Table of Contents
So here we are, May 29th, in our final print issue of the year. While there is still a search for a new conservative set of ideas nationwide, at Stanford the conservative voice is strong.
Today marks my final print issue as Editor-In-Chief, and my final weeks as a student at Stanford University. In both areas, I cannot say the experiences have been easy, I will say that they have been rewarding. When I stepped into the Editor role in January, I came in with a clear-cut goal to expand the coverage of campus news. Led by the desire of ambitious staff members, we succeeded in achieving that goal. I know that next year’s leadership will also affirm the commitments that we must make in order to stay successful—we must be a hard-hitting voice on campus.
In addition to being the right-wing voice at Stanford, we are also often the voice of common sense on campus issues. Whether campus talk involves SOCC budget cuts, ASSU elections, or Professor Rice/Stanford Says No to War, we cannot let an established liberal majority speak without facing a rebuttal. In some sense, I am glad that this volume has not been free of controversy (see Santorum protestors, Condival). It is not our job to be polite or acquiescent to a liberal majority, our role is to express certain opinions that no one else is willing to openly express. While I am not a student of Andrew Jackson, I appreciate his quote “one person with courage makes a majority.” My experience at Stanford has often proved that statement to be true.
Beyond engaging in campus dialogue, we like to write about national issues as well. But just like any business in a competition, we need to find a monopoly in order to be successful. For that reason, our coverage of national events creates a unique product that has been closely tied to campus resources, such as the Hoover Institution, speaker events, or various developments by Stanford groups. We are not competing with The New York Times, but we can report on world events from the Hoover Institute, Encina Hall, or the Landau Economics building in a way that no one else can. Our production schedule allows for us to cover these topics more in-depth than a daily paper could.
But still, we need to continue to publish up to our maximum capacity in order to keep a prominent voice on campus. Our increasing emphasis on campus news and unique analysis of important policy topics, along with our efficient production output have been met with a 400% increase in website traffic—both at Stanford and nationwide.
This final issue exhibits the traits of local coverage along with a Stanford-centered discussion of national policy. As page 3 exhibits, in this issue there is a strong opinion expressed regarding the ethnic community center budget cuts, but we also feature coverage on national issues. In this issue, we feature interviews from three policy experts, all of which are Hoover Fellows. We include CIA Director James Woolsey on intelligence, Professor and Former Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs John Taylor on the financial crisis, and an interview on education policy with a former US Assistant Secretary of Education, Williamson Evers. We see the role of The Stanford Review as being that of a thought provoker, as well as a voice for a group of students which are normally not represented in main-stream Stanford life.
I am not one to make grand exits, so The Review’s discourse this year will not end with the final print issue. I hope you continue to check our website and blog during finals week and over the summer, as we will be updating frequently. Within the next week, we will post our web-exclusive interviews with Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Former UN Ambassador John Bolton on our website, stanfordreview.org.
Thank you and Fiat Lux,
Brian O’Connell
Editor-In-Chief, Volume 42
