Letter from the publisher. . .

Alex Maverick — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:00:34 +0000

Hello folks, and thank you for picking up the big time April issue of Cultureweek. yes. Your suspicion is right. That repulsive female on the cover and page six is, in fact, my twin sister, Alexandria. Our thinking was that since our two main articles were about the Bloomington Bike Project and Miss Gay IU, the cover photo should be a drag queen on a bicycle. Unfortunately, no one on the Cultureweek staff was bold enough to volunteer for this high honor. Thus, as a last resort, I had to result to the most gullible, vain and manish female in all of Bloomington- my twin sister - Alexandria - to be my model.

Foolishly, she accepted.

However, because my mom scolded me harshly for exploiting the nativiete of my younger sister after the shoot was finished, I believe (and very much hope) that you will never have to see Alexandria grace a Cultureweek page again…

Carpe Diem…

-Alexander

Letter from the Publisher

Alex Maverick — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:40:39 +0000

Hello, and thank you for picking up the big time November issue of Cultureweek.

Yes dear reader, we’re back to our normal girth. As a publisher, I’ve made two observations over the past month related to editorial—and both should have been self-evident. First, is the crucial and ever vital role that editors make in assembling and providing direction for an issue. I know this sounds intuitive and obvious—and indeed it is. But sometimes the universe deems fit to remind us of those things we should know but haven’t fully embraced. Last month, Providence, in her wisdom, gave me just such a salient reminder regarding the necessity of editors. Editors are a must, lesson learned.

The other distinction I’ve made lately is that no matter who you have on board today, they may be gone tomorrow. Not because bad things have happened (or because rancor has ensued), but rather, because life happens. The person you rely and depend on today will move to another city tomorrow, or have kids, or pursue a different creative field, or heaven forbid (especially in this town) graduate and go back home to take on the real world.

This, too, ought to have been glaringly apparent. Historically, I’ve often been surprised when finding out about staffing changes and what I’m beginning to realize is that I shouldn’t be surprised at all. It’s part and parcel of running any kind of an organization—be it a newspaper, a restaurant, a student group, or a non-profit. In fact, in lieu of being surprised, I should plan on personnel changes, and expect personnel changes, because they are predictable, and they will happen—and regularly no less. Yes, I agree. This is patently obvious—but it’s only now after 3 1/2 years of newspapering that I’m beginning to understand these sorts of people-related ebbs and flows—and I think I’ll become a slightly better manager for it.

With this foreshadow-laden preface (or babble) out of the way, I will share with you some (I believe) positive developments for Cultureweek in our next issue. Until then, thank you very much for picking us up and I’ll see you on the other side…

carpe diem,
alex

CULTUREWEEK » Alex Maverick

Letter from the publisher. . .

Letter from the Publisher