writing is often terrible), I will give studlife props for being unaffiliated with the school. It means they can publish whatever they want, without SU breathing down their necks. They’re completely self-sufficient.</p>
<p>Huh, seems cool.
Thanks for all the responses, they were all legitimately helpful. Sounds like a typical school newspaper. Ever since I met a woman two years ago who attended Wash U and wrote for StudLife, I’ve been curious to know what it’s about.</p>
<p>Okay, new question. I would love to know about your rivalry with Emory University, which sounds incredibly awesome.</p>
<p>They think there’s a rivalry.</p>
<p>We kind of laugh at it. Essentially nonexistent.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>this is news to me :/</p>
<p>A nurse who gave me a vaccine recently went to Emory and mentioned the “rivalry” when I told her I’d be attending WUSTL this far, but I couldn’t recall hearing anything about a rivalry during my college visit. I guess that’s why.</p>
<p>Not like a huge rivalry…they sprayed the overpass back in 2006 or something and there was a pseudo rivalry for a year or so.</p>
<p>Is there a rivalry with any team in the UAA? Wikipedia said there’s a rivalry between WashU and Rochester…is that right?</p>
<p>We really don’t care about sports that much. Never heard of a rivalry with Rochester.</p>
<p>Never heard of the Rochester rivalry either.</p>
<p>WashU is incredibly laid back, so that doesn’t really happen with us.</p>
<p>There’s a rivalry?</p>
<p>That’s hilarious. The WashU kids here are so chill, they’re just like, “Eh. No rivalry.”</p>
<p>More like no one follows sports at all lol…</p>
<p>Dammit. My thread has literally fallen to the very bottom of the list.</p>